Star Wars Bits: Pride Month, The Acolyte, Doctor Aphra, Durge, The Bad Batch, And More!

In this edition of Star Wars Bits:

StarWars.com is celebrating Pride Month with a list of LGBTQ+ Star Wars characters, including Doctor Aphra and Rae Sloane:

"Star Wars is for everyone, and that means the worlds we explore are inclusive and diverse places to visit. Although there's still work to be done to create more high-profile stories of people of all gender identities and expressions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and backgrounds in the galaxy far, far away, to celebrate this Pride Month — which spotlights the importance of continued conversation and support of LGBTQ+ rights for dignity, visibility, and equality — we've gathered a short list of just a few of our favorite out and proud queer Star Wars characters."

Check out the full list here. There's also a great piece by Bria LaVorgna on The Personal Impact of Doctor Aphra.

Durge, the bounty hunter originally created for Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars 2D Micro Series, is making the jump to modern Star Wars storytelling. In Marvel's Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #11, part of the War of the Bounty Hunters crossover, Durge will cross paths with Aphra and Sana Starros.

StarWars.com has an exclusive first look at Doctor Aphra #11, which you can view here. For more information on upcoming Star Wars comics, click here.

The AV Club recently published an interview with Leslye Headland, co-creator of Netflix's Russian Doll and showrunner of the upcoming Star Wars series The Acolyte. Headland has been a hardcore Star Wars fan for a long time:

"My relationship with Star Wars probably runs the span of most of my life, and it has changed over the decades. When I was younger, I devoured the films on home video and absolutely loved them—just a deep connection to the original trilogy. When I was in middle school, I read some novels, like Timothy Zahn's 'Heir To The Empire,' and also got into it that way."

Headland also discusses assembling a diverse writers' room for The Acolyte:

"First of all, I really wanted people that were different than me. I certainly didn't want a room full people that were just agreeing with me vehemently. Not ideologically, but artistically—people that kind of had different writing styles or were interested in different things, all that kind of stuff. But there was a certain intention, in terms of putting together a room that I felt like were people that I hadn't been in a room with before, if that makes sense."

That diversity extends to the writers' own experiences with the Star Wars universe:

"I wanted to put the room together in that way. That also means hiring people that are not necessarily the die-hard, cutthroat fan that I am when it comes to Star Wars stuff. It is weird to be the person who's going, 'Well, in 325 BBY,' and everyone's like, 'What are you talking about?' 'Hold on, I'll send you a link.' Everyone's like, 'Should that be another person that's doing that? Why is the showrunner doing that?' And I'm like, "Here's a picture, this is what he looks like.'"

I encourage you to check out the insightful interview in its entirety at The A. V. Club.

Jennifer Corbett, the head writer and executive producer of Star Wars: The Bad Batch, talks about finding the show's heart and taking Clone Force 99 on a journey to find their purpose after the Clone Wars. Here's an excerpt:

"Corbett's personal background also undoubtedly influenced her approach. Her time spent as a writer and producer for NCIS gave her a keen understanding of the banter between a squad of specialists from different backgrounds coming together for a shared purpose. "I'm drawn to those kinds of military stories because I was in the military," she adds, "so I get the dynamic between NCIS agents and also this elite squad of misfits." In our own post-9/11 world, Corbett served in the US Navy where she was one of two female officers on a ship of 400 sailors.  That experience also helped inform how she finds the camaraderie between Hunter, Tech, Wrecker, Echo, and Omega."

Check out the full interview at StarWars.com.

In an interview with Star Wars Insider, Creature and Special Make-up Effects Creative Supervisor Neal Scanlan talks about his experiences working on Star Wars films. Here's an excerpt, courtesy of StarWars.com:

"During pre-production on The Force Awakens, Tommy Harper asked me to come up with some ideas. We put a team together, and the happabore was one of the first things we started working on. My thinking was, "How could we best demonstrate to J.J. and Kathy what was possible with animatronics, without getting into what people traditionally thought they were all about?" I decided we should do the biggest thing we could and bring it to life by putting people inside it. That way there were no mechanics, just performers, so when J.J. walked onto the stage and this thing walked towards him, he could simply direct it. That felt like a good way of selling the philosophy of what we were going to do on the film."

While on the subject, I interviewed Scanlan last year about his work on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. You can check that interview here.

In addition to their "Indy Year" series, a year-long monthly tribute to the 40th anniversary of Indiana Jones, the Blast Points Podcast has a new episode all about the 1983 audio drama Rebel Mission to Ord Mantell:

We all know Han Solo had a run in with a bounty hunter on Ord Mantell, but did you know that the legendary Brian Daley wrote a standalone story about it that came out the same year as the Star Wars radio drama? This odd, wonderful and long of out print piece of Star Wars history stands alone as the one thing that combines the voice cast of the Beuna Vista read-along records and the spirit of the NPR radio shows! How did it come about and what is its connections to Two Tubes, Cad Bane, and how did it almost end up being the plot for an episode of the Droids animated series?! Listen here.

Blast Points also has fantastic episode reviews of Star Wars: The Bad Batch available on their Patreon.

Talking Bay 94 has an interview with creature and droid performer Katy Kartwheel:

Katy Kartwheel is incredible: a multi-talented circus performer and actress, she portrayed many characters in the recent Star Wars movies, including Rio Durant in Solo: A Star Wars Story. She was such a delight to talk to, full of a deep love for her craft and incredible stories from her time on set, working as a creature and droid performer for The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and Solo. Listen here.

Talking Bay 94 also has a great interview with Nick Malley, aka "That Yoda Guy", who was a creature and special effects make-up artist for the original Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back.

Skytalkers has an excellent episode on last week's episode of The Bad Batch:

Charlotte and Caitlin discuss the latest episode of The Bad Batch, "Reunion" and react to that shocking reveal! They discuss the theme of free will, what does "redemption" look like for Crosshair?, *that character*, favorite cute moments, what's next, and more. Listen here.

Pink Milk is a Star Wars podcast where hosts (and husbands) Bryan and Tom talk Star Wars, queerly:

Bryan is a Star Wars super-fan and Tom is "Forced" to listen to Bryan however, he's an out and proud casual fan. Bryan and Tom bring their fun and funny relationship to the mics as they discuss Star Wars from two very different perspectives but always from a LGBTQ+ perspective. Listen here.

The Resistance Broadcast is the official Star Wars podcast of StarWarsNewsNet.com. Check out one of their latest episode on Kevin Feige's Star Wars project, The Book of Boba Fett, and more:

Loki showrunner and Dr. Strange 2 writer Michael Waldron has confirmed he is writing Kevin Feige's Star Wars movie. We give our thoughts on his recent comments about what makes Star Wars work. We also take a close look at the leaked Obi-Wan Kenobi set photos, plus the latest on The Book of Boba Fett via Temuera Morrison. That and more, including the return of  #AskTheResistance, where we answer your submitted questions! Listen here.

On Scavenger's Hoard, Rachael and Kirsty discuss 1984's Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure!

We then begin a new podcasting saga exploring the EWOK DUOLOGY (yes, that is the correct parlance). Join us for a deep dive into Caravan of Courage, taking you from George Lucas being a good dad (™) to Campbellian narrative influences and the changing face of Mace and Cindel's dad. We also explore the deeper ideology underlining the film, touching upon the unsettling implications of Ewoks sacrificing their lives to help restore the American Nuclear Family to wholeness. Listen here.

Sistas with Sabers is a podcast made for and by Black female fans of Star Wars. It's a safe space for Black female fans to connect, support each other and share their experience with the world. Listen to their latest episode here.Around the Galaxy is a one-hour, one guest, Star Wars fan talk show. Every week, Pete Fletzer brings you conversations with authors, personalities, actors, creators, and super fans talking about their Star Wars journey. In the latest episode, Pete speaks with Mark A. Altman.

Author, producer, writer, showrunner, former editor-in-chief, entrepreneur, and Star Trek expert, Mark A. Altman joins us to talk about his new unauthorized complete history of Star Wars. Listen here.

Hosted by Gerry Cable and Scotty Jayro, The Bombadcast is all about positivity in the Star Wars fandom and creating a connected community. Check out their latest episode here.

Podcast of the Whills treats Star Wars like a sacred text. On the latest episode, Nick is joined by Bill & Trey from the Skywalking Through the League podcast. They talk about sports and sports fandom, Star Wars, and they count down Bill & Trey's Top 7 Star Wars Characters That Need Their Own Disney+ Show/Series. Listen here. You can also watch the episode on YouTube.

On Bespin's Other Bits (BOB The Podcast), Star Wars scooper Bespin Bulletin discusses whatever he feels like with co-host Isaac Pevy. Topics include Star Wars, video games, and pop culture in general:

Join Bespin, Nick and Isaac as they chat about The Bad Batch, Loki, Indiana Jones 5, The Suicide Squad, and revisit The Fate of the Furious, along with reviews of Luca and In The Heights. Listen here.

On the latest episode of Live Action Star Wars, Ralph and James break down the 1983 documentary, From Star Wars to Jedi: The Making of a Saga.

The Bombadcast are celebrating their two-year anniversary, and their 100th episode, by breaking down their 100 favorite things in all of Star Wars!

Have you checked out Silver's Star Wars Thrifting channel? A true scavenger girl, Silver visits flea markets and thrift stores in search of Star Wars treasures.

The Imperial Senate Podcast discusses the eighth episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch

On The Resistance Broadcast, John, James, and Lacey discuss the best insults in Star Wars!

On Holochronicles, Star Wars collectors Andy and Josh recap all the highs from SummerCon in Puyallup, Washington.

Over at Kessel Run Transmissions, Noah, Corey, and Claire discuss the possibility of Barriss Offee appearing in Star Wars: Ahsoka.

Star Wars Explained has a new video on the assassin Deathstick, who just appeared in Marvel's War of the Bounty Hunters! They talk about the character's history in the mobile game Star Wars: Uprising and what she means for the comic crossover event.

On This Week! in Star Wars, host Kristin Baver introduces us to a new bounty hunter from War of the Bounty Hunters: Jabba the Hutt and much, much more!

"This week in Star Wars, we meet a brand new bounty hunter from the comic pages of War of the Bounty Hunters: Jabba the Hutt, return to Vader's castle with the upcoming Star Wars Adventures: Ghosts of Vader's Castle, and climb aboard the Starlight Beacon for the annual conference of the Galactic Agriculture Alliance in the latest issue of Star Wars Insider. Plus, we pull up a chair to talk all about the return of Cad Bane in Star Wars: The Bad Batch."

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, reach out on Twitter!