Star Wars

Over the past couple of years, policemen have fallen pretty far out of favor with the American people. The U.S. police force is in dire need of a little PR management, something that shows their sense of humor and gives a more human, relatable slant to the boys in blue.

Over the past few years, there has been a small but noticeable attempt to rehabilitate the image of the Star Wars prequels in popular culture. Last November, for example, the A.V. Club published an article on why the Star Wars prequels don’t deserve our hatred. Similar pieces have been published in The Mary Sue, USA Today, and many other websites and online publications. It just goes to show that there is a lid for every pot, no matter how misshapen that pot may be.

Even if you do live under a rock, you probably still heard the news on Friday that Donald Glover would be joining the Star Wars Han Solo prequel movie as dapper smuggler Lando Calrissian. Since the news broke, fans have speculated as to how the two characters would come together in the story. Would Lucasfilm focus on the earlier days of Han Solo’s smuggling career and the friendship between the two men? Or would it get right to the heart of the matter and show Han Solo winning the Millennium Falcon from his friend?

While Star Wars: The Force Awakens left us with plenty of unanswered questions, perhaps no question looms as big over the franchise as the lineage of Daisy Ridley’s Rey. Ever since the film was released, fan theories have run wild with the questions of why Rey was abandoned by her parents and how she may have come by her force sensitivity. Is she the daughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi? Is she the daughter of Luke Skywalker? What is the significance of that flashback sequence? Inquiring minds want to know.

The force is very strong with Disney and Lucasfilm’s legal department — or at least one would assume, which is why it’s probably not a good idea to infringe on their trademarked properties, especially Star Wars. But that’s exactly what one enterprising business owner did when he started the Lightsaber Academy, which is now the target of a lawsuit filed by Lucasfilm late last week.

When an actor expresses interest in returning to an iconic role, I always wonder whether the actor needs the movie more than the studio needs the actor. Ron Perlman, for example, has spent years talking up his interest in another Hellboy movie, despite it being fairly obvious that the studio had no real interest in getting that project off the ground. So when Ewan McGregor told reporters last year that he would come back for an Obi-Wan Kenobi standalone movie, I wondered: does this make sense for everyone involved? Or was McGregor just doing the Hollywood equivalent of jumping on a trending hashtag?

Politics is a total mess these days, but here’s some news out of Washington that veeryone can enjoy. President Obama is the guest editor of the new Wired Magazine, and as part of his work for the publication, he shared his favorite science-fiction movies and television shows. The POTUS even went to the trouble of provide helpful links to where you can watch each of the shows or films online. What a guy.

Lucasfilm has a pretty full slate between now and 2020, with one new Star Wars movie hitting theaters each year — and yes, that includes the mysterious third anthology film which once had Josh Trank attached to direct. We have plenty of Star Wars to keep us busy for the next few years, but according to Disney CEO Bob Iger, Lucasfilm hasn’t forgotten about that third spinoff project, which is still in the works along with tentative plans for more franchise installments beyond 2020.

Eventually, the cycle of rumors and deflation around a possible live-action Star Wars TV series will resemble the wait for new movies a few years back, but isn’t ending anytime soon. Networks like ABC have had discussions of a possible live-action TV series, though Disney and ABC boss Ben Sherwood doesn’t believe it would happen until after all the planned movies.

As movies have gotten bigger, the call for more and more computer generated effects has become louder, which some might say defeats the point of making the film. The Star Wars films have ridden this wave from practical effects like puppetry and meticulously detailed sets in the ’70s and ’80s to the CGI-heavy world of today, where there can sometimes be whole scenes made entirely from computer generated textures.

Four years ago, Topps released its Star Wars Galactic Files trading cards --- a massive 350-card set that documented the entire history of Star Wars character, vehicles, moments and more from across the first 35 years of the franchise. In addition to providing some insight into all those aspects, the cards also featured stats for each character, much like the old Marvel Universe cards. It was a fun way to look back at these characters and see how they truly ranked, with characters like Luke getting better stats as the films progressed. Next year, the Galactic Files will be "reborn" as a new set, adding in The Force Awakens, as well as the Clone Wars and Rebels animated series. Now we'll finally know just how powerful characters like Rey, Kylo Ren and Kanan are compared to the rest of the Force-sensitive heroes and villains from the saga.

On the latest episode of the YouTube series, The Star Wars Show, host Peter Townley unveiled a never-before-seen member of the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story cast. He may look like R2-D2 with a paint job, but that’s just because ... he looks like R2-D2 with a paint job. But this is a different droid! It’s C2-B5.