Tusken Raiders: Misunderstood Natives or Savage Beasts

I know what you're thinking, "but Bryan, there weren't any Tuskens in The Force Awakens, that was Jakku, not Tatooine, who cares?" Well, I do. And, therefore, you should too (yeah, I'm egotistical like that sometimes). But, seriously, I happened to see a Twitter reply from the man himself, Pablo Hidalgo, concerning the impetus behind the Tusken Raiders' capture of Shmi Skywalker, and it lead me to some deep contemplation about just who the Tusken Raiders really are (or were...we don't know how busy Vader was on Tatooine in the comics when he's laying waste to them for the second time...maybe he wiped them out?).

Star Wars vs. Star Wars Or: Why Fandom Infighting is Ridiculous

Does anyone remember when different fandoms fought with each other over which fictional universe they'd dedicated their devotion to was better instead of fighting amongst themselves over what segment or opinion about a segment of the same fictional universe was better? (Fanboys is a terrific movie, by the way, if you haven't seen it, please, by all means, stop reading this and go watch it right now...you'll thank me.) I mean, I'm old school. I still hate Star Trek. I refuse to watch the J. J. Abrams reboot on principle even though everyone tells me it's "Star Trek for Star Wars fans" (to which I reply, "well, it's still *bleeping* Star Trek! - I have a potty mouth in real life...don't tell my mom). Anyway, fans of the same IP (intellectual property, not internet protocol, you nerds) used to stick together. There used to be camaraderie...now it seems like everyone's hunkered down in their own little sandboxes and only want to play with other kids that have the exact same sandbox...it's ridiculous. Imagine you're a hockey fan like me (which you should be, just saying), and your favorite team is the Penguins. Say your favorite player is Evgeni Malkin, but my favorite player is Sidney Crosby. Now, because of that, I decide not only that you're stupid, but that I'm going to tell you you're stupid for the simple reason that if you don't think exactly the way I do, even though we're both fans of the same team, you're obviously an idiot who has no business being a fan in the first place...do you smell what I'm stepping in? For more on this subject, we now go live to our in-the-Force correspondent Obi-wan Kenobi, Obi:

Midnight in the Garden of Light & Dark

There’s one line in The Force Awakens that gives me pause every time I hear it:  “There’s still light in him, I know it.” Even after thinking about it for quite some time while pondering this post, typing it still felt weird. The phrase just seems wrong. My brain had to strong-arm my fingers to keep them from typing “good in him” instead of “light.” I mean, that’s what we’ve always heard before, right? Padme says there’s still “good” in Anakin on her deathbed; Luke repeatedly talks about the “good” in his father…so why is there no “good” in Kylo Ren? Does Darth Vader have the market cornered on goodness in a villainous character? I don’t think that’s it, but I do have some ideas, so, if you’re interested, follow along at home as I pontificate…

Star Wars ComLINKS Creature Feature Or: My 5 Favorites from Far, Far Away

Alright ladies and germs, I came across this really cool idea via retweet (if I remember correctly) a while ago, and decided to do a little write-up because a) as I said, super cool idea, mad props to Jenmarie over at Anakin and His Angel for doing it, and b) it gives me a reason to talk about creatures in the Star Wars universe, which just so happens to be one of my favorite things (I say that a lot, I know...if you keep track, I'll probably refer to every aspect of Star Wars as one of my favorite things eventually). I appreciate the fact that, though they do incorporate "real" animals into the mix as well (the snakes on Dagobah for example), most of the creatures in Star Wars are creatures that were created for the universe, and often play a crucial role in the telling of the stories...I mean, imagine the trap door in Jabba's palace going to an empty dungeon where the victims are simply trapped and not about to be a snack...pretty lame, right? Even if you've never thought about it, and don't really pay much attention to the creatures outside of their use to further the plot or as background, I bet you can probably rattle off five or six (or more) names of creatures without really putting much effort in it at all. That's how seamlessly they fit in the story; they're as much a part of Star Wars as Skywalkers and the Force, and I love them all...but I don't have time to go over each one, so I picked my top five:

Snoke: a Villain of Biblical Proportions

I’m sure everyone’s heard the phrase “a snake in the grass”…oh, wait, you haven’t? Well then, it means, essentially, “a treacherous person.” (Feel free to use that for people on Facebook or what not.)  And I feel like it’s a pretty safe logical leap to assume that we can all agree on Supreme Leader Snoke being a snake in the grass. I mean, his name is practically “snake.” In fact, I go in depth about what his name could mean (twice, actually…I have a problem) here, so I’m not going to get into it here, but, short answer, “snake” comes up in quite a few different ways. So right now you’re saying to yourself, “alright, this guy’s just stating the obvious…so?” And that’s a good point, Snoke’s a dark side Force user, they tend to run on the treacherous side, big deal…well, let’s examine some implications of his snake-like behavior and see if we can’t come up with some potential big deals…and away we go!

Rogue One: Not Just a Star Wars Story

Alright, you twisted my arm, I'll admit it:  I probably wasn't as excited about Rogue One as I was about what's going on in Rebels, or certainly not as much as wondering what we'll learn about the saga in Episode VIII...and, of course, I say "was" because that all changed first thing this morning when I watched that tantalizing trailer for Rogue One (over and over). I don't think I've ever had a trailer, teaser, or whatever you want to call it change my entire perspective on a movie before, but this most certainly did...I went from "I'm excited because it's Star Wars, and it'll be neat to see how the rebels managed such a huge feat like stealing the Death Star plans" to "OMG CAN IT BE DECEMBER TOMORROW BECAUSE THIS MOVIE LOOKS AMAZING!" Yeah, I'd say that about sums it up...anyway, let's cut to the chase and dig right in...I've got some doozies rolling around in the ol' noggin, so let's get pen to paper (figuratively, I don't actually write these down before I type them) and get the wild speculation train rolling!