Star Wars Bits: Star Wars Squadrons, The Star Wars Archives, Liam Neeson Praises The Phantom Menace, Babu Frik, And More!
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In this edition of Star Wars Bits:
Star Wars: SquadronsCG short “Hunted” Ushers in New Era of Star Wars StorytellingStar Wars Squadronsarrives October 2 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and VR, promising to bring classicStar Warsdogfights to new interactive heights. Industrial Light & Magic legendJohn Knolland his team collaborated with Electronic Arts and Motive Studios to craft a thrilling CG short, “Hunted,” which you may check out below!
StarWars.comsat down with Knoll and the director, EA’sNeel Upadhye, to talk about the short. Here’s a preview:
The Star Wars Archives 1977–1983Gets Re-Release
Author and editorPaul Duncanrecently announcedthat his amazing bookThe Star Wars Archives 1977–1983would be receiving a re-release fromTaschenin November.
Duncan has said this version will feature a smaller page size and be in portrait, not landscape layout. It’s also an abridged version, which means fewer words and images overall. This shorter version will put more focus on the George Lucas interviews Duncan conducted, detailing the creation of the original trilogy. Here’s the official description:
Star Warsexploded onto our cinema screens in 1977, and the world has not been the same since. In this book, George Lucas guides us through the original trilogy like never before, recounting the inspirations, experiences, and stories that created a modern monomyth. Complete with script pages, concept art, storyboards, on-set photography, and more.
For more details, check out our own Ben Pearson’scoverageof the news. You can pre-order the book now for $25 fromTaschen.
Liam Neeson PraisesThe Phantom Menace
In a recent interview withAndy Cohenon SiriusXM’sRadio Andy, the Irish actor talked about his experience withStar Wars: The Phantom Menaceand his fondness for the movie.
“I like the film. I proud of it and proud to have been a part of it. […] I got to be a Jedi. I got to play with those wonderful lightsabers and stuff. It was terrific, Andy, it really was.”
Neeson went on to talk about his castmateAhmed Bestwho received so much backlash from his performance as Jar Jar Binks that he contemplated suicide. About Best, Neeson said:
“He came into a lot of criticism, I mean to the point where it really hurt his career. And I have to say when I was making that film […] he was probably one of the funniest guys and talented guys I have ever worked with.”
Listen to the full clip below!
Babu Frik Is Now a Talking Plush Toy
Lucasfilm and Mattel are releasing a plush toy of Babu Frik that Target will exclusively be shipping out and stocking on shelves soon. The new talking plush is sculpted to capture the essence of the character and features six voice clips from the film, including his delightful and very formal introduction — “Hello, I Babu Frik.”
StarWars.comhas an interview withAlexander Lathrop, senior product designer at Mattel, about bringing this adorable toy to life.Mattel’s Babu Frik is available for pre-order exclusively at Target now.Star WarsPodcast Round-UpBlast Points Podcastis celebrating Ewok Month with a look atCaravan of Courage: An Ewok AdventureandEwoks: The Battle for Endor.They also have a trailer freak-out episode aboutThe MandalorianSeason 2.
The trailer forThe MandalorianSeason 2 is finally here and we are pretty darn excited by all the wildness going down in this little ditty. The Graffiti Planet, Space Boats, fishing Quarrens in overalls, X-Wings, fighting Gamorreans, and so much more. Join us as we go shot by shot and break it all down in that special super freakout style. So grab your buddy and celebrate the love with BLAST POINTS!Listen here.
Talking Bay 94has an interview withRena Owen, who played Taun We inAttack of the Clones.
Skytalkershas an episode about “hopepunk” as well as interviews withIan Doescherto discuss Shakespeare and Star Wars with the release ofThe Merry Rise of SkywalkerandE. Anne Convery, author of the Nightsisters story “Bug” inThe Clone Wars: Stories of Light and Dark.
Caitlin and Charlotte explore just why we need HOPEPUNK now more than ever in Star Wars storytelling. On this episode: What is hopepunk? Is Star Wars inherently hopepunk? What stories have the potential to be more hopepunk than others and why is this a type of story we revere? All this and more on Skytalkers.Listen here.
The Resistance Broadcastis the officialStar Warspodcast of StarWarsNewsNet.com and their recent episodes include theircreative picks for their dreamStar Warsmovieas well as the latest details onThe MandalorianSeason 2.
On this episode, we dive into the latest details onThe MandalorianSeason 2 including the fact thatPedro Pascalis in the suit more this time around. We also get into the hysteria surrounding Rey’s parentage afterDaisy Ridleyrecently revealed a tie to Kenobi was once a likely option. And speaking of Kenobi, we touch onEwan McGregor’s recent update on the upcomingObi-WanDisney Plus series.
The Imperial Senate Podcastdiscusses the latest Star Wars news, includingThe MandalorianSeason 2,John Boyega’s British GQ interview, and more.
OnRogue Podron, the crew takes a deep-dive onAlexander Freed’sShadow Fall: An Alphabet Squadron Novel.
TIME FOR SOME FEELINGS! We begin our journey through the second Alphabet Squadron book, discussion chapters 1-3 of Shadow Fall by Alexander Freed. Good thing we have a torture droid to help us process our feelings.Listen here.
OnBespin’s Other Bits (BOB The Podcast)–Star WarsscooperBespin Bulletindiscusses whatever he feels like with co-hostIsaac Pevy. Topics includeStar Wars, video games, and pop culture in general.
In this week’s typically all over the place conversation, Bespin and Isaac talk about Mando pics, Daisy Ridley’s latest interview, theDunetrailer,Mulan,The Avengersgame, XBOX Series S pricing, and more!Listen here.
Star WarsYouTube Round-Up
FromTheme Park Stopexplores the original Star Wars Land we didn’t get with their latest video, The UnBuilt History of Galaxy’s Edge:
After purchasing Lucasfilm in 2012, Disney tasked Imagineers with designing new Star Wars attractions for their theme parks. In 2015 Disney announced they would be building two massive lands based on the franchise, one at Disneyland and the other in Walt Disney World. Eventually named Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, the lands we got in 2019 were completely different from what was first designed during those early years—And they weren’t even exactly what was originally announced.
As previously mentioned,the officialStar WarsYouTube channelfinally released the first trailer forThe MandalorianSeason 2! Our ownEthan Andertonwrote a huge breakdown of the trailer socheck it out!
And here’sAlexandMollie DamonatStar Wars Explainedto break it down!
Looking for even more discussion aboutThe Mandalorianand what’s to come?Noah OutlawandCorey Van DykeatKessel Run Transmissionshave you covered.
StarWarsNewsNet.com’sJohn Hoey, James Baney,andLacey Gilleranalso give their thoughts on the new trailer!
And finally, here’s a pug (owned by fansJason KauzlarichandAlyssa Vidales) cosplaying as “Bantha Saying Where” fromThe MandalorianSeason 2 trailer.
Good boipic.twitter.com/2x75soc65w
— Jason Kauzlarich (@JasonKauz)June 28, 2025
And that’s it for this edition of Star Wars Bits! If you have something cool from the Star Wars Universe that should be included in this column, justreach out on Twitter!
