Ernest Cline | Star Wars: Starfighter D23 Trailer Review

From the birth of The ForceCast on September 1st in 2006, to the launch of Rebel Force Radio, we've spent two decades exploring the galaxy far, far away together. Along the way, we've shared news, opinions, event coverage, interviews, unforgettable moments and a lot of laughs with an amazing community of Star Wars fans from around the world. We are grateful to celebrate this milestone with YOU. The RFR Switchboard was open as we took your calls to hear about the episodes, moments, guests, cons, or inside jokes that have stayed with you over the years. Or that burning question you've always wanted answered. Whether you've been listening since the ForceCast days, joined us when we started Rebel Force Radio, or discovered us more recently, this show is for you.

We go In The Cantina to get caught up with author and screenwriter Ernest Cline. In this awesome conversation, Ernie shares behind-the-scenes stories about his first film Fanboys, many we've never heard before, along with tales from the Fanboys reunion earlier this month in Texas. We present Ernie with every Star Wars reference from his groundbreaking novel Ready Player One to get his first-blush reactions and inspirations, and Ernie shares stories about working with Steven Spielberg. Plus, Ernie sticks around to break down the Star Wars: Starfighter teaser trailer screened only once earlier this month at D23, and more!

We put the all-new Ahsoka season two teaser trailer under the microscope as we breakdown the whole thing, shot-by-shot, following it's debut at D23. Hayden Christensen spoke about his desire to work with Natalie Portman in a Clone Wars-based live-action show. Plus, we have D23 Ahsoka media junket highlights from Dave Filoni, Rosario Dawson, and Eman Esfandi, along with a follow-up to a lingering question from last week's Bryce Dallas Howard interview here on RFR and more.

Bryce Dallas Howard joins us In The Cantina to talk all about her career behind-the-camera as director of Star Wars streaming shows, her famous family, and whether or not she'd like the chance to direct a feature film in a galaxy far, far away (hint: she does). Luke Skywalker meets Spider-Man? Star Wars is merging with the Marvel Universe for a Kevin Smith-penned adventure to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Saga. We discuss the pros and cons. RFR have returned from Rebel Scum Con and we have stories to tell about what we saw and who we hung out with, like cast members from Fanboys and more. Plus, Ewan McGregor wants Obi-Wan Kenobi season 2, and more!

In a surprise announcement, the long "on-the-shelf" Star Wars animated comedy from George Lucas, Seth Green and company will be screening at the soon-to-open Lucas Museum in LA. We listen to Seth Green's announcement at San Diego Comic Con and discuss what the show is all about. In other SDCC news, Kevin Feige gets us pumped up about next year's Star Wars: Starfighter by revealing he's already seen it, but we are confused by the total lack of publicly available images and coverage. And we share our disappointment with Hasbro for some of their lackluster SDCC announcements and criticize them for sad offerings going back to Solo: A Star Wars Story. Star Wars fans are still talking about The Mandalorian and Grogu and our voicemail inbox has some listener thoughts about Rotta the Hutt. In our "Outrageous Unthinkable Story of the Week", a former Star Wars actor breaks bad on his role in the prequels and we try to determine why he's trash talking. Plus, we return to the RFR Sound Lab, we look forward to this week's Rebel Scum Con, and more!

The Mandalorian and Grogu home video digital release happened this week so we're going under-the-hood to check out the bonus features and analyze highlights about bringing Embo, The Amanin, and the Droid Gotra to life. Looking ahead to Star Wars: Starfighter, we listen to highlights from a recent interview with screenwriter Jonathan Tropper. Convention season is here so we preview the major Star Wars happenings going down at Rebel Scum Con and San Diego Comic Con. Plus, Star Wars: The Experience museum exhibit is coming to Philadelphia, and we look back at other Star Wars exhibits from the past.

We're joined In The Cantina by Cinema Relics' Dan Lanigan. Dan discusses his Star Wars fandom, his world-class movie prop collection, his TV show Prop Culture, and his work with Steve Sansweet on The Saga Vault. We look at highlights from a recent George Lucas interview where he shared blunt opinions about Hollywood's over-reliance on focus groups and the rise of AI in filmmaking. RFR is hitting the road! Find out where we're going next! What does Starkiller mean? Could it be a character's last name? Plus, memories from the premiere of Fanboys, a home video release for The Mandalorian and Grogu and more!

We look ahead to next year with the latest rumors about the upcoming Star Wars:Starfighter including a potential character name for Ryan Gosling. George Lucas is appearing in the latest film from the Despicable Me franchise, Minions and Monsters, now in theaters. We review his scene, learn how it happened, and look back at prior Lucas cameos in movies and TV. The Ninth Jedi is premiering next month and recently debuted a new trailer. We discuss and debate if the Star Wars anime experiment is working or not. Plus, we review listener feedback about what would make a great Darth Vader streaming show, listen to interview highlights from Amy Adams, highlights from The Saga Vault and more!

According to an alleged leaked studio document, a "game plan" for the future of Star Wars has been devised and it includes very specific directives, like what era should all shows be based in, how often the films and shows should happen, and what's this about an "overarching framework" for all upcoming Star Wars stories? We look at what the document contains and provide our takes.  Steve Sansweet, Star Wars fan ambassador, author, and Friend of RFR, checks in to tell us all about his amazing new show The Saga Vault. Steve reveals to us how he acquired his rocket-firing prototype Boba Fett action figure, and gets us caught up on everything happening at Rancho Obi-Wan. We love whenever Steve checks in!  We compare the experiences of Maul: Shadow Lord and The Mandalorian and Grogu and pick which we liked best, we get the latest info about Star Wars: Starfighter via interview highlights from actor Matt Smith, we discuss the usage of Huttese in the Mando movie and more!

A lost audio artifact has resurfaced, and it is pure pop culture gold! We're talking about the ultimate, mind-melting crossover event: George Lucas and Robin Williams going deep during the peak Attack of the Clones era.  Back in the early 2000s, George Lucas sat down with Robin Williams for a wide-ranging conversation about Star Wars and filmmaking. This full interview was removed from the internet many years ago but it has been made available again and review a few choice highlights of when The Maker met Mork.  Plus, we have clips of Brendan Wayne discussing The Mandalorian and Grogu, along with listener feedback about the Mando movie and the potential for a Cal Kestis film. And, was the quote "This Is The Way" stolen from Game of Thrones? Did Grogu once actually say "This is the way" in an episode of The Mandalorian? We break it all down and look ahead to next year's Star Wars: Starfighter with speculation about the plot, characters and more!