Hyperspace Theories at 10: The State of Star Wars

It's been ten years since FANgirl Blog launched the Hyperspace Theories podcast. On the latest episode, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester look back on the podcast's evolution from its origin in discussing how to speculate wisely on upcoming Star Wars stories to a broader consideration of storytelling, character arcs and the Hero's Journey, and franchise management. We reminisce about our favorite episodes of the podcast over the years. After looking back, we turn to the present and future of the franchise through the lens of two recent articles in major Hollywood trade publications. James Hibberd's lengthy essay in The Hollywood Reporter asks "Is Disney Bad at Star Wars?" offers a fair assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the past decade of the franchise, ultimately concluding that it's not bad but it could do better. The timing of the article's publication also is notable for two reasons. First, although it studiously avoids placing blame on particular named individuals, it renders an unusually critical perspective on Star Wars after years of the trades avoiding doing so. Second, it follows an unannounced but publicly visible change to Lucasfilm's leadership structure: the elevation of Lynwen Brennan from Executive Vice President to President, a change with significance beyond simply a promotion in her title. We consider the implications of these developments for what further changes can be expected at Lucasfilm. We then discuss Adam B. Vary's article "Toxic Fandom: How Hollywood Is Battling Fans Who Are 'Just Out for Blood' — From Social Media Boot Camps to Superfan Focus Groups," which was published in Variety on the same day. Among other franchises mentioned in the article, Star Wars has a mixed record in this area, too. Vary's article wisely distinguishes between criticism (or praise) of a work by fans based on the substance of the story on the one hand, and abusive behavior driven by agendas (and monetization) unrelated to the merits of quality or stewardship – although the article also makes clear that studios and their executives may not consistently pay attention to this distinction. We conclude by looking ahead to some of the topics for discussion on future episodes of Hyperspace Theories, including The Bad Batch Season Three, Agatha All Along, the Wicked movie, Skeleton Crew, and more.   Related Links: Is Disney Bad at Star Wars? An Analysis (The Hollywood Reporter; Oct. 3, 2024) Toxic Fandom: How Hollywood Is Battling Fans Who Are 'Just Out for Blood' — From Social Media Boot Camps to Superfan Focus Groups (Variety; Oct. 3, 2024)