Welcome back to The Cantina where we definitely serve your kind. I’m your bartender Kyle Malone and I’m serving up tall glasses of nothing but Star Wars.  By now you know I am the dedicated, well versed in the EU, experienced gamer, and open-minded fan this world needs. I see the flaws in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, but also the great moments too. I know the importance of The Empire Strikes Back but see how strong Return of the Jedi is. I see that the prequels… well… we’ll get there… maybe. There’s nothing more satisfying than a great Star Wars story, and I want more! 

Recent News And Rumors

It’s here again, the discussion about the damned title to Episode IX. I do think they’ve been mean to us by not releasing that yet. I understand the trailer not coming out until April, most likely at this year’s Celebration event, and that it isn’t out of the norm for us to wait this long for that. That title though… There’s been no shortage of rumors of course, and today I bring you one from the depths of Reddit. How would you like The Only Hope? Yeah, it doesn’t really sound good to me either! This supposed leak came with an instruction sheet on branding and immediately looks fake. From wrong color HEX codes to incredibly shady artwork and text, no one on Reddit is buying this.

Other title rumors have included Son of Darkness, Knights of Ren, The New Order, and Balance of the Force. The first would have been good for a middle movie that focused on Kylo instead of an ignorant space chase. The second wouldn’t really fit anywhere the way they’ve used the Knights, or not used I should say. The third title would have been a good opener if they had really subverted expectations and showed us the fall of The New Republic, but instead, we got A New Hope 2.0. That last one… I hated it when I covered it last month. Out of all of these, it seems the most likely though.

I can almost promise you that we’ll get everything at once with the Episode IX panel at this year’s Star Wars Celebration on April 12th.

Last Call: Star Wars Moments

Kyle: With Episode IX on its way, I thought about what it was like four years ago when we got to see the first teaser for The Force Awakens. I had been skeptical about everything I had heard since Disney made its purchase of LucasFilm add that to my anger over the destruction of the Expanded Universe and you could say I was not expecting to be happy. When the teaser hit I had to watch it a few times to really grasp what it was I had seen. The first viewing left me intrigued with the new look to the Stormtroopers as well as the new Lightsaber, but with so little to go on story-wise, I wasn’t super excited. It did a good job making me interested overall. I don’t think I got incredibly excited about the film until I was on my way to the theater, but that’s a discussion for another day.

Jammer: I was a little more optimistic than you, Kyle. For me, it was less about the mythology and story of the film and more about the feeling. When I thought of Star Wars, there was a tangibility to it. Those Original Trilogy films were chock-full of practical effects, and that helped contribute to its overall lived-in feel that it helped pioneer back in the ’70s. That approach did not continue on with the Prequels.

Instead of a lived-in feel, George Lucas opted for a shinier, newer aesthetic, and it certainly didn’t help that a lot of the backgrounds and world consisted of pure CG, making it feel less and less tangible with each successive film. With Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the world felt real again. You were right, they didn’t have a lot to show off, but they did have those crunchy visuals, and for the first time in decades, I felt like I could reach out and touch Star Wars. So while I know I’m one of the vocal few defending most of Disney’s films, I think a lot of it has to do with what they’ve managed to accomplish on a filmmaking and special effects level in addition to the bold stories.

Be sure to check out next week’s Last Call Podcast and hear three grown men discuss, debate, complain about, and over examine Attack of the Clones!

What rumored titles do you like? What would you name the final movie? Let me know in the comments below! May The Force Be With You!

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