The Star Wars Thread

[Julius]

8 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Have a look in the next week or so @Julius if there's anything you'd like

Awesome, thanks @Ronnie, will do 

eyes immediately drift towards everything to do with sand

[Julius]

Always love a decent interview. What Moses Ingram said when describing her character has me a little concerned, though...

Spoiler

Someone who is intent on doing what she thinks is right regardless of what others think -- as an Inquisitor? Please don't be another character turning, we don't need that here  

Hayden describing Anakin as "Jedi Knight, never a Jedi Master" had me cracking up, though 

Elsewhere: somehow, Kelly Marie Tran returns! To give an interview for AANHPI Heritage Month:

A lot of love for her in the comments, which is always great to see 

[Ronnie]

1 hour ago, Julius said:

A lot of love for her in the comments, which is always great to see 

You have more guts than I do, I wasn't going anywhere near the replies!

As for Reva, from the trailer you get the sense she knows Obi Wan so maybe has some history with him. 

[Julius]

One week to go 

On 18/05/2022 at 7:59 PM, Ronnie said:

As for Reva, from the trailer you get the sense she knows Obi Wan so maybe has some history with him.

Yeah, that's honestly the slight niggling concern I have going in right now.

I'll take it as it is, of course, but if they do have some sort of past relationship, my mind drifts to her making some sort of redemptive choice...which, eh, personally I think we've seen enough of the last 5+ years across Star Wars. If it creates friction with the Grand Inquisitor and the other Inquisitors - and even Vader - without having to resort to her making a redemptive choice, that could be cool, but yeah. It's not a massive concern of mine, but it's a niggling one, just because of characters/actions that a redemptive choice might include (especially with a character we've seen in the trailers that I didn't think we would see that much of). 

[Ronnie]

6 minutes ago, Julius said:

I'll take it as it is, of course, but if they do have some sort of past relationship, my mind drifts to her making some sort of redemptive choice...which, eh, personally I think we've seen enough of the last 5+ years across Star Wars. If it creates friction with the Grand Inquisitor and the other Inquisitors - and even Vader - without having to resort to her making a redemptive choice, that could be cool, but yeah. It's not a massive concern of mine, but it's a niggling one, just because of characters/actions that a redemptive choice might include (especially with a character we've seen in the trailers that I didn't think we would see that much of). 

Fair enough. Personally I quite enjoy a baddie redemption arc, but yeah, I can understand we've had a lot of it, not just in films and tv series either... But yeah I think it's pretty likely here, so maybe brace yourself 

Marketing ramping up now, a new look at that cute little droid thing.

and an incredibly phallic rock

 

[Julius]

35 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Fair enough. Personally I quite enjoy a baddie redemption arc, but yeah, I can understand we've had a lot of it, not just in films and tv series either... But yeah I think it's pretty likely here, so maybe brace yourself 

Oh yeah don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good redemption arc, I just think a lot of the time they're pretty lazily executed -- "I ran into X from my past and so now I have doubts about this thing I've been doing gleefully for X amount of time" just doesn't really cut it for me, but that might just be me holding certain redemption arcs in such high regard comparatively (Vader, a certain character in an animated series that I won't name in case you haven't watched it, and heck, even to an extent, Kylo). 

We'll have to wait and see. I'm very excited for this, and again I'll take it as it comes and for what it is - I always manage to find something I enjoy in everything Star Wars, at least - and for what it's worth a potential redemption arc could be handled well (I mean I could be reaching to begin with, maybe I have nothing to worry about!)...but yeah, if it happened, I would basically be here for everything else. Given the character that the series centres around and Vader coming back, me crossing my fingers for Clone Wars era flashbacks, the last thing I want is a secondary arc - and a redemption arc at that - which distracts me from what I'm really here for? That's just me personally  keeping my expectations in check.

35 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Marketing ramping up now, a new look at that cute little droid thing.

and an incredibly phallic rock

 

Ah yes, the phallic rock of the Dune Sea  reminds me of the one in BOTW! 

Fun little ad. Don't know why it didn't clock for me before that the new droid is clearly inspired by a ladybird! 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Julius

[Ronnie]

9 minutes ago, Julius said:

Don't know why it didn't clock for me before that the new droid is clearly inspired by a ladybird! 

So it is!! 

Must admit it's fun to have the marketing show off some of the things in the series again like in the Ep 7 and 8 days. That anticipation of I wonder what the new thing is all about etc is fun.

[Julius]

The Vanity Fair piece centred around Andor, with interviews from Tony Gilroy and Diego Luna, has come out:

Pretty much sounds like a two season affair (which, at 12 episodes apiece, would make the show an episode longer than the 23 episode run we'll have had for Mando once the third season drops), and a stacked cast in terms of sheer size too. 

Quote

[...] don’t expect Alan Tudyk’s blunt-speaking droid, K-2SO. “We don’t have Alan Tudyk,” Gilroy confirms. “Not yet, anyway.” But fear not. Prep for a second season is already underway, and the story of how Cassian Andor met that former Imperial battle droid may be told then. “It is a second season, but it’s really, for me, the second half of the novel,” Gilroy says. “This first season is about him becoming a revolutionary, and the second 12 episodes take him into Rogue One.”

Quote

I have the sheet in front of me. I have 211 speaking parts in this show. There's probably 75 people in there who really matter, and there's at least a dozen seriously important characters that we'll be carrying forward to the second [season]. 

Think this might be second of the new shows that I'm most excited to see more of (after Kenobi, but only a few days left until that kicks off!), so I'm looking forward to hearing (and hopefully seeing) more come Celebration! 

[Ronnie]

3 hours ago, Julius said:

Pretty much sounds like a two season affair (which, at 12 episodes apiece, would make the show an episode longer than the 23 episode run we'll have had for Mando once the third season drops), and a stacked cast in terms of sheer size too. 

Did they say Mando S3 is only seven episodes? Otherwise 24 in total surely?

Sounds like they might be delving into the darker side of the Rebellion, kind of like that opening scene with Cassian in Rogue One 

[Julius]

3 hours ago, Ronnie said:

Did they say Mando S3 is only seven episodes? Otherwise 24 in total surely?

Sounds like they might be delving into the darker side of the Rebellion, kind of like that opening scene with Cassian in Rogue One 

That's my bad, meant to say Mandoverse (Mando S1, S2 + BOBF) rather than Mando S3; probably would've been easier to just say it'll be equal  point is: we'll get a lot more in a shorter space of time, and I'm curious to see how that plays out. 

And yeah, certainly sounds like it! Really hoping that we end up seeing some of the Imperial senate. 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Julius

[Julius]

Well, this has me a little confused and concerned going into Celebration as someone watching from home: the Day 1 livestream isn't scheduled to begin until after the opening event, the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase, has ended. The linked YouTube stream begins at 20:30 BST (12:30 local) when the opening panel begins at 19:00 BST (11:00 local). 

I mean, I'm hoping that's a mix-up or that maybe the opening panel is getting its own dedicated stream (with this being the stream for the floor). It's a little concerning and I hope it doesn't end up being a VOD and kept exclusively on the grounds while being live-tweeted (which would be weird for the first event back from COVID, when it is a factor which is still somewhat at play), but let's wait and see I guess 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Julius

[Ronnie]

It’s very weird messaging but there’s no way they won’t also stream the Showcase. It’ll probably just get its own stream which if anything potentially makes it more exciting, they obv want to go big on it. I imagine the Celebration Live part is the more hands on stream with the hosts etc. kind of like Nintendo Treehouse Live after an E3 Direct. 

Edited May 24, 2022 by Ronnie

[Julius]

On 24/05/2022 at 9:14 PM, Ronnie said:

It’s very weird messaging but there’s no way they won’t also stream the Showcase. It’ll probably just get its own stream which if anything potentially makes it more exciting, they obv want to go big on it. I imagine the Celebration Live part is the more hands on stream with the hosts etc. kind of like Nintendo Treehouse Live after an E3 Direct. 

Oh yeah, I'm positive it'll be streamed, just trying not to tempt fate over here!  but I imagine you're right, it's likely just very weird (and honestly, kind of poor) messaging, what with the lack of detail so far about the streaming schedule, especially on the page they've linked to previously on StarWars.com, which talks about prepping to watch from home...but doesn't mention times, panels being streamed, etc., on that page 

It's the fact that they tweeted out the livestream as starting after the Showcase finishes that I think is rightly giving people pause. Even if there's a separate stream for the Showcase, you'd think their first (and so far only) tweet would read "join us at 11:00am for the Lucasfilm Showcase, followed by our stream from the show floor" (or that they'd be separate tweets).

In your analogy, it's basically the equivalent of confirming Treehouse will be streamed but not mentioning the Direct 

Edited May 26, 2022 by Julius

[Ronnie]

17 hours ago, Julius said:

Oh yeah, I'm positive it'll be streamed, just trying not to tempt fate over here!  but I imagine you're right, it's likely just very weird (and honestly, kind of poor) messaging, what with the lack of detail so far about the streaming schedule, especially on the page they've linked to previously on StarWars.com, which talks about prepping to watch from home...but doesn't mention times, panels being streamed, etc., on that page 

Yeah I probably wouldn't expect a schedule of exactly which panels they're going to stream to be honest, but maybe they'll say so by then. I imagine these kind of things can be subject to last minute changes? Hopefully they'll announce the Showcase getting it's own stream today though!

In other news, I had applied for the 4 big panels and got into the Bad Batch Season 2 one! I also spoke to a guy who couldn't make it anymore and he gave me his Light & Magic and Mando+ lottery wins in exchange for me sending him some store exclusives! Really chuffed with that. I guess I'll watch the Showcase on the big screens from the show floor, probably won't hear a thing though 

[Ronnie]

Greetings from sunny Anaheim!

[Julius]

Still not so much as a peep about the Lucasfilm Showcase being streamed, and livestreams for other days at Celebration are set to start at 12:00 too, which would be following the big events of each day which start at 11:00. Even if separate livestreams are being held for these day openers, they've not confirmed as much, so it's hard to blame fans for being a bit on edge -- even if it is streamed in the end, I struggle to see why you wouldn't be more forthcoming with those details. I've booked tomorrow off to stay up late and watch as much Celebration as I can, and I've seen that plenty of others have too. It would be pretty frustrating if the main panels weren't streamed  like I said before, could easily be live-tweeted like some Disney Investor's Meetings have been previously. It may also be the case that trailers still drop, or even that the livestream opens with a summary of what they can share from the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase. 

On the one hand, I suppose it doesn't need as much build-up, so could be happening, but on the other...yeah, we're less than 5 hours away from the first panel starting, and the lack of clarification and response isn't great, any way you cut it. They recently got a new account manager on Twitter who is typically great at clarifying things and interacting with fans, and they've so far not responded to anyone asking about the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase being streamed – it might be unintentional, but it certainly looks like they're dodging those questions. 

Just have to wait and see I guess  would be a huge shame if it wasn't streamed, though. Probably lead some fans down the path of the Dark Side.

I decided not to go to Celebration this year due to the lingering COVID risk, figuring it would be safest to watch it all from home as we've been able to before. Beyond that, Celebration is simply nowhere near big enough an event to host the millions of fans worldwide who would want to attend. 

Edited May 26, 2022 by Julius

[Ronnie]

Pardon my French but It would be fucking bizarre if the big panels weren’t streamed. Almost inconceivable. But you’re right surely they would have said something by now. Could be waiting to do a hype tweet with a couple hours to go with a separate link to watch I suppose, but yeah, weird. I’ll ask around when I get there, see if anyone knows anything. 

[Julius]

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

Pardon my French but It would be fucking bizarre if the big panels weren’t streamed. Almost inconceivable. But you’re right surely they would have said something by now. Could be waiting to do a hype tweet with a couple hours to go with a separate link to watch I suppose, but yeah, weird. I’ll ask around when I get there, see if anyone knows anything. 

Yeah, I absolutely agree. The thing tipping me over into thinking it's simply not happening is what the home page of StarWars.com says right now:

Feel like the weirdness would be compounded if it's not streamed by the fact that it's the first Celebration back "post"-COVID  oh well, hope I don't sound too salty; I definitely understand if there are things they'd want to keep behind closed doors, but this would just seem... unnecessarily excessive? Considering it'll likely leak anyways. It would just be pretty disappointing if the bigger panels weren't streamed! 

Just seen that David W. Collins seems to think it'll be streamed, so who knows? 

Oh well, if not, guess I can just go watch AOTC and ROTS back-to-back to prepare for Kenobi tomorrow 

Hope you're having a great time! 

[Ronnie]

Don’t worry about sounding salty, I’d be furious in your position, it’s completely bizarre. I’m still going to assume it will be streamed and they’ll put out a last minute tweet but only because I can’t figure out why they wouldn’t. It’s possible they don’t want other shows interfering with the Kenobi marketing push but that’s just stupid (though very corporate Disney)

[Julius]

28 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Don’t worry about sounding salty, I’d be furious in your position, it’s completely bizarre. I’m still going to assume it will be streamed and they’ll put out a last minute tweet but only because I can’t figure out why they wouldn’t. It’s possible they don’t want other shows interfering with the Kenobi marketing push but that’s just stupid (though very corporate Disney)

Yeah, I had the same thought about the Kenobi marketing push, but I don't know, it's all very odd.

If not livestreamed then maybe we get a condensed and heavily edited, Direct-style version at 12:30/20:30 with the major beats, trailers, etc., for the public to consume? Just missing potential things like the live interviews, clips exclusive to SWC, etc.? Part of me thinks they don't want a repeat of SWC 2016's Rogue One panel, but then...surely they would have changed things before? 

I think it's the lack of transparency for me which is just doing my head in a bit. Any livestreamed event - be it related to Star Wars or what we're more commonly seeing in games from Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox et al - should just be crystal clear with their messaging...period. Don't leave room for wild speculation about how stupid you're seemingly being by not livestreaming the biggest panels at the biggest Star Wars event of the last 3 years? 

I don't know, I look at some of these multi-billioj dollar, multinational companies and can't help but chuckle. In Lucasfilm's case today, not livestreaming the event simply means I'm going to see a crappy version an hour or two later captured by someone on the crowd on their phone (which wasn't great in the case of Mando considering SFX were far from complete for what was shown at SWCC)! 

[Julius]

Sigh

 Anywho, guess I'll just drop the most interesting tidbits I can find people talking about here from the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase:

• panel opened with a highlights video of previous Celebrations interspersed with cast interview footage from over the years. 

• Obi-Wan Kenobi introduced following a choir singing Duel of the Fates. Attendees of the Lucasfilm Showcase at Celebration are being invited back later today to watch the premiere of the first two episodes. 

• Andor is releasing August 31st with a series premiere of the first two episodes; second season filming in the fall. Both seasons will be 12 episodes long, with the show beginning 5 years prior to Rogue One but leading directly into it. Teaser trailer shown, shared with public.

• Willow is coming 30th November. 

• Ahsoka and The Mandalorian S3 are coming in 2023, Mando in February. Exclusive clip of Mando S3 shown at Celebration. Favreau announced a surprise installation at Celebration, where they've brought props and sets from the show.  

• Jon Watts' and Christopher Ford's new show is called Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and follows a group of kids from a tiny planet who get lost during the period of Mando/Ahsoka (i.e. post-Jedi) and are trying to find their way back home. It will star Jude Law. Coming in 2023. 

• John Williams, 90 this year, turned up to conduct a live orchestra (the Pacific Symphony Orchestra) in playing the new Kenobi theme. He then rolled into Indy's theme. Harrison Ford comes to the stage. Indy 5 is still on track for 30th June 2023. Williams returned to the podium to conduct the Imperial March...and that's that. The opening panel closes with everyone singing Happy Birthday to John Williams. 

Edited May 26, 2022 by Julius

[Julius]

Teaser trailer for Andor, two episode premiere August 31st:

Teaser poster:

 

Edited May 26, 2022 by Julius

[Julius]

The third season of The Mandalorian is coming in February 2023:

 

[Julius]

Man, watching Ashley Eckstein be interviewed and hearing that she hasn't even had a chance to speak with Rosario Dawson yet (?! You'd think that would be priority #1 when a different actor is adapting an animated character to live-action), and trying to throw it out there that she'd love to meet her and potentially cameo in Ahsoka if given the chance...is weirdly rough? I increasingly get the sense that she was completely glossed over for the live-action role after Dawson's campaign for it. I know Ahsoka is filming at the moment, so hopefully Filoni is around and grabs Ashley for at least a cameo on the show. 

Don't get me wrong, I think Rosario was pretty good as Ahsoka with what we've got so far of her, but Ashley's always been a great part of the community, played the character for nearly 15 years, and hearing that she's so open to hearing from fans who are facing struggles, and learning what her character means to them, is heavy stuff that goes well beyond her role. That she wasn't cast for the live-action role is one thing, but to not have Rosario get in contact with her for at least a chat to discuss the character a bit just seems like a big missed opportunity. 

After KK's interview: the highlight so far is Anthony Carboni's joke about needing KK's room number so everyone can catch Obi-Wan with her...boy, did she not like that joke  walking away to the Imperial March was the cherry on top! 

High Republic: damn it, go to the wide! 

Ewan and Hayden's interview nearly had me in tears. Man, like before, I'm so glad they're back and my generation and those that enjoyed the prequels get to let their voice be heard, and let them know their work is deeply loved. Hayden sharing that he's watched Rebels and The Clone Wars, and then finishing the interview with "This is where the fun begins", just... 

Edited May 26, 2022 by Julius

[Ronnie]

Inexplicable decision not to stream the opening panels, not just this one but presumably all of the big ones. I'm annoyed for you @Julius, and I noticed their Twitter post that mentioned live-tweeting was full of angry confused replies. Like you say it's the lack of transparency that is annoying. If they made this decision a while back, as it seems, then tell people a while back. I still can't figure out why they did it given they showed the Ep IX one and all the other big ones in Chicago. I have to imagine it's a Disney thing as opposed to Lucasfilm, but still frustrating. And to not even stream it to the people literally at Celebration! Weird. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the rest of the livestream regardless.

As for my experience, I don't want to gloat given the above circumstances, but I've genuinely just had one of the best days of my life. Definitely the best geeky day ever haha.

The Showcase

I managed to nab a last minute ticket to the aforementioned Showcase panel, though not in the main room, in the second biggest stage where it was streamed. They showed an opening intro video talking about Celebration and Star Wars in general that genuinely had me in tears by the end. I'm really hoping they release it down the line because it was really great and moving. Then you transition into a live choir singing Duel of the Fates? Come on!

Great to see Ewan and Hayden on stage, you could tell they were both emotional at the incredibly warm reception they received. 

Andor looked genuinely incredible. It looked like it had feature film production values. My jaw was on the floor for most of that teaser. Superbly edited. And Diego Luna, was a lovely guy. He was great on stage talking about his character and SW in general. Ditto Genevieve O'Reilly. Man I can't wait for this show. Not so keen on the logo mind, but whatever. And also annoyingly because I wasn't in the live stage, no free poster, boooo.

They prefaced the Mando S3 footage as being rough and early but it looked anything but to me, could have easily been the finished product. Looked incredible. Bo-Katan looks to play a big role next season. Apart from her sitting on this awesome looking throne, looking suitably pissed off, there were some great shots of the Armourer, Greef Carga, Carson Teva and a cool looking space battle. Annoyingly specifics about the footage have left my brain now, but overall it looked fantastic. 

Favreau and Filoni are an amazing double act, they had the audience in hysterics. 

As a non Indy and Willow fan the bit in the middle kind of dragged, they seemed to spend A LOT of time on them, but cool for people into them!

Skeleton Crew sounds really interesting, if it can mimic those early Amblin style shows like The Goonies but modernise it, I think they could be onto a winner. They were very clear in saying that it may star four kids but it's not a kid's show. The image they put up confused me a bit, at first I figured it was animated, but seems not.

Surprised no film news, but I guess they're not ready to show anything. 

Amazing to have John Williams in the house, he humbly kept telling the audience to please stop the applause haha. Never expected Harrison Ford to show up either!

The Show Floor

One word, overwhelming. You pick a direction and you find a dozen amazing things along that path. Thankfully it wasn't quite as busy as I thought it would be, so walking around was pretty comfortable (though tbf, I think the Thursday was the one day that hadn't sold out so maybe that's why. 

I spent so much money my main debit card stopped working, doh. 

Everyone was so nice, it's so easy to strike up a conversation, had tons of them either waiting in line or just wandering around and the people I spoke to were all so friendly and chatty. Got lots of nice comments on my t-shirt (I printed my location graphic in big on the front) so it was quite a conversation starter. Saw what felt like half a dozen people in The Last Jedi t-shirts, and another with "Directed by Rian Johnson" on the front, so I had to let that guy in particular know how much I appreciated his attire. 

There were some truly amazing cosplay though actually not quite as much as I was expecting, but as this is my first convention, I guess I didn't know what to expect. 

Spoiler

Kenobi

Lovely surprise being invited back for the world premiere of Kenobi. I was in two minds whether to go (given the American nature of the crowd) but I'm delighted I did because actually the crowd was really good. Sure there was lots of whooping and cheering but the rest of the time everyone was dead silent.

And man, what an amazing couple of episodes. Look, I love the Mandoverse, but I've said it many times I feel like that show needs to loosen up a bit and stop being so stiff, so it was a breath of fresh air to have a more laid back show, but one that's just as if not more thoughtful, intense and character driven. The dialogue in general was a massive step up from Mando/Fett. They actually talk like real people here which helps.

Spoiler

I went into the show not massively hyped and thinking it would play out fairly predictably. But not at all. The Leia thing was a complete surprise, never in a million years did I think they would go in that direction but it worked so well. And what a star the actress who plays her is, she did brilliantly for someone so young. Brilliant bits of humour. 

Reva was great, likewise the Fifth Brother, he looked (and especially sounded) awesome. 

Really confused by the death of the Grand Inquisitor, but I guess we'll find out in due time.

Loved Leia's little droid thing. Daiyu was as awesome a place as I thought it would be. Beautiful art direction. Looks like we'll be planet hopping quite a bit.

Unfortunately this and the Mando episodes of Boba Fett really show up how much of a step down the latter was. I enjoyed it well enough but it was a bit of a mis-step quality wise. Kind of felt like a stop gap before the really good stuff kicks off again.

They were giving out free posters afterwards, I picked up a second one for you @Julius so I'll get it in the post when I get home.

Ending on a high note

I finished off the day going for my autograph session with Taylor Gray. What an incredibly nice bloke. I was floored by how friendly and chatty he was. As if I don't adore Rebels enough already! Left the convention with a massive smile on my face.

12 hours ago, Julius said:

Favreau announced a surprise installation at Celebration, where they've brought props and sets from the show.  

The app to reserve a place is pretty painful tbh, I'll try and make it and grab some pics but yeah, not holding my breath. They have a standby line though which apparently was moving pretty quick.

11 hours ago, Julius said:

The third season of The Mandalorian is coming in February 2023:

 

Loving the different colour logos each season. The blurb for S3 is that Mando and Grogu's journey continues, so maybe it's not the last season after all.

8 hours ago, Julius said:

Man, watching Ashley Eckstein be interviewed and hearing that she hasn't even had a chance to speak with Rosario Dawson yet (?! You'd think that would be priority #1 when a different actor is adapting an animated character to live-action), and trying to throw it out there that she'd love to meet her and potentially cameo in Ahsoka if given the chance...is weirdly rough? I increasingly get the sense that she was completely glossed over for the live-action role after Dawson's campaign for it. I know Ahsoka is filming at the moment, so hopefully Filoni is around and grabs Ashley for at least a cameo on the show. 

That's really surprising. I'm sure I heard they'd spoken prior to filming, but I guess not. Kind of weird, you'd expect Filoni to be switched on in that regard, but it's hard to judge without knowing all the facts and circumstances.