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The "MANDOVERSE" Is Becoming a Problem
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Ryan Gosling is joining Star Wars? Jeremy Allen White is playing Rotta the Hutt in The Mandalorian & Grogu? Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen and Ariana Greenblatt are reprising their roles in Ahsoka Season 2 on Disney Plus? Today we are reacting and discussing some Star Wars news from the last few weeks, that we missed during Skeleton Crew.
This is the Wayseekers is a Star Wars podcast, with new episodes every Thursday on YouTube and audio platforms. Join your hosts Austin SWE and Scotty Holiday SW as they navigate their ways through the Star Wars galaxy.
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Transcript
Anticipation and Concerns for New Star Wars Movie
00:00:00
Speaker
This is the first Star Wars movie back. It will have been six and a half years since we've gotten a Star Wars movie. We can't just put some random bull in there, let alone a spiritual successor to the worst Star Wars movie or like worst Star Wars project ever put out there, which is the Clone Wars movie. I don't want it. And it falls in line with the mismanagement that the Mandoverse has had, where it's just like, what the hell are we doing here? What has this become?
Introduction to 'This Is The Way Seekers' Podcast
00:00:33
Speaker
Welcome back to This Is The Way Seekers, a podcast for Star Wars fans by Star Wars fans. My name is Austin SWE. I'm joined with my co-host Scottie Holiday for the first time after Skeleton Crew. Scottie, how are you feeling post-Skeleton Crew? Have you gotten over the post-Star Wars blues?
00:00:53
Speaker
Uh, it feels really empty. I didn't even know what to do with myself before recording. I was like, what am I going to do with all this time? I usually watch an episode of skeleton crew now before the podcast. And now there's nothing even Monday. I was like, this would have been skeleton crew Eve, but it's just a normal Monday again. Yeah. Yeah. Tuesday's really hurt without Neil. I'm not going to lie, but you know,
00:01:16
Speaker
It's okay, because speaking of Skeleton Crew, while the show was coming out, we were very much focused on discussing those episodes each week on our podcast, which means we missed this interesting, almost disturbing landscape that the Star Wars news space has become.
Chaos in Star Wars News and Rumors
00:01:35
Speaker
There's been some absolutely insane rumors coming out, some confirmed news,
00:01:41
Speaker
you know, stories that are either franchise redefining or just the most obscure things you've ever heard. And I'm excited to talk about it today, but things might just get a little heated. So, Scotty, why don't you give us a little sneak peek of what we'll actually be talking about today on This Is The Way Seekers.
00:02:01
Speaker
So we're going to be discussing film news, animation news between like the Mandalorian and Grogu, the Ahsoka series. We've got some rumored returning cast members and characters. ah We will not be talking about Natalie Portman because that rumor was debunked. ah But we've got a lot of fun stuff to talk about and I'm excited for the drama.
Controversy Over Jeremy Allen White Casting
00:02:22
Speaker
yes yes me too you know we live for the drama yes there's seven news stories that we missed during skeleton crew so why don't we get into it i think the first one is the one that absolutely shook the star wars fandom to its core the shot heard around the world Jeremy Allen White is has been cast in The Mandalorian and Grogu as Rada the Hutt, a grown up buff, Rada the Hutt, the son of Jabba the Hutt. And he said to have a prominent role in the upcoming film, The Mandalorian and Grogu. It's very disturbing news. um I hate it. I hate it with every fiber of my being. Scotty, how do you feel about it?
00:03:08
Speaker
Honestly, like it's been out for so long now. I think this broke even back last year in 2024. And even talking about it now, even though we've had time to sit with that, I'm like, this just doesn't sound real. um And I know when they've mentioned like a buff hut is going to be played by Jeremy Alan Way. I almost picture this weird amalgamation of like prosthetic Hutt like with Jeremy Allen White with like a weird giant tail or something. I don't know. What I'm picturing is not pretty. um Hopefully it's weird. The final product. Yeah, it's it's super weird. i'm I'm not against it. But also, if I were like a high paid actor like Jeremy Allen White or a highly billed actor,
00:03:57
Speaker
I don't know if I'd want to come into his my first Star Wars role is a hut, possibly like a motion capture or CGI character. Exactly. It sounds like it's more just a voice acting role, at least the way that Jeff Snyder reported it. So it was originally Jeff Snyder from the N Snyder who reported it on the Christian Harlov show and then was confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, an actual Hollywood trade with credibility.
00:04:25
Speaker
So it's true. It's happening. And it feels like such a waste of a phenomenal actor, like you said, a highly sought after actor who's you know rising up to the same levels as like Timothy Chalamet and Tom Holland.
00:04:42
Speaker
yeah But I guess in the same vein as those two, you have to have these weird animated roles, I guess, where it's like, why the fuck is Tom Holland in that? So maybe this is his moment. Why the fuck is Jeremy Allen White gonna be playing a hut in the Mandalorian in Grogu?
Impact of Celebrity Cameos in Star Wars
00:05:00
Speaker
Yeah. And honestly, with that, you know, through the years, there's been those trends where these big name actors will have like not a cameo, but like there'll be a stormtrooper or, you know, there'll be a background alien or something. And it's just kind of like a I don't want to call it an Easter egg, but it's just kind of like, ah oh, by the way, that was this big top Hollywood actor. They just wanted to be in a star where they didn't necessarily have a speaking role or something. And that's been a trend for like years at this point. So if I look at it in that sense, it makes a little more sense. But I'm like, he's not just voicing a hut like he's voicing an already established character, right which makes it even more weird to me. I don't know if they were like, hey, do you want to be in Star Wars? And I'd be like, oh, yeah, like, what's the role? What's the part? And they're like, you're going to be a hut like Jabba. I'd be like,
00:05:51
Speaker
Oh. The son of Jabba the Hutt, like literally the son of Jabba the Hutt. And I'm like, but you're going to be buff. So like, that's going to be cool. Right. I love i mean that. That's like become his thing. He's he's being typecasted as Buff. But I mean, we also have a Calvin Klein ad. Exactly. Jeremy Alan White can pull off Buff even if it's a hut. Right. Well, I'm a huge fan of Jeremy Allen White. I've loved him since Shameless. And, you know, we've gotten to see Cameron Monaghan in Star Wars as well. So when I first heard Jeremy Allen White was coming to Star Wars, I was like, hell yeah. But then you just continue reading.
00:06:28
Speaker
And you're like, what the hell? It just adds to the mountain of mismanagement that has come from Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, more specifically, Jon Favreau. And we'll kind of get into it with this next story as well, because it's also about the Mandalorian and Grogu.
Criticism of Mandoverse Management
00:06:46
Speaker
And that's that Embo, the bounty hunter from the Clone Wars series, is said to have also a prominent role in the Mandalorian in Grogu, most likely as the main villain of the movie. Automatically, it makes me think of Cad Bane in the Book of Boba Fett. Exactly. And then I think of how poorly executed that was. Exactly. um And it makes me really nervous. um I think Embo might actually be easier to pull off in live action than
00:07:21
Speaker
than Cad Bane was because he kind of has like everything covered except for like this area is his of his face. Granted, I don't think we're going to see him like sliding down snowy mountains on his little helmet. right I don't know if he's going to have a new Anuba because Maroc is dead, the old one. um So who knows if he'll have a new one, but I kind of like want him to because that's feels quintessential for the character.
00:07:47
Speaker
I feel like the only thing also that kind of makes us make a little bit more sense is he's was voiced by Dave Filoni. Right. So like and it feels like just patting yourself on the back almost. You know, it's that meme of Obama giving the medal to Obama. like Oh, yeah, Dave Filoni is coming back to voice the main villain of the show. But it's also a great reminder of how talented Dave Filoni actually is and how much that talent is being wasted in modern day Lucasfilm because he's a talented artist, talented voice actor, even a talented writer when he works within, you know, a team on on a team exactly. And I'm just like, why, why are we going down this road? The thing about Embo though, I love Embo. I think he's a dope ass bounty hunter. He's also probably one of the strongest bounty hunters
00:08:42
Speaker
I have a case for that because you know we see bounty hunters like Cad Bane or Boba Fett, who are seen as the most badass ones, the most dangerous, but they use a lot of technology. Embo is just acrobatic on his own. He's just fast on his own. He's just proficient on his own. He uses a crossbow. He uses his hat as a shield. you know He's not like this advanced technological bounty hunter, but that also means that they're gonna have to like tone him down for the Mandalorian, right? Because how all of a sudden is the Mandalorian going to face somebody who also faced Darth fucking Maul and Savage Opress? And now I'm supposed to be like, oh yeah, he's a good villain for the Mandalorian and fucking baby Yoda? Well, he is gonna be older. Clearly it's later in the timeline. Right. And when I think about it,
00:09:37
Speaker
I honestly really love the idea of Embo being like brought in as a villain, because like you said, he is a really cool bounty hunter. There's a lot of cool bounty hunters that were introduced in the Clone Wars series or, you know, expanded upon. So I think it's a good pick. It's not like some it's not a Jedi, it's not a Force user. um I feel like that would be a mess going up against Din Djarin.
00:10:01
Speaker
ah But with Embo, i do I do think that they could pull it off. The fact that he's not huge when it comes to like he's not giving monologues. He's a man of few words. um Right. So I think that can pay off to where they can have an actor who can move like Embo and is more acrobatic and like trained to do more stunt stuff. And like I said, I'm pretty sure his mouth is covered. So it's like literally a Din Djarin situation. where Dave Filoni can just go in a recording booth, do the lines, and then we just need somebody to do the body. So I think it could really work. I just worry about the execution, which unfortunately has been something that's plagued the Mando verse since exactly Mandalorian season two. exactly And that's the thing is this is the first Star Wars movie back.
00:10:54
Speaker
It comes out May 2026 next year. It's the first Star Wars movie since 2019. It will have been six and a half years since we've gotten a Star Wars movie. We can't just put some random bullshit in there,
Jon Favreau's Influence on Star Wars Direction
00:11:07
Speaker
let alone a spiritual successor to the worst Star Wars movie or like worst Star Wars project ever put out there, which is the Clone Wars movie. Because that's what this is. That's all this is. it's We have Rada the Hutt.
00:11:21
Speaker
We have now Embo, who I know wasn't in the movie, but Bounty Hunters was a huge part of it. You know, it's it just feels like that's all it is. And it falls in line with the mismanagement that the Mandoverse has had, where it's just like, what the hell are we doing here? What has this become? Because we know that the Mandalorian can be good. We saw it in season one.
00:11:41
Speaker
and It almost felt like at the end of season three that we were going to get to that point again, where it's just a standalone story about a lone a lone range bounty hunter and his son, who's made him a better person. But it almost feels like that's not what we're going to get. We're just going to keep getting this thing where we have to retread the same waters and this Clone Wars character has to come back. And it's so weird because it's not even Dave Filoni's projects that are doing that the most.
00:12:10
Speaker
It's the one that John Favreau is attached to where it just feels like he's here to play around. And I don't know, I'm just getting tired of that vibe. Like, oh, he was just sitting
Support for Diverse Star Wars Narratives
00:12:20
Speaker
on the couch one day watching the bear and was like, I have an idea. Let's catch Jeremy Alan White for this random ass Star Wars character that why would anybody want to see return again? You know, it just it just is infuriating because why why are they mismanaging it so bad? Why does John Favreau get to be like the king of Star Wars right now. I wouldn't even say the king, but he's like the king of the sandbox of Star Wars. Right. ah Because he's just pulling and taking everybody else's toys. I almost imagine it like he's like, OK, we need somebody to be like ah antagonist to Din Djarin. I need like a cool bounty hunter. Let me text Dave really quick and be like, hey, what are some cool bounty hunters? Like who are your top favorites that like you either had a hand in or whatever? And he's like, oh, yeah, this ammo guy looks cool.
00:13:06
Speaker
I voiced him by the way. Yeah. So like you don't even have to pay like a voice actor because I'll just like come in and do it. I'm already on the payroll. um That does worry me. And I totally see where you're coming from about talking about just how it's been managed and how it feels a little like it makes me think of how wasn't it Robert Rodriguez that like had toys and shot stuff like as a book of Boba Fett. Yeah. And now I'm like, it feels like that's almost what's being done behind the scenes for the Mando verse in general with but specifically the Din Djarin, you know, portion of the Mando verse. I don't know. I will say the footage that they showed at D23, which it's not been put out, but, you know, it was leaked and I saw it and it looked really, really good and it looked really, really fun. um Right.
00:13:58
Speaker
But, you know, fun doesn't always make for the best story because if it's just fun moments and then horrible dialogue like great action, but horrible dialogue that can make or break a movie. And like you said, this is the first movie since 2019. I mean, I want it to do well. I assume you also want it to do well. Yes. But.
00:14:19
Speaker
at the end of the day, it's also like, is Embo a compelling enough villain? Is anybody going to care about if you're like, oh, job of the Hudson is going to be in this movie. you're Like, OK, right. Job of the Hudson has a son. Right. And it's just like everything we've heard so far so feels so phoned in. We know that it's starring a puppet.
00:14:39
Speaker
and also a body double who is being dubbed over after the fact. Then we also have a CGI hutt character who's also voice acting. We have Dave Filoni who's obviously not going to physically be playing Embo. god So it's like, who who is the real person here? Sigourney Weaver?
00:14:59
Speaker
Like, as i is that the the actual cast is just her, you know? Well, don don't forget Amy Sudeikis, because, you know, she'll be in it. We'll have to go see Pelopolo. They'll probably be sisters or some shit. Oh, my God. ah That actually sounds really camp, and I really like that idea. I'm sure that will not be the case, but I would totally be here for it. Yeah, it would be fun. I also thought of you with this Embo thing because Dark Disciple, as you know, features Embo and Crates Claw, Boba Fett's bounty group. And I was like putting things together in my head and I'm like, okay, could this be like a bounty hunter focused movie? Because I could, I wouldn't mind something like that where maybe Din Djarin is being challenged by his old ways of bounty hunting and then his past is coming back to like haunt him and we have Embo and then
00:15:54
Speaker
Boba Fett gets to come in there because he's also had a change of heart. there's like I don't want to sit here and act like it's impossible for there to be a good movie here. It's just that everything we've heard on top of everything we've seen from the Mando-verse I'm just worried. like i just I just don't see this going well for Star Wars at all. I mean, think of how many movies, some of which we'll even get to talk about today in this episode, that they have coming after this movie that just probably won't happen if this movie fails.
00:16:26
Speaker
I mean, I think the biggest issue is that and kind of like the reason we're making this video literally is because we're getting all these rumors and leaks like mid production, whether that's pre production, post production. So it's like we're we may only be getting these half baked ideas that aren't even like final drafts.
00:16:45
Speaker
Because as we know with Star Wars, um we just saw with Skeleton Crew, there was a whole Female Jedi character that was just cut. There were scenes filmed. And so there's stuff that gets cut all the time, unfortunately.
00:16:58
Speaker
um And at the end of the day, it's just like, are we even do we even know if this is really what it's going to be? Or are we just hearing the ideas that are being thrown around? Because that feels really messy. um ah Right. I don't love that. And that's what makes me feel like I don't know how this is going to be. It seems like they don't know what they're doing. But I want to I hope that.
00:17:21
Speaker
It's good. I wanted to do well. And I love the idea of it being a bounty hunter focused movie because I feel like they've tried to do bounty hunter focused stuff. I mean, there was there's been multiple games that are supposed to be bounty hunter focused. You could say that Outlaws is bounty hunter focused. And maybe that was kind of a tiptoe into like, let's see how people care about bounty hunting of it all. It's a cool idea. um I just wanted executed. Well, exactly.
00:17:48
Speaker
I think that's the bottom line. Execute it well and we'll be happy. Before we continue on with the episode, we wanna be those annoying YouTubers for the next 30 seconds and remind you all to subscribe to our YouTube channel. Please. As many of you know, we just restarted our podcast just before Skeleton Crew and we've been super happy with the amount of subscribers we've been getting. But at the same time, 88.2% of the people listening to our podcast are not subscribed to the This Is The Way Seekers YouTube channel.
00:18:21
Speaker
So if you've been enjoying all of our Skeleton Crew coverage, make sure that you subscribe to our channel and like the videos. That way you don't miss out on any of our Skeleton Crew content going forward, as well as all our other Star Wars content throughout the year. All right, and thank you so much for putting up with our stupid YouTube bullshit. Back to the episode.
Rory McCann Cast in Ahsoka Season 2
00:18:41
Speaker
So moving on to another Mandoverse project, we have the Ahsoka series coming up with a season two Yes. I didn't love Ahsoka season one. We actually have a whole episode about that where we ranked all the episodes. So if you want to go back and check that out and hear what we think of the show, you can. Scotty loved it much more than I did. Don't quote me if you go back and watch it. I don't have rose tinted glasses on anymore and I see flaws.
00:19:10
Speaker
Well, that's good at least. that's That's good. But I think something that was pretty much flawless of the Ahsoka series was the introduction of Balan's goal. I think he was the absolute standout of the series. And with the actor Ray Stevenson passing in real life, one of the biggest questions was, will that character get to continue?
00:19:33
Speaker
We know from the end of Ahsoka Season 1 that there's a huge cliffhanger with him and the Mortis Gods and we really want to see that story continue. Well, good news. Well, bittersweet news. Baelin Skoll's story will continue with a recast with Rory McCann, a Scottish actor best known for his role in Game of Thrones.
00:19:55
Speaker
You'll be replacing him in season two. They kind of look similar. I can't lie. I've never seen Game of Thrones or any of Rory's work. oof So you're missing I don't know. I never got into Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, even though I've tried. I don't like medieval fantasy. I don't know. It's just not my thing.
00:20:15
Speaker
But I really, really hope that this guy can fill these huge shoes that Ray Stevenson has left behind. You've seen Game of Thrones. Give me some confidence, Scotty. Yeah, I was going to say, let me go ahead and take it away. um So.
00:20:32
Speaker
Rory McCann played the Hound. He's a real like big grizzled character. um He kind of starts off his arc as just being just like a force of nature. Like he doesn't take shit. He's very dry, sarcastic and over the series he does warm up. um I know there were people who pointed out there's a relationship between his character the hound and aria stark who's like a young female character who he kind of takes under his wing because she's like i don't want to be you know a princess i want to be like a knight
00:21:06
Speaker
um And it's funny because as you can see, it kind of thinks of Bailin and Shin, where he's got this younger female apprentice who wants to be more. I mean, with their stories, we don't know really what's going to happen there if they're going to reunite. But we know that Rory McCann can. He's had those relationships in other characters that he's played.
00:21:26
Speaker
I think one of my favorite things about him is in his role in Game of Thrones, he definitely has that immovable force feeling, ah which Balan, I would think definitely has, at least when it comes to ah when Balan is I guess in his more action scenes versus his dialogue, because he's definitely full of he has that kind of wondrous feeling, ah the kind of wise I've seen a lot of things. I've been a lot of places kind of mentality. But then when it comes down to like his duels, like he is very like big, hard, heavy swings. Like I feel like he would knock me off the cliff with the first swing.
00:22:06
Speaker
oh And with the Hound, he was kind of one of those big like tank characters as well. And we know he can use a sword, which already like makes me feel 10 times better. so And on top of that, we know that Rory McCann was friends with Ray Stevenson in real life and kind of got the blessing of.
00:22:29
Speaker
Ray's spouse to be like, you know, this would be great. and We know that he'll honor he'll honor the role for Ray Stevenson and really take care with it. So that is positive to me. I'm interested to see how he handles the dialogue portion, because like I said, the Hound in Game of Thrones, very dry, very sarcastic, not necessarily a man of few words, but like a man of like, I'm not going to take shit. Right. And that's what it comes down to.
00:22:57
Speaker
Bailyn, funny enough, I feel like Bailyn had the best dialogue in Ahsoka. Or at least maybe Ray Stevenson was just really good at performing that dialogue. And I was going to say, or maybe it was just Ray. So I'm interested to see how Rory McCann kind of channels that Ray Stevenson, Bailyn's goal energy, while still honoring the character, but still like being his own interpretation of the character at the end of the day.
00:23:24
Speaker
well All of that sounds very promising and instills much more confidence in me. I mean, not that, you know, I was worried. I don't know this actor or anything about him, anything about his roles. But like I said, Ray Stevenson left behind some really big fucking shoes to fill and the idea of someone coming in and filling those shoes it can be a little nerve-wracking you know yeah but from the sound of it it sounds like we're in good hands especially him knowing Ray Stevenson it just it makes it that much better because it feels much more respectful yes which I'm glad I'm really glad they went the recast route I was scared you know Lucasfilm
00:24:08
Speaker
doesn't have the best track record with um passed away actors and actresses in their stuff but at least this isn't going to just be a cut and paste version of Bailin's skull from his deleted scenes from season one or something like that. Yeah or I was even worried they were gonna try to make Shin take up whatever he was doing and I was like No offense to, and I can't remember the actress named Ivana, Ivana Sakhno. Yeah, i think I think so. Yeah. No offense to her. But I didn't really see her character um going in that route. She doesn't seem as sure of herself as Balan did. And that's that's the character, not the actress, of course. I was just like, I don't see how this character would pick up the spot. So please do not do that to us. I think my only complaint is Ray Stevenson was very handsome. Rory McCann.
00:24:58
Speaker
not as handsome, so not as pleasing to look out on the screen, but that doesn't mean anything. I'm just impressed. Heron makeup can go a long way too. That's another thing I'm like, Rory is balding. um So so do wi they better have a good wig and not a Sabine wig. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I forgot this is the fucking Ahsoka show. So maybe we shouldn't put so much faith into the Heron makeup.
00:25:22
Speaker
Um, but you know, we'll,
Speculation on Ahsoka's Spiritual Focus
00:25:24
Speaker
we'll see what happens. it It should be good. My theory for how they were going to do Ahsoka season two, if they were not going to have Balan skull return is that he would have died with his whole mission with whatever he's doing with the mortis gods.
00:25:38
Speaker
And then Ahsoka and Sabine would have followed his steps. And that was just because we saw the concept art that Dave Filoni released whenever they announced Ahsoka season two of Ahsoka and Sabine standing in the same spot he stood. So yeah ah it it seemed like that might've been the way that they were going, but I'm glad it's not. And I think the entirety of Ahsoka season two is going to be very Mortis God.
00:26:06
Speaker
focused or more the spiritual side of the force because we also have some more rumors of some returning characters in the Ahsoka series. So this is kind of a one-two-three punch. They all came from Christian Harloff on his show on YouTube. but And basically the first one, Hayden Christensen, I don't think that's any surprise to anybody, is going to be in Ahsoka season two. But Christian says that he's going to have a prominent role, which will be interesting. But like I said, if they're going the whole Mortis God route, it kind of makes sense. Force Ghost Anakin, he's going to be involved.
00:26:43
Speaker
Also, Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi is said to be returning in the Ahsoka series. That one is more surprising. But again, Mortis Gods, Force Ghosts, Anakin and Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, they went through the Mortis God arc. So it makes sense. Together. They were all there. Right. Exactly. So it makes sense for Ewan McGregor to be in there.
00:27:08
Speaker
And then the last one, Ariana Greenblatt, who played the role of young Ahsoka in season one, is said to be returning. So to me, what I'm hearing is Anakin and Obi-Wan force ghosts and also Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka flashbacks to the Mortis arc.
00:27:24
Speaker
What do you think? Oh, so I'm not going to lie. I was all for when it was came out that they were thinking about doing Ewan McGregor, Obi-Wan, Force Ghost in The Last Jedi. But, you know, they're like, well, you know, that's not about how we saw him in the past. So we decided to go the Yoda route. I am ready for Ewan McGregor to take up the mantle of Force Ghost Obi-Wan. You know, he loves playing the character, not to say like no erasure for Alec Guinness, but Obi-Wan Kenobi is Ewan McGregor to me like. Yeah.
00:28:04
Speaker
I mean, and that's what I grew up with. So that's why we're pickle brained over here. And with some hair and makeup, you know, you just gray up you in a bit more or it seems like the force goes can appear however they want to appear at this point. So I think that also can be used for the reason as to why it can be you and McGregor and not Alec Guinness.
00:28:24
Speaker
um I love that you brought up the fact that it's going to tie into the more mystical side and that literally it was Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka that were on Mortis because that makes me feel a lot better about it because at first I'm like, oh what? Ewan said a bunch of times he wants to wear the Clone Wars armor, so they're just going to plop it in there.
00:28:40
Speaker
But the fact that they went on that journey together already. And like you said, Anakin was supposed to take the place of the father, the head of the Mortis Gods and Ahsoka literally has the life essence or life force of the daughter. Obi-Wan doesn't have anything special, but that's OK. He was there. He was there for support there. Exactly. And I thought Ariana Greenblatt did really great. um I really enjoyed I don't feel like there was much for her to act off of it just because it was more reactionary with her um in the scenes that we did get in those flashbacks. I do think she's a good actress. And I like the way she looks as a soca. Obviously, it'll feel better this time around because it won't be that. Oh, my God, that's not, you know, bug eyed animated Clone Wars with Noka. That's like a real person.
00:29:34
Speaker
Um, ah so I I feel more confident in it now. I'm a little worried not that I don't want to see you in McGregor, but like I said, I don't necessarily know what his role will be in it. and I originally thought when I had read the news that it was more of like just more Clone Wars flashbacks. And if we get those and it makes sense for the story, great. But don't give me a soundstage with smoke. Right. again Exactly. And especially.
00:30:03
Speaker
Well, and especially since we saw those behind the scenes scenes from the Ahsoka Blu-ray disc or 4K disc where there was actual set pieces. Yeah. That just did not appear. I saw grass. I saw rocks and shit. yeah And we did not look for like Ryloth for a little bit. You know. Yeah. Not just like a rock concert in the 80s with a giant love machine. but Exactly. I really hope that Dave Filoni is learning from some of the mistakes from Ahsoka season one and comes out with an amazing Ahsoka season two. Cause like I said before, he's really fucking talented and Lucasfilm is not using his talent correctly. I don't think he was ever meant to be the top dog, but you know,
00:30:51
Speaker
I mean, Chief Creative Officer makes sense to me because he comes up with great stories, but he came up with all those great stories and got to the place he was by working with other people and being collaborative. And it just works so much better when he collaborates.
00:31:08
Speaker
I agree with you. I think Ewan McGregor, I'm totally down to see him take up the mantle as force goes Obi-Wan. And I kind of hope that they go more into, like I said, the spiritual side of things and not just going into it, but also maybe explaining things a bit more or being able to discover it a bit more. Like I want to know.
00:31:30
Speaker
what Ahsoka is like now that she has the daughter's life force in her. You know, has that been helping her all along? Which I think we know, you know, answer is yes. But you know what returning character that we've heard no mention of? Who's that? Morai. Morai. Well, he's very damn owl back. I mean, he was she was at the end of Ahsoka season one. Remember?
00:31:54
Speaker
Yeah, but like very small. And yeah, but it's also like they're in a whole different fucking galaxy and the damn Alice still there. That doesn't get your ears turning a little bit. I mean, it does. But like you said, I just hope they learn to the weirdness of it because Paridia almost felt a little too grounded. Yeah. And if they lean into the weird in season two and we do find out there's like a portal to Mortis or whatever,
00:32:20
Speaker
um that will make it a lot more interesting in my opinion and maybe make me look back on season one knowing that, oh, there's a bunch of cool stuff on Paridia. We just hadn't gotten to it yet. Like, I think that'll make me view it in a better light than just.
00:32:36
Speaker
Oh, it's Lord of the Rings planet and Star Wars. Yeah. Yeah. They need to. They need to be a bit more creative with it, but hopefully with them, you know, going to the locations that they're going to with the mortar statues and everything. I hope it gets more visually interesting because um it was like, what do you mean we're going to a new galaxy and it's just dead and gray and disgusting.
00:33:00
Speaker
I mean, not to get into it too much. I didn't mind the design of the planet. I just was like, this isn't anything crazy. Yeah, it was like this feels like it'd be in the regular galaxy. But exactly. That's okay. We got plenty of time to weigh and to speculate on it. Exactly.
00:33:17
Speaker
Well, this next story actually released today a new story about Sean Levy's Star Wars movie, which we heard about in 2022.
Ryan Gosling Rumors in Sean Levy's Film
00:33:28
Speaker
Ryan Gosling is headed to a galaxy far, far away. He's said to be in talks to star.
00:33:35
Speaker
in this movie. Oh, I don't think Scotty Holiday is a huge fan just based on their facial expressions here. um I honestly don't feel that, you know, I don't feel that deep about it, but I want to hear what you think.
00:33:52
Speaker
hate it. You hate it. Do you just hate Ryan Gosling like as an actor? so I like Ryan Gosling. But I don't like seeing big name people in fantasy stuff because it takes me out of it. Like Wicked just came out and I just like there's Ariana Grande. There's Ariana Grande. um It with all the makeup, all the all the hair, all the costuming, like I still just see them. I literally, like I said, I hate to compare it to Wicked again, but the whole time I'm like, oh, there's that guy who left his spouse to be with Ariana. They're in the movie together. And I'm like, this is taking me out of the movie. And that's the big thing about Star Wars. It's been so like ingrained that they
00:34:35
Speaker
build up people's careers. Like they take these actors who aren't these big name actors and help propel them to new heights, fingers crossed because they've done other people dirty in the past. But right regardless, like, that's kind of the big thing. I know everybody wants to be in a Star War. But like,
00:34:53
Speaker
It's Ryan Gosling. You become too big to be in a Star Wars. Yeah, Star Wars doesn't usually cast a list actor. So it is a very it's not normal that to put it lightly, you know, especially if he's like a face character, if he's like in prosthetics and whatnot, then like, yeah, I guess that'll be better.
00:35:14
Speaker
But they ain't going to do that. Right. I think that they just want to get him in there because of Blade Runner. I feel like they've been probably trying to get Ryan Gosling in there since Blade Runner. um I don't know. I don't. The reason I don't feel too strongly about it is because it just means nothing right now because we don't know who he's going to play. We don't know what the movie is even about.
00:35:38
Speaker
The only thing that's really interesting to me here is that Sean Levy was actually supposed to be making another movie for Paramount, a boy band movie that would actually bring back Sean Levy, Hugh Jackman, and Ryan Reynolds back together who all worked on Deadpool and Wolverine. Sean Levy is the director.
00:35:56
Speaker
of Deadpool and Wolverine. We saw throughout the entire promo of that movie that those three worked really well together. But Hollywood Reporter who broke this news says that Sean Levy all of a sudden pivoted to Star Wars once Ryan Gosling became more involved.
00:36:15
Speaker
He is not going to be working on that boy band movie next. He's going to be working on Star Wars next. And I just think that's interesting because you know he just all of a sudden changed his mind once Ryan Gosling became involved. At the same time, we know how messy Star Wars production is. you know We still have no idea if the Ray movie that they announced two years ago has a writer. you know we don't We don't know shit about shit.
00:36:42
Speaker
But we know that they are casting an A-list actor in this Sean Levy movie, which makes me think it's much farther along than any of the other Star Wars projects. Because how do you get the star of freaking Barbie to star in the next Star Wars movie and not be sure about it. You know what I mean? And the Hollywood Reporter even back set up saying that it is probably going to be the next Star Wars movie after the Mandalorian in Grogu and it could be going into production as early as this fall.
00:37:16
Speaker
I don't want it. You don't want it? No, I. Well, it's going to be separate from the other Star Wars stuff. So I also I don't know. You know me. I'm going to root for the thing that has the potential to be different and expanding. I mean, I agree with that. And there is potential. Ryan Gosling is a great actor. I love him in the notebook. I love him in the Barbie movie. I know everybody loves him in Drive. um And you mentioned Blade Runner like I have no doubt that he would do good in the role. Right. I just don't want to A-list like actor playing the main character of a Star Wars movie because that's all I'm going to see. Right. And I don't know.
00:38:00
Speaker
I get it. I definitely get it. I also think like for for some reason my brain works differently with Star Wars where I almost like the behind the scenes aspect weirdly enough. Like I never I'm never that person that's taken out of anything because I'm already taken out of it. If that makes sense. Like I don't know. I just don't get as deep into it as others do where it almost has that sense of like feeling real. You know what I mean? I want to experience. Yeah. I don't I don't.
00:38:29
Speaker
I don't have that, but I definitely get deep into the stories and like what they mean and everything. I still enjoy it. I'm just not that person that's like, I need to be immersed because I'm never going to be. I mean, seeing Diego Luna and Felicity Jones in Rogue One, I knew those so actors beforehand. Yeah, they weren't A-list, but I mean the entire time I'm thinking about like X-Men and Narcos. So like, I don't know.
00:38:55
Speaker
ah um Yeah, I mean, if it comes out, I'm going to go see it. I'll probably be excited to see the movie. I love how you say if it comes out. ah Well, because nothing it is sure at fucking Disney Star Wars Lucasfilm. Yeah, it's just I don't know.
00:39:16
Speaker
i I don't want to be a hater, but I'm going to be a hater. You have every right to be because I know you on this. pocket I'll just say you do it every other week. I did it earlier in the episode. I basically was like Mandalorian is fucked. um I don't know. I just have more hope for this because, like I said, I'm going to root for everything different. Taika Watiti, he may have fallen off. I'm still going to root for his movie if it comes out because it's going to be different.
00:39:43
Speaker
and it's gonna be a new tone, which is what Star Wars needs. We just had a whole eight-episode series. I was gonna say, we loved it in Skeleton Crew. Exactly. However, other than Jude Law, who hadn't done anything in years. Well, I'm a Marvel fan, so he was the villain in Captain Marvel. Duh! I know you don't. So I don't know. I just don't have that, where I'm like, oh, I recognize this actor from this thing, because it just...
00:40:12
Speaker
It would just fall apart. I mean, Han Solo is about to be in the new fucking Captain America movie. so I know, and I hate that. I'm i' not going to see it, so it doesn't matter. Quite frankly, I don't think I'm going to see it either. Are we on to the next? We had more.
00:40:28
Speaker
I was gonna say, and unless you have more to say about this, let's move on to a topic I actually like am excited about. All right. Talk about a good segue.
Excitement for New Star Wars Animated Series
00:40:39
Speaker
yeah Let's move on to something I actually care about now.
00:40:43
Speaker
Yes, this one is very Scotty Holiday branded. We all know that Scotty loves Star Wars animation. And according to Daniel Rickman, there is two Star Wars animated series currently in development at Lucasfilm. First, let's talk about, you know, two new animated series, and then we can talk about why I think this is a very dumb rumor.
00:41:10
Speaker
Two new animated series. Very exciting. Pretty sure it's going to happen. um And I'm excited. We knew that there was like a Clone Rebellion type series that was in development at one point or could still be in development. We knew that like Asajj Ventress, she's supposed to be in something more. Nika Futterman said so. Jennifer Corbez said so. So we've been waiting. We even like had in July of last year, it was found on Disney Careers that Lucasfilm posted a job for what was it, a shot production coordinator to aid with the animation of the next Star Wars show. We knew something was in development. Scotty, what do you think?
00:41:49
Speaker
Well, of course I want it. I love Star Wars animation. It's some of my favorite, if not my favorite Star Wars in general. um Plus, we don't have to worry about those runtimes because we get like at least 12 episodes of like a season, if not more. And it's just exciting. There's just so much more that they can do. There's so many fun stories that can be told. I am kind of hoping that if we do get like a dark times era story,
00:42:18
Speaker
um I'd rather that and then like another show that's going to tell something in a completely different era. Yeah, I'm not going to lie. We all know I want the Ventress Hidden Path show and that could even involve clones like the writings on the wall for a great anthology series like the Clone Wars. But with the Hidden Path, that just makes sense to me. um I would like if if we get that, I would like the other one to be a little more.
00:42:46
Speaker
different, whether that's a different era, whether that's just exploring a different side of the galaxy. I'm hoping it's not just like a tales of series, because as much as I enjoy those as well, they're not super long. They're kind of just little bite sized series. I'm really hoping that whatever we get is like a nice long series.
00:43:10
Speaker
Yeah, I definitely agree with you. I want a long Star Wars animated series as well, especially because something I realized is this is the longest animation drought we've had since 2008. If I'm not mistaken, it's rough. because Yeah, we had the Clone Wars series and then, you know, once that ended when Disney bought Star Wars, we immediately moved into Rebels, which ended and then we I guess there was a tiny bit of a break, 2018 to 2020, where we had the Clone Wars, but we knew the Clone Wars Season 7 was coming. And then shortly after that, the Bad Batch was announced, went on for three seasons. And then we've gotten Tales of the Jedi, Tales of the Empire in between. But we don't know anything about what's next. So I guess this is the longest we've gone without knowing.
00:43:59
Speaker
What's going to happen? Oh, and in between Rebels and Clone Wars was Resistance. So I'm talking out of my ass anyways. There's been since 2008, a Star Wars animated series ongoing or at least in development that we knew about, which we don't know about now.
00:44:18
Speaker
Well, and not to get too like tin foil hat, but that just kind of goes back to both us and basically everybody being like, oh, final season of the Bad Batch already. Right. Right. Did something happen? And then like every episode seemed to have been setting something up for the future. So it was just like.
00:44:37
Speaker
But what's going on there? But as I said before, I feel like this rumor report from Daniel Rickman is just bullshit because anybody could come up with this. Daniel has a very off track record when it comes to Star Wars and Marvel. And he kind of at this point just says shit that like is obviously gonna happen like yeah yeah they're probably working on a full-on animated series and then tales of whatever and then there's the two animated series that's in development and then he's correct
00:45:15
Speaker
You know what I mean? So yeah it's not like I don't think this is happening. It's that I don't think there's someone whispering in his ear. That's an insider being like, they're working on this because it's like if that was the case, he would have gave us more insight into what is actually going to be. But there's no insight. It's just yeah they're working on two animated shows. I mean,
00:45:39
Speaker
For all we know, one of them could be the already confirmed Visions Volume 3. It's just so... Exactly. like we Anybody could have come up with this and been like, I know my shit. like you know I don't know. but Maybe it's a Wayseeker's exclusive that there's two animated series in development, actually. yeah and we know I bet you they're also developing a Star Wars movie.
00:46:07
Speaker
There's another rumor for you. They're developing plenty. They're just not shooting any. Exactly. Yeah, I think it really plays into Dave Filoni's really taking a backseat with animation.
Advocating for Star Wars Animation
00:46:20
Speaker
They closed their Singapore animation office. So it's really like a weird time in the animation world. But like animation is ripe for the streaming like era. Exactly. Like it's so perfect that they can pump out animated shows and they don't even have to like be doing it on set. They can just do it remotely. um Not to say that I want
00:46:44
Speaker
animated animation workers to be worked to death and have horrible working conditions. right But it is easier to put out an animated show than it is to put out a full live action production. So exactly I don't know why.
00:46:59
Speaker
We don't have anything going on in animation in general. And I am biased because I love Star Wars animation, but it's also just like it's and it's cheaper at the end of the day. It's cheaper. It's cheaper than hiring Ryan Gosling. So.
00:47:15
Speaker
Exactly. So I don't know what's taken so long. I feel like something has had to have happened or something changed because like between seasons for bad batch season one, two and three, there was like no time. It was like every single year they had one. And now it's already been a year pretty much since bad batch. I mean, it's at least been a year since it started coming out because a year ago we were talking about it on this podcast.
00:47:40
Speaker
Mm hmm. So I don't know. I want to know where the fuck the next animated show is. Yeah. All I know is that if we got all those Ventress teases, Jennifer Corbett, Brad Rowell, Nika Futterman, I'm going to rage. Right. And it it might just be my heel turn. It might just be. It might. just It might. I might have to have red laser eyes in a thumbnail.
00:48:09
Speaker
I would be so upset like yeah because they're like, of course we're going to tell her story. Not only did we bring her back from the dead, but we are confirming that you will know how she survived and what she's going to be doing now. So like if we don't get that, don't shoehorn her in live action. Don't shoehorn these characters that are great in animation into live action just because you can. Right. um I just saw a behind the scenes thing about them talking about the grand Inquisitor, uh, Deborah Chow and like the people that worked on that. And I just like rolled my eyes the entire time. I was like, I don't want more of this. Just keep them in animation. Then like, Oh, because Star Wars, that's why it works so well in animation is you can just do so many more things.
00:48:57
Speaker
that you can't do in live action and everything feels consistent because everything is fake and everything is 3d modeled that Literally a scene where they're having a conversation and then a scene where a character is doing Backflips down a fucking snow mountain is all consistent and works. And it's not one shot looks more fake than the other. It works. And I think, you know, we talked about people wanting that immersive experience beforehand. I think it's much easier to get immersed into something like that that has more consistency. Am I wrong?
00:49:29
Speaker
No, you're completely right. And on top of that, let's not forget that the animation, if if they stick with Clone Wars animation style, it's so amazing looking. Some of the scenes from Bad Batch in in season three, specifically some of the environmental scenes, I'm like, this is like not real. Like it looks so realistic. The details are so great.
00:49:52
Speaker
And I mean, maybe because they've been bringing these animated characters into live action, I'd like to think maybe more people are going back and checking out the animated stuff. I know Disney Plus even has like a Ahsoka Tano essential episodes. And it's got Clone Wars. It's got Mando. It's got her series. So are rebels, too. So like you can go through and see the Ahsoka story. So much better.
00:50:17
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I was going to say. We know the writing has been great in animation. Exactly. The amount of emotions they can convey in the writing is specifically in the animated series that they've done, like within the even just the past few years. But like in general, it's just so good. And it just comes down to at the end of the day, don't sleep on Star Wars animation.
00:50:39
Speaker
at all at fucking all this is the way seekers we basically treat the animated series on the same level as the live-action ones i mean the way we review them and talk about them each week it's it's all the same to us it's all on the same exact level i know there's people who don't agree but listen Embo is going to be the fucking villain of the next Star Wars movie and Rod of the Hutt is going to be in it. So all I'm saying is that if you're not on the animation train, you're getting left behind. You're missing out for better or worse.
Optimism for Upcoming Star Wars Projects
00:51:11
Speaker
Well, I think that that was all of the news stories. Thank you so much for tuning into this little makeshift episode. We had this catch up episode. Yes. Oh, this is the way seekers. There's some crazy shit going on. But, you know, I still have faith in Star Wars. We have and or coming up visions coming up. I can't believe I didn't even to mention it. Can't wait for visions. Yes. That's going to be amazing. Absolutely. It's all it's all going to be great.
00:51:38
Speaker
Hopefully. Well, Scotty, why don't you send us out of here? Yeah, make sure you follow us at WaySeeker's pod on social media so you never miss one of our episodes. Let us know what you're excited for in any of these rumors that we talked about today. Thank you all so much for listening and may the force be with you always.