Latest news with #CloneWars
Newsweek
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
What Is a 'Clanker'? New Slur for Robots Catches On
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. A new term used by people who aren't happy about the growing presence of robots and artificial intelligence in daily life has emerged. "Clankers," a term from Star Wars lore used by humans and clones to derogatively refer to robots, has caught on. While its use began ironically, the growing adoption of automation in almost every facet of life has some people using the term more seriously. What Is a 'Clanker'? The term first appeared in the Star Wars franchise. During the Clone Wars, a conflict between the republic and separatists, the latter used an army of robots called droids. So the word "clanker" became a common derogatory term used by protagonists toward their robotic enemies. In 300 years when AI are sapient, Clanker will be seen as a legitimate slur against them and people will go back and watch the Clone Wars like "Wow I can't believe they were allowed to say that back then" — Time 🏴☠️ (@TimeDragon1) July 19, 2025 What To Know With the rapid adoption of automation in the real world and the attempts of many tech companies to make robots more human-shaped, the term has moved beyond science fiction. "Clanker" is normally used to refer to humanoid robots doing jobs that were typically reserved for humans, such as serving food or cleaning. if I go to a theater and see a fucking clanker trying to serve me popcorn I'm leaving immediately — xan (@DexterShill) July 20, 2025 The increased use of the term, which is most prominent on X and Instagram, has coincided with the rapid adoption of humanoid robots across the tech industry, spearheaded by AI innovators such as Sam Altman and Elon Musk. Musk himself has said robots serving people at kiosks will "become normal in a few years." Tesla, a company Musk owns, also has new Optimus robots that are set to become some of the first commercially available full-size humanoid robots. The company has described Optimus as "a general purpose, bi-pedal, humanoid robot capable of performing tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring." when u call customer support and a clanker picks up — terminally onλine εngineer 🇺🇦🇪🇺🇺🇸 ~ new era (@tekbog) July 21, 2025 "Clanker" has emerged as a rallying cry by people who are frustrated by rapid automation, particularly as it relates to job losses. Other social media users have speculated on another way in which humanoid robots may change social norms. On Instagram, Gen Z content creators often joke about being "robophobic" in the future when their children date robots. What People Are Saying Elon Musk, at a launch event in October, said of his new Optimus robot: "What can it do? It'll do anything you want." He added: "It can be a teacher, babysit your kids. It can walk your dog, mow your lawn, get the groceries, just be your friend, serve drinks. Whatever you can think of, it will do." Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus at its exhibition booth during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 5, 2024. Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus at its exhibition booth during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 5, 2024. Getty Images What Happens Next As aspects of life become increasingly automated, people will likely continue to adopt new terms to grapple with advancing technologies.
Geek Tyrant
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
ANDOR Season 2 Hid a Secret Darth Maul Easter Egg — GeekTyrant
Weeks after the final season of Andor came to an end, production designer Luke Hull dropped a fun detail from the Star Wars series over on Instagram that flew under nearly everyone's radar. In the final episodes, a good portion of the action takes place on Ghorman, a silk-producing planet known for its native arachnid species, the Ghorlectipods. As it turns out, one of those silk-spinning spiders was hiding a face you might recognize… Darth Maul's. Hull shared a mural of one of these creatures, and if you stare long enough, you'll spot the unmistakable red-and-black, tattooed snarl of the former Sith apprentice subtly embedded in the creature's design. No, this doesn't mean Maul was secretly hanging out on Ghorman. This wasn't setup for some wild crossover. It was just a cool visual nod. As Hull put it, it was 'created just for aesthetic reasons.' But even a simple Easter egg like this is still pretty cool, especially when you remember Maul's own spider-adjacent past. After Obi-Wan famously sliced him in half in The Phantom Menace , Maul survived on Lotho Minor, held together by rage and the Force, and gave himself robotic spider legs, which we saw in The Clone Wars . It's a bizarre, memorable look, and seeing a literal spider with Maul's face painted onto it in Andor is the kind of subtle fan-service. While Maul's end came in the Rebels episode 'Twin Suns' with a final duel against Obi-Wan on Tatooine, Star Wars has kept him alive in other corners of the timeline. His cameo in Solo teased more criminal dealings to come, and Clone Wars Season 7 gave us his brutal control of Mandalore. He's also getting his own animated series: Star Wars: Maul — Shadow Lord , which will explore the rise of his syndicate and the training of a new apprentice. So while Maul didn't make an appearance in Andor in the traditional sense, his shadow still crept in.
CNET
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CNET
Check Out This Star Wars Galactic Map, and How It Clears Up Confusion About a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Have you ever wondered about the distance between Tatooine and Naboo without all those hyperspace jumps conveniently speeding up space travel? Or where Coruscant is in relation to Alderaan? How about Obi-Wan Kenobi's accumulated mileage during the Clone Wars? The good news is that the force is with you: All of your geographical-based questions can be answered by the new Star Wars Galactic Map. The map divvies up the Star Wars galaxy into important regions. Movie fans might be familiar with the core worlds (where Coruscant is) and the outer rim (where you can find Tatooine), but the deep core, colony worlds, inner rim, expansion region and unknown regions are also included from almost all of the Star Wars movies and shows (which you can stream now on Disney Plus). You can also see who controls what parts of the galaxy, as Bothan- and Hutt-controlled planetary belts are clearly marked on the maps. It's nice to know these things, so you can avoid ending up in one of those wretched hives of scum and villainy. While this galactic map existed prior to its current iteration, a blog post by writer Jason Fry mentions that it was taken down for a massive overhaul. "The plan is to keep updating this page with periodic revisions to the map and appendix," the post reads. "I also hope to unveil redesigned regional maps with sector borders and continue the sector mapping project with the Inner Rim, Colonies, Core and Deep Core." The current iteration of the galactic map is caught up with the sequels, featuring the Jedi planet Ahch-To and Sith planet Exegol in the unknown regions of space. It also includes many of the new information from more recent Disney Plus Star Wars shows, including Andor and The Bad Batch. As it continues to be updated, it'll hopefully also add worlds to come in upcoming Star Wars movies and series like The Mandalorian & Grogu (coming in 2026) and Star Wars: Starfighter (coming in 2027). The blog post also includes an alphabetized list of planets that are shown on the map, which might make it easier to find what you're looking for. There are more than 1,000 celestial bodies to keep an eye on, so it might take you a minute to pick out a given planet if you aren't sure which sector it's located in. This resource was created as a companion piece for the Star Wars Timelines book, which contains other key information about the Star Wars universe, including chronological charts for the most important events, characters and storylines in the galaxy.
Geek Feed
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Feed
Andor Creator Says The Clone Wars ‘Wasn't Even In His Radar'
Andor creator Tony Gilroy has always been frank about him not being the biggest fan of Star Wars despite his show being critically praised; and while everyone is making heads or tails on the connections to the how, Gilroy reveals that he wasn't even thinking of one of the monoliths of the fandom—the animated Clone Wars series. In a recent interview with a group of Star Wars Youtubers (via Star Wars Explained), Gilroy was asked about the connection of Andor —specifically Mon Mothma's speech—to The Clone Wars , and how it echoed the themes that George Lucas himself championed; to which Gilroy responded: 'Oh really? That's not on my radar, but yeah… fantastic.' The interview is actually pretty interesting with Gilroy himself saying that he also worked as a history teacher, which is why a lot of themes of revolution feel like they've been drawn from real life. Even the Ghor were made to sound French as an ode to IRL French revolutionaries. For now, it looks like Gilroy is taking a break from Star Wars , but he does leave the door open for future projects. ' I hope the lesson is let your freak flag fly and work your ass off… there's nothing you can take for granted.' We don't know if Star Wars is ever going to see another series like this, but with the critical reception and the viewing numbers to back it up, maybe Lucasfilm is going to think twice when it comes to making a choice between fresh new stories or nostalgia-baiting prequels (sorry Dave Filoni). For now, watch the complete Andor now streaming on Disney+.
Gizmodo
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Star Wars' From Darth Maul's Perspective Sounds Fascinating
When Obi-Wan Kenobi cut Darth Maul in half over 25 years ago, most of us thought that was it. Maul was clearly one of the coolest and most interesting Star Wars characters ever, but George Lucas chose to kill him. However, as fate would have it, the character has now come back time and time again, in large part due to Lucas's protégé Dave Filoni, and soon, we're gonna get way more of him than we ever thought possible. Maul: Shadow Lord, a new animated series, was announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan last month and it'll bring the former Sith Lord back to the forefront in a big, big way. Speaking with fellow Star Wars star Katee Sackhoff, voice of Maul Sam Witwer revealed a few broad clues about what we can expect from the show, including how Maul perceives the plan formulated by his former master, Darth Sidious. 'This is a guy who knew that the Empire was coming, and he was part of that,' Witwer said on The Sackhoff Show. 'He was supposed to be part of the Clone Wars. He was supposed to work with his master, and they were going to bring about the destruction of the Republic and the destruction of his hated enemy, the Jedi Order. He was raised to hate them. He trained his whole life to destroy them. Well, now we have a show where, OK, all of that was done, but Maul, yeah, you killed a bunch of Jedi during the Clone Wars, but you did not work with Sidious. You didn't know the whole plan. And in fact, you got so scared about his plan that you tried to stop it at the last second.' 'Now the Empire's here, which Maul would have known that that was his master's intent,' he continues. 'But now that he's seeing it, he's like, 'Is this what he had in mind? Because this isn't what I thought it would be…' Maul comes from a time of swords and sorcery and magic and knights and now all of that color is being sucked out of the universe by this mechanized empire. And Maul's like, 'Is this right? Is this the universe that we were trying to build?'' That's fascinating, is it not? Seeing the grand plans of Emperor Palpatine through the eyes of someone who worked with him before Darth Vader. Before Count Dooku. Before Grand Moff Tarkin or Grand Admiral Thrawn. Someone who was there at the beginning and is now confused about what he thought the plan was, and what it ended up being. But, as Witwer explains, that's kind of the aim of Maul: Shadow Lord. 'It truly is a show about bad guys versus worse guys,' he said. 'And our bad guys are still bad guys. This isn't going to be a show where you go, oh, you find out Maul is just a real teddy bear, man. He's just misunderstood… But the idea is, in fact, that even though he's a bad guy, is he as bad as Sidious or Vader? And the answer is actually no. From the Sith perspective, this guy has flaws. And these flaws are… the humanity that seeps in at various points. And some of this is humanity he did not have maybe early in Clone Wars. But because of things that happened to him, he's rethought a lot of things.' Rethinking things is part of what is making Maul: Shadow Lord work too. Witwer explained that, as he was working with Filoni on Clone Wars and Rebels, they'd come up with ideas for Maul that they loved, but couldn't fit in the show. Now, all those ideas are coming back. 'There were ideas that I had back in Clone Wars that I would present to Dave, or even in Rebels,' Witwer said. 'And I also know things that Dave wanted to do. And Dave would go, 'We're going to cut this part out of the script that I have that I like so much because this isn't Maul's show.' Or I'd say, 'Dave, what if this happens?' And he goes, 'It's not Maul's show. You can't go into that little level of detail. We're seeing this from Ezra's perspective or Ahsoka's perspective.' And every time he said, 'This isn't Maul's show,' it never occurred to me that Maul could have a show. So I just took those ideas and I'm like, well, I guess we'll never see that. And now he's like, well, it's Maul's show.'' You can watch the full clip below and keep an eye out for Maul: Shadow Lord in 2026.
