Star Wars snags 16 Emmy nominations, Doctor Aphra wins a GLAAD award, and more

Time again for STAR WARS WEEKLY, the SYFY WIRE series that rounds up the most important news of the week from a galaxy far, far away.

Think of us as your own personal Star Wars Holocron.

16 EMMY AWARD NOMINATIONS FOR STAR WARS

The big news in Star Wars this week came in the form of Emmy nominations. The Mandalorian earned a total of 15 nominations on its own, creating a strong first impression for Disney+ during awards season.

The award nominations include Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for Taika Waititi’s take on IG-11, and a number of technical awards. It also got a nod for Outstanding Stunt Coordination. It’s really great to see stunt coordinators get their due, especially on a show as great as The Mandalorian. Let’s hope the Academy follows suit.

The 16th nomination Lucasfilm took home came for Star Wars Resistance, which scored a nomination for Outstanding Children’s Program. 

It’s always nice to see the hard work that goes into making Star Wars content get accolades from other entities. It helps remind us that virtually everyone is a Star Wars fan and we’re not in any sort of exclusive club.

For the full list of Star Wars nominations, visit the official Star Wars website.

DOCTOR APHRA WINS A GLAAD AWARD

The Doctor Aphra comic series has been one of the best things to come from the new era of Marvel Star Wars comics. Aphra is an intensely engaging, fun character, and she’s also a member of the LGBTQ+ community.

Her love affair with the Imperial Magna Tolvan was one of the most hilarious and charming things I’ve ever read in comics and I can’t wait to see this sort of representation on screen in Star Wars. With the Doctor Aphra audiobook recently released and the character only gaining in popularity, that leap to live-action feels like it’s only a matter of time.

In the meantime, the representation offered in the comics was honored with an award from GLAAD, an LGBT Media Advocacy Organization. Here is writer Si Spurrier's acceptance speech for the Outstanding Comic award: 

Star Wars definitely needs more like this.

POLITICS AND STAR WARS

Star Wars has always been political, and politicians have been trying to use Star Wars from the beginning. Between the original trilogy’s parable for the might of the American Empire and criticism of the Vietnam War and the prequel trilogy’s warnings we failed to heed about demagoguery and fascism, the message has always been there. Ever since Ronald Reagan co-opted Star Wars for his failed missile defense system, politicians have worked to hitch their wagon to the popularity of the series. 

This week, another politician used Star Wars — but as a way to have fun, like a normal fan might.

We finally have a generation of politicians in the U.S. who are of the video game age. Jamaal Bowman, running for Congress in New York, took to Star Wars video games to unwind and posted a little review of Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order in a tweet that went viral.

I love to see Star Wars in the popular conversation and I love the idea that there could be a sitting member of Congress who has played through a game like Fallen Order not once but twice.

ATTACK OF THE CLONES INSPIRES ANDY SAMBERG

Andy Samberg is no stranger to the world of Star Wars nerdery. He played a part in Natalie Portman’s Saturday Night Live rap that included references to her time as Queen Amidala and he drops plenty of Star Wars jokes and references. For his new film, Palm Springs, which premiered at Sundance, he told Variety that he took cues from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. 

Specifically, he was taken with the beauty of the wedding between Anakin and Padmé. “That planet is all beautiful,” he said. “To me, it’s like the perfect wedding.”

To see how Attack of the Clones influenced Palm Springs directly, you can catch it on Hulu right now.

TALES FROM GALAXY’S EDGE

ILMxLAB has been hard at work at its next Star Wars VR experience. It dropped three episodes of Vader: Immortal last year and everyone wondered what it would turn to next.

Batuu is the answer. And now we have a video giving us a taste of what to expect. The team also announced two actors that will be central to the story: Bobby Moynihan and Debra Wilson. Neither are strangers to Star Wars, with Moynihan taking on voice roles in Resistance and The Clone Wars and Wilson playing a major part in Jedi – Fallen Order. 

There’s no indication as to when this will come out other than "later this year,” but we wait for it excitedly.

Until next week, may the Force be with you!