The Mothership podcast: Janina Gavankar gives life to a different kind of 'Star Wars' hero

Janina Gavankar plays an Imperial special forces officer in a story mode set after the events of'Return of the Jedi' in the new video game'Star Wars: Battlefront II.' Electronic Arts Janina Gavankar plays Iden Versio, commander of the Empire's Inferno Squad unit in the video game'Star Wars: Battlefront II.' (Photo: EA) Even the evil Empire in Star Wars had its own heroes, and actress Janina Gavankar is giving life to a great one. In this week's episode of The Mothership, USA TODAY's geek culture podcast, Gavankar comes aboard to talk about her voiceover role as Iden Versio in the video game Star Wars: Battlefront II (out Nov. 14). Versio is commander of the Imperial special forces unit Inferno Squad and has to deal with the aftermath of the Rebels' stunning defeat of the Empire at the end of Return of the Jedi. And in our Nerd Alert segment, Brett and Brian discuss the departure of longtime Marvel Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis to rival DC Comics and ponder what icons Bendis should tackle in his new gig. Have thoughts about the podcast?