Hyperspace Theories

Hyperspace Theories
  • 4.5 (13)
  • TV & Film

On Hyperspace Theories the team from FANgirl Blog discuss elements that impact Star Wars storytelling. Each month hosts Tricia Barr, BJ Priester and Kay Serna take a deep dive into creative individuals who impact the franchise, from George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy to William Shakespeare and Hayao Miyazaki, then break down storytelling from worldbuilding to character development. Tricia Barr is co-author of Ultimate Star Wars, the definitive guide to Star Wars from DK Publishing, featured writer for Star Wars Insider magazine and author of the award-winning space opera WYNDE. BJ Priester is editor of FANgirl Blog; his writings on the Heroine's Journey is widely referenced by educators. Kay Serna writes book and movie reviews for FANgirl and is a regular on Disney Vault Talk's Rebel Yell.

  1. 1d ago

    Storytelling Success in Spider-Man: Brand New Day

    On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester discuss the storytelling challenges facing the latest film in the Spider-Man movie franchise, Brand New Day, and how the creative team successfully rose to the occasion. Like Luke Skywalker, Peter Parker is a multi-generational beloved hero with decades of official stories and fandom passion. Interestingly, though, the current movie iteration unfolded in an usual manner. Tom Holland's character skipped the classic Spider-Man origin story (the radioactive spider, Uncle Ben's demise, etc.) and vaulted headlong into the midst of some of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's biggest showdowns and team-ups (Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers Endgame) quite early in his superhero career compared to the usual progression of his previous comics or animated series narratives. At the end of his most recent eponymous film, No Way Home, he had to make the heart-breaking decision to save the world at immense personal cost: a Doctor Strange spell that erased all memories of Peter Parker (but not Spider-Man) from everyone in the world, including his superhero compatriots and his closest personal friends.   Heading into Brand New Day, then, Peter Parker is essentially restarting his life from square one. We first discuss how this context sets up the story structure of the movie, which reprises many of the familiar beats of the Hero's Journey monomyth even though this is not an origin story in the usual sense. This context also generates the protagonist's dual character arc: Peter Parker must learn that he can't go through life alone, and Spider-Man must reconcile and synthesize the human and arachnid genetics interacting within his body. We then examine how these two arcs for Peter create parallels with the other characters who serve as allies, foils, and antagonists across the story. Bruce and Jean also struggle to maintain a sense of self against the challenge of a rising "monster" within. Frank is a kind of shadow, a gruffer and grimmer representation of what Peter could let himself become. Detective DeWolf and memories of Aunt May urge Peter to care for his own emotional well-being, while Yelena wants to see her "sad man" superhero acquaintance find some friends. Ned and MJ know something is missing from their memories, but for all their MIT smarts this is one problem they haven't been able to solve. And Peter must, as the second act moves into the third, come to grips with how badly he has misjudged Metzger and the Damage Control agency, and do his best to make things right.   We also consider other strong storytelling aspects of Brand New Day. The movie consistently uses a call-and-response form of repetition to reinforce themes and indicate parallels. Despite Frank's brutal character, The Punisher, the film ultimately rejects toxic masculinity and shows how Peter, Frank, and Bruce demonstrate positive portrayals of male characters. Similarly, an unexpected connection between Jean and Aunt May helps guide the young woman back from the brink and shows her that someday she may find new friends to help salve the pain of her mother's abandonment and her sister's death. Ultimately, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a very well-told tale, and its rise to become among the very highest-grossing movies of all time is a testament to its success in resonating with audiences, too.   Related Links: Check out our recent episode on the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art   Social Media: Tricia Barr (@fangirlcantina) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky B.J. Priester (@redpenoflex) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky Fangirl Zone on Facebook

  2. Oct 7

    Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

    On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester approach our usual theme of storytelling from a new angle for the podcast. In early September we attended Founding Member previews at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Los Angeles, California, which opens to the public on September 22, 2026. We begin our discussion with the foundational questions: What is narrative art? And why did George Lucas dedicate a significant portion of his fortune to acquiring a vast collection of narrative art and building a museum to display and store it? Although Lucas's wealth comes primarily from his creation of the Star Wars franchise, and later his sale of Lucasfilm to Disney for $4 billion in 2012, visitors to the Lucas Museum may be surprised to discover that Star Wars comprises less than ten percent of the art on display for the grand opening. As a podcast with a longtime focus on Star Wars storytelling, naturally we share our thoughts about our favorite pieces in the Cinema gallery with its opening exhibit titled "Star Wars In Motion."   The Lucas Museum offers much more to visitors than just paintings and drawings hanging in frames on walls. The exterior park grounds, artistic in their own right, have meaningful sculptures displayed there, too. The large-scale murals in a fifth-floor gallery includes stunning works by Banksy and JR, among other famous artists. The museum's first floor, which will be open to the public without a paid ticket, includes a fascinating exhibit entitled "The History of Narrative Art: Heroes • Myths • The Sacred" that connects the ideas of narratives and art across millennia of human history. We also discuss our favorite works of narrative art from among the museum's numerous other galleries, featuring topics such as history, family, sport, fantasy, adventure, comics, children's stories, the art of Norman Rockwell, and more.   Related Links:   Lucas Museum of Narrative Art official website Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Taschen book Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Opens to the Public on September 22, 2026 (Sep. 2, 2026) How the Lucas Museum's epic battle for a home ended in L.A. (Los Angeles Times; Sep. 10, 2026)   Social Media:   Tricia Barr (@fangirlcantina) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky B.J. Priester (@redpenoflex) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky Fangirl Zone on Facebok

  3. May 26

    Star Wars Returns to Theaters with THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU

    A Star Wars movie is back in theaters for the first time since 2019! In this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester kick off our analysis of The Mandalorian and Grogu with a discussion of the major storytelling decisions underlying the film, which is directed by Jon Favreau and co-written by Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor (The Book of Boba Fett). As the sixth movie of the Disney era and the first Star Wars film built upon source material from outside the preceding movies – specifically the three seasons of the Disney+ streaming series The Mandalorian as well as adjacent series The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka – the creation of The Mandalorian and Grogu faced a number of challenges not previously faced by theatrical Star Wars, including an imperative to produce the movie on a considerably smaller budget than the Sequel Trilogy releases while reviving fan and customer enthusiasm for Star Wars on the big screen and the ancillary merchandise revenue that has long accompanied Star Wars films. This context in the state of the franchise explains a number of key decisions about the story built for The Mandalorian and Grogu, including the desire to acknowledge the full range of previous Star Wars stories and fans, from the Original Trilogy and Expanded Universe to the Prequels, The Clone Wars, and Disney-era films, animation, and publishing. We also examine the themes found at the heart of the story, and the non-Star Wars cinematic influences on Favreau's movie. We then revisit a frequent aspect of the Hyperspace Theories podcast: examining how Star Wars' longstanding association with the monomyth story structure shapes the tale being told in The Mandalorian and Grogu. Unsurprisingly, as a standalone film rather than a segment within a trilogy, The Mandalorian and Grogu readily aligns with the cinematic story structure expressed by Christopher Vogler, a distillation and updating of the classical monomyth found in the work of Joseph Campbell. This plot structure also guides the character arcs for The Mandalorian and Grogu, which features the two titular characters as well as significant character development for a third: Rotta the Hutt, who faces his own father-son thematic turmoil as well as pivotal choices about his path in life and the future he seeks for himself in the galaxy far far away. Related Links: Fangirls Going Rogue: A Special Look at The Mandalorian and Grogu (April) Fangirls Going Rogue: Episode 26.4 Countdown to The Mandalorian and Grogu (April) Fangirls Going Rogue: Interview with The Mandalorian and Grogu's Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni (May) Fangirls Going Rogue: Doug Chiang, John Knoll, and Ludwig Göransson Discuss Making The Mandalorian and Grogu (May) Fangirls Going Rogue: Episode 26.6 The Mandalorian and Grogu Behind-the-Scenes and Review (May) Social Media: Tricia Barr (@fangirlcantina) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky B.J. Priester (@redpenoflex) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky Fangirl Zone on Facebook

  4. May 20

    Maul, Devon, and Characterization in Maul – Shadow Lord

    On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester continue our discussion of the new Maul – Shadow Lord animated series. This time we focus on the writing and characterization of the principal characters, especially Maul and how his past and present informs his strategy for gradually guiding Devon Izara toward her choice to become his apprentice. Along the way we consider the connections between the titular character we see in Maul – Shadow Lord and his earlier incarnations in The Phantom Menace and The Clone Wars, and how those portrayals influence who Maul has become by his time on Janix. We also compare Maul's proposal to Ahsoka Tano during the Siege of Mandalore at the end of that war to his goals with Devon Izara in Shadow Lord. With Maul's future appearances in Solo: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars Rebels already established, we also speculate briefly on where the new characters from Maul – Shadow Lord may be headed in its second season. Rylee Lawson and Two-Boots believe that Brander Lawson was killed by stormtroopers in their escape, which may affect their choices in his absence, but the show provides a strong storytelling reason to think he isn't dead (yet). Devon's future is unknown, too, and the parallel with Ahsoka poses some interesting possibilities for her ultimate fate, as well. Related Links: Fangirls Going Rogue Episode 26.3 Maul – Shadow Lord Interviews and Review Fangirls Going Rogue Episode 26.5 Maul's Next Chapter House of R podcast (YouTube): The 'Star Wars: Maul—Shadow Lord' Season 1 Finale With Sam Witwer Social Media: Tricia Barr (@fangirlcantina) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky B.J. Priester (@redpenoflex) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky Fangirl Zone on Facebook

  5. May 3

    Worldbuilding in Maul - Shadow Lord

    On the new episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester begin our discussion of the latest series from Lucasfilm Animation, Maul – Shadow Lord. The ten-episode first season has been releasing on Disney+ with paired episodes each Monday in April 2026, culminating in the season finale on May the Fourth. The creative team already has confirmed a second season of the series is in production, ensuring the character arcs of the principal figures in the story will have much more to come. For this podcast episode, we focus on the world-building developed for Maul – Shadow Lord and how the series reveals it across the first six episodes. The first episode, titled "The Dark Revenge" rather ominously, naturally does a lot of the heavy lifting, but additional layers and implications to the world-building continue to unfold in further episodes. Interestingly, the season (through eight episodes) is set entirely on the planet of Janix, which has many recognizable location types from previous Star Wars storytelling as well as elements familiar from its other inspirational source material, such as gangster films and police procedurals. More importantly, however, Maul – Shadow Lord benefits from a development process that facilitated the entire season to be designed and written as a whole. This enabled the writers and creators to plan out the core character arcs, then build the world to suit the needs of that story in a way that feels natural and organic to the audience. From the symmetry in the disrupted fates of Maul and Devon to the buddy-cop duo of Lawson and Two-Boots, the criminal underworld and a Master-Padawan relationship, Maul – Shadow Lord takes advantage of its ability to rely on common traits and tropes to build a world with strong verisimilitude that serves, rather than distracts from, the trials and tribulations of the characters. Related Links: Fangirls Going Rogue Episode 26.3: Maul – Shadow Lord Interviews and Review Social Media: Tricia Barr (@fangirlcantina) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky B.J. Priester (@redpenoflex) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky Fangirl Zone on Facebook

  6. Jan 29

    Lucasfilm's New Era Officially Begins

    On January 15, 2026, Lucasfilm formally announced that Kathleen Kennedy is "stepping down" as president of the company. Dave Filoni will take on the role of President and Chief Creative Officer. Lynwen Brennan, who for the past two years has held the title of "President & General Manager, Lucasfilm Business" alongside Kennedy, will continue in that role as "Co-President" with Filoni. On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, recorded days later, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester discuss the implications of this long-anticipated transition in the highest levels of Lucasfilm's leadership. We begin with a brief recap of the other Star Wars news stories in the preceding ten days, which had implicitly suggested that a major change would be imminent. We then unpack the press release from Lucasfilm, and what it represents as an official communication from a division of a publicly traded multi-national corporation. Next, we consider the additional information provided by source journalistic reporting from the major Hollywood trade publications – Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Wrap – as well as Matthew Belloni at Puck, who has consistently broken accurate stories about the extended leadership succession process at Lucasfilm. Then we examine the further remarks from Kennedy herself, provided in an "exit interview" she conducted with Deadline, another longstanding Hollywood publication. Finally, we end this episode of the podcast with our brief predictions about the likely future announcements from the new leadership team about the projects they have underway for the future of Star Wars. Media Coverage Links: Lucasfilm and the Walt Disney Studios Announce Leadership Transition (StarWars.com; Jan. 15, 2026) Lucasfilm Replacing Kathleen Kennedy With Dave Filoni, Lynwen Brennan as New 'Star Wars' Bosses (Brett Lang, Variety; Jan. 15, 2026) Star Wars Shake-Up: Kathleen Kennedy Steps Down as George Lucas Protégé Dave Filoni, Exec Lynwen Brennan Take Over Lucasfilm (Aaron Couch & Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter; Jan. 15, 2026) A Shift In The Force For Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy: The Exit Interview (Mike Fleming Jr., Deadline; Jan. 15, 2026) Kathleen Kennedy's Final Episode (Matthew Belloni, Puck; Jan. 16, 2026) Kathleen Kennedy's Lucasfilm Legacy: A Galaxy in Disarray | Analysis (Drew Taylor, The Wrap; Jan. 16, 2026) Star Wars Has New Hope (and Some Growing Pains) in Its Future (Richard Newby, The Hollywood Reporter; Jan. 16, 2026) 20 Surefire, 100 Percent Probable Hollywood Predictions for 2026 (Part One) (Matthew Belloni, Puck; Jan. 6, 2026) Kathleen Kennedy to Step Down at Lucasfilm (Matthew Belloni, Puck; Feb. 5, 2025) FANgirl Blog Links: Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025: Perspective and Takeaways (May 2025) Hyperspace Theories: The Curious Case of Kathleen Kennedy's Retirement (Mar. 2025) Ten Years of Hyperspace Theories (Oct. 2024) Lessons in Franchise Management – MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios (Jan. 2024) Hyperspace Theories: Starting 2024 with the Future of Star Wars (Jan. 2024) The Stories Told By White Men Rise to the Top at the Lucasfilm Showcase: Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2022 (June 2022) The Failures of The Rise of Skywalker, Part 6 (Jan. 2020) Comparing Two Fresh Starts: Captain Marvel and Star Wars (July 2019) Star Wars Celebration 2019: The Franchise Talking Points (May 2019) We've Been Here Before: Parallels in the Public Narrative on the State of Star Wars (June 2018) Rey At Risk Revisited: The Danger Signs From The Last Jedi (Feb. 2018) Skywalker At Risk: Serial Storytelling and Brand Value (Feb. 2018) Social Media: Tricia Barr (@fangirlcantina) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky B.J. Priester (@redpenoflex) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky Fangirl Zone on Facebook

  7. Jan 19

    Two 2025 Superhero Movies Show Star Wars' Missed Path

    The year 2025 marked the sixth without a new Star Wars movie in theaters since The Rise of Skywalker concluded the Sequel Trilogy. In the past few years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DC superhero films have struggled with consistency at reaching their prior levels of box-office earnings and fan satisfaction. We found it interesting, then, that two 2025 superhero movies – the MCU's rebooted The Fantastic Four: First Steps and DC's new iteration of Superman – showcased several prominent storytelling elements that we wish Lucasfilm had been able to incorporate into the Sequel Trilogy, as we talked about on the blog and podcast when the Sequel Trilogy was in development and production. On this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester discuss how these two movies show the path that Star Wars missed in advancing new and important ideas for today's heroic tales. These two superhero movies have three big ideas in common that would have worked well for the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, too. First, neither First Steps nor Superman is an origin story. The titular characters, the Fantastic Four quartet and the Metropolis icon, are already established celebrity superheroes on their worlds when the movies begin. Rather than learn how to use their powers, they instead face the challenges of how to use their powers – and what to do when their powers can't solve the problem they're facing. Second, both movies are focused on themes of family and teamwork, rather than the lone-hero formula so familiar from Joseph Campbell's monomyth. The Fantastic Four has two siblings, a husband, and a best friend, and each of them has a character arc. James Gunn's Superman finds support from several superhero allies while Clark Kent relies on his colleagues at The Daily Planet to help carry the day, and his emotional journey in the films is inseparable from his connections to his birth parents on Krypton and the adoptive Kents on Earth. Third, both The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman are works of aspirational heroic fiction, fitting audience expectations for the characters as well as finding human truths in their themes and characterizations that urge the audience to want to be better people, too. In tandem with these analyses of the two superhero movies, we examine how the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy would have benefitted from similar storytelling elements. Star Wars contained plenty of examples for telling stories about Jedi apprentices who are already trained in the Force, rather than necessitating Rey's first movie to mirror Luke's in discovering her connection to the Force in the first instance. Similarly, the Sequel Trilogy mostly abandoned the Skywalker family saga and failed to form a consistent and coherent heroic trio like the Original and Prequel Trilogies did. The Sequel Trilogy also failed to successfully tell aspirational stories with its legacy characters or its new characters. Perhaps most importantly, the storytellers developing the Sequel Trilogy had access to plenty of precedent, both within Star Wars and in contemporary genre stories, to have been able to identify areas in which the Star Wars franchise could help to push forward new ideas and themes in today's storytelling, rather than simply repeating the old tropes and beats from the Lucas films. Social Media: Tricia Barr (@fangirlcantina) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky B.J. Priester (@redpenoflex) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky Fangirl Zone on Facebook

  8. 11/29/2025

    Wicked For Good

    A year after Part I, the Wicked movie franchise returns with For Good, an adaptation of the second act of the Broadway musical. In this episode of Hyperspace Theories, Tricia Barr and B.J. Priester examine how Wicked: For Good takes advantage of the movie format, and the passage of time since the original musical was written, to strengthen the character arcs of Elphaba, Glinda, and Fiyero in tandem with the story's themes. Like Part I, For Good also maximizes the opportunity to include locations, action sequences, and other visual elements which wouldn't be possible in a Broadway stage production. The two new songs written for Wicked: For Good, Elphaba's "No Place Like Home" early in the movie and Glinda's "Girl in the Bubble" near the end, reinforce the two characters' motivations for their crucial decisions in the story. Each song also feels especially timely, directly addressing themes of resistance to oppression, the influence of propaganda, and the emotional and psychological obstacles that sometimes must be overcome to make the right choice and do the right thing. Although the characters had similar motivations in the original Broadway show, the new songs for Wicked: For Good reflect the impact of recent political and social events to drive home themes that perhaps felt a little more abstract and distant to many listeners two decades ago. Along the path of their own respective journeys, Elphaba and Glinda also change the other Wicked characters around them, and ultimately Oz itself. Yet For Good also takes place in the background of The Wizard of Oz in a much more direct way than Part I's story. If there's a weak point in For Good, it's that this movie leans a bit too heavily on the assumption that its audience remembers the details of Dorothy's plotline from the earlier film, an assumption that may not be as workable for a mainstream movie release in 2025 compared to the theatrical musical attendees at the turn of the twenty-first century. Together, though, Wicked: Part I and Wicked: For Good tell a complete story for Elphaba and Glinda, and how they changed each other forever. Related Links: Hyperspace Theories: WICKED Part I Rises to the Moment (Dec. 2024) Breaking Baz: Jon M. Chu On How The Breathtaking 'Wicked: For Good' Took Flight With New Songs For Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande, Plus A Secret Guest Star As Cowardly Lion (Deadline; Oct. 16, 2025) Social Media: Tricia Barr (@fangirlcantina) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky B.J. Priester (@redpenoflex) Instagram | Threads | Blue Sky Fangirl Zone on Facebook

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4.5
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About

On Hyperspace Theories the team from FANgirl Blog discuss elements that impact Star Wars storytelling. Each month hosts Tricia Barr, BJ Priester and Kay Serna take a deep dive into creative individuals who impact the franchise, from George Lucas and Kathleen Kennedy to William Shakespeare and Hayao Miyazaki, then break down storytelling from worldbuilding to character development. Tricia Barr is co-author of Ultimate Star Wars, the definitive guide to Star Wars from DK Publishing, featured writer for Star Wars Insider magazine and author of the award-winning space opera WYNDE. BJ Priester is editor of FANgirl Blog; his writings on the Heroine's Journey is widely referenced by educators. Kay Serna writes book and movie reviews for FANgirl and is a regular on Disney Vault Talk's Rebel Yell.

Information

  • Creator
    Hyperspace Theories
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Hyperspace Theories
  • Show Website
    Hyperspace Theories

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