Okay, so this is the second article I've written in so many months about that other "star" franchise. Let me set the record straight, I dig Star Wars too. In fact, I love Empire... both the Queensryche album and the Star Wars movie. So, when the news came through the tubes today that J.J. "will" direct the Episode VII, I got kinda excited. I was hoping for Joss Whedon, but what's a brother gonna do?

I'm sure you've noticed that both statements about J.J. directing VII are in quotes. I've come to realize, over the years, that something can spread like wildfire across news sites and can often be false. Although, I'm kinda leaning on the side of this being true, I'll still take a spineless precaution. One outcome I don't want to see is J.J. schlepping the next Trek movie, after Star Trek Into Darkness, on to someone else. I'm sure it's bound to happen, but I was hoping for at least a trilogy from the big A.

One of the funniest reactions to the news so far comes from Trek author and Subspace Communique friend Dayton Ward. He's always good for an excellent does of funny snark...

Episode 7: A Death Star emerges from a black hole and destroys Tatooine right before Anakin's pod race #JJ_StarWars

— Dayton Ward (@daytonward) January 25, 2013

For sources, you can probably hit up Google News with a "J.J. Star Wars" query and see a few hundred. They all seem to be light on actual verified sources, but heck it's the internet. Who needs 'em? Will see you in 2015, J.J. Don't get too excited about your new gig and screw up the end of Into Darkness.

We kid.