"Lucas Wars" and The Making of Star Wars

An event years in the making finally happened last weekend as Rebel Force Radio descended upon Steve Sansweet’s Rancho Obi-Wan, the Guinness Book of World Records largest Star Wars memorabilia collection, for a live podcast fundraiser with an audience of the greatest Star Wars fans in the galaxy. Join us, Steve, Anne Neumann, Billy Mac, Baby Belushi and more for an evening under the stars in California. Plus, Puppet Lando stopped by for an epic performance and many other surprises happened throughout the night. And we did it to raise funds for a great cause - Rancho Obi-Wan and The Saga Museum. Become a member and support this amazing and magical place!      

LUCAS WARS is a new graphic novel that showcases George Lucas’s rise from auteur filmmaker to Star Wars superstar as it goes behind-the-scenes of the original Star Wars film. Lucas Wars writer Laurent Hopman joins us In The Cantina to provide insight into his amazing illustrated story. But did George Lucas actually read it? You need to listen to find out!  In news headlines, we feature recent interview highlights from Mark Hamill and exclusive clips of The Acolyte’s Manny Jacinto onstage at Chicago Fan Expo. Plus, we take a close look at the fallout from The Phantom Menace with highlights from the creators via ILM Light and Magic season 2, and that isn’t enough, we got an Outrageous Unthinkable Story of the Week and Star Wars on Pop Culture for the cherry on top of an awesome show! Get full show video, ad-free shows, bonus exclusive podcasts, early bird releases and more with RFR on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/RebelForceRadio OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www.rebelforceradio.com YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/rebelforceradio FACEBOOK - Like RFR!: https://www.facebook.com/rebelforceradio X - Follow RFR!: https://x.com/RFRRebelForce INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/rebelforceradio THREADS: https://www.threads.net/@rebelforceradio BLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/rebelforceradio.bsky.social  

Cruising into theaters in 2027, STAR WARS STARFIGHTER is gearing up for production and this week, the official casting was finally revealed. We look at the roster of actors to be featured and speculate what impact their roles will have on the story. Clean up in Aisle 66! We’re focusing on Star Wars in the grocery stores past and present. We have in our possession a complete set of Star Wars Coca Cola cans to review and we follow up on last week’s discussion about Star Wars food from the 80s - Star Wars Pepperidge Farm cookies and Kellogg’s C-3POs Cereal, along with listeners' memories and nostalgia.

Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen came together onstage at Fan Expo Chicago for a full-blown Star Wars prequel reunion. Both actors were interviewed about their experiences shooting the trilogy along with behind-the-scenes stories and we got the highlights. Simon Kinberg recently discussed his excitement for his upcoming Star Wars trilogy and we listen to what he had to say. Plus, we look at how the events of the Prequel Trilogy affects our perception of the Original Trilogy, we pay tribute to actor Terence Stamp from The Phantom Menace, we consider the possibility of Skeleton Crew season two, and we go back to school, Star Wars-style!

Gina Carano’s lawsuit vs Disney has reached a settlement, so we react to the news and consider the possibility of the return of her character Cara Dune to STAR WARS. We go into the RFR Sound Lab to examine the tortured Gonk droid from Jabba’s Palace in RETURN OF THE JEDI and listener feedback has us considering the loopholes and inconsistencies surrounding the Mandalorian Darksaber. Plus, we listen to new comments from Tony Gilroy discussing the impact of ANDOR, along with new rumors about Kathleen Kennedy’s exit date as head of Lucasfilm and who will replace her.

Cur·mudg·eon  [kərˈməj(ə)n]   noun           a bad-tempered person, especially an old one. We celebrate two legendary curmudgeons who brought the characters of Han Solo and Qui Gon Jinn to life: Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson. Both have been on the interview circuit lately, both have been looking back at their Star Wars careers, and both are sometimes grateful and sometimes salty about their experiences in a galaxy far, far away. We listen to recent interview highlights from the two to get their perspectives as now-older gentlemen. We report on fresh news about the casting of Matt Smith in STAR WARS: STARFIGHTER, shooting later this year, and we look forward to the 50th anniversary of STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE with news of a theatrical release happening in 2027. But what version will it be? Plus, listener feedback gets us looking at what and who are responsible for the Sequel Trilogy going “off the rails” and more! 

Last weekend, George Lucas made his first ever SDCC appearance to promote the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, opening next year in L.A. We have all the highlights of not only what went down in the Lucas panel, but the latest collecting news coming from Hasbro Star Wars and more. As for the future of Star Wars films, we look closely at all of the info about which movies are in development and what order they may be released, following THE MANDALORIAN and GROGU and STAR WARS STARFIGHTER. Plus, we pay tribute to Ozzy Osbourne and Hulk Hogan by revealing their connections to STAR WARS and more! 

The actor wearing Din Djarin’s helmet is not always Pedro Pascal. In fact, most of the time it’s Brendan Wayne, grandson of the legendary John Wayne. Making his RFR debut, Brendan Wayne joins us In The Cantina to talk about his experiences on the set of THE MANDALORIAN, his life as an actor and the connection he feels with his famous grandfather’s legacy. He discusses a medical emergency that temporarily prevented him from playing the role, working with superstars like Sigorney Weaver and the late Carl Weathers, and he provides us with excitement as we look forward to next year's feature film, THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU. Plus, we empty out the STAR WARS IN POP CULTURE inbox, we recap a recent RFR hangout and more!   

We present a spoiler-free review of the box office hit SUPERMAN through the lens of a Star Wars superfan, and we shine the spotlight on recent comments from Mark Hamill who discusses his struggles with the depiction of Luke Skywalker in THE LAST JEDI while attempting to provide some perspective on his relationship with director Rian Johnson. Plus, George Lucas and JAWS 50, the evolution of Mon Mothma from senator to rebel, the return of Star Wars in Pop Culture, Kid Blake rubs elbows with the stars, and more! 

We’re looking ahead to the future for STAR WARS and, of course, Ahsoka Tano plays a big role. Recently, RFR acquired top-secret concept art images from AHSOKA season two and we go through them all to provide detailed descriptions and observations while looking for clues about the upcoming series. On the animated side of STAR WARS, we speculate about a specific Dark Side character who may show up in MAUL: SHADOW LORD. Plus, Ashley Eckstein recently set the record straight about the origin of #AshokaLives and the role RFR played in it’s creation and more!