Star Wars Celebration news round-up

It’s the centre of the Star Wars universe and it’s over for another year but we’ve got loads of cool news and tidbits so, without further ado, let’s get into it…

First up, the stuff we already reported in order of it being revealed (we’re not going into details so just click the links for the full skinny, ok?).

First off, we got a new look at an all-new animated micro-series that will focus on the ladies of Star Wars called Star Wars: Forces Of Destiny (here). Since that story broke we got a few new images which you can see below, including the 12 inch figures that will be released later this year:

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Next up, we got the teaser trailer and poster for Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (here) and then our first glimpse of Rose, the newest character in Episode VIII (here).

Later we got what we’re taking as confirmation that Captain Rex DID survive the Rebels series and makes it to Return of the Jedi (here). There was news of a Captain Phasma comic book series from Marvel and a novel too (here) and a young readers comic series from IDW (here).

The weekend of course was full of touching tributes to the late Carrie Fisher along with the news that, despite earlier reports, she won’t be appearing in Episode IX as Princess Leia (here) and we also heard Mark Hamill describe what he thought would have been a much better ending to The Force Awakens (here).

Oh, and we found out how Boba Fett got the famous dent on his helmet as well as possibly what became of Clone Wars character Cad Bane (here).

Trailers-wise we got an emotional trailer for Rebels Season 4 along with the news that the show would be coming to an end with the upcoming (here) and the jaw-dropping trailer for Star Wars: Battlefront II (here).

Finally, we looked at the future of Luke and the Skywalkers in the Star Wars Saga (here) and some new Celebration news pointed to Rey being Luke’s daughter after all (here).

Heck there’s even a story where Harrison Ford kinda sorta says Han isn’t really dead (here).

So that’s all the good stuff we DID report already, so here’s the stuff we didn’t.

The Last Jedi is singular after all

Many pondered if the title ‘The Last Jedi’ was singular or plural (the plural of Jedi is, em, Jedi) and earlier this year it looked like it had been resolved as being plural (here), however that seems not to be the case.

The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson spoke with ABC News and said of the title: “It’s so funny when people started asking that when the title was announced because I never even pondered that question… In my mind its singular.”

It’s interesting that he says ‘in my mind’ because it suggests it could be either – we’re guessing it will possibly refer to Luke and/or Rey. The term last Jedi was used in the opening scrawl of The Force Awakens as well as in Return of the Jedi when Yoda told Luke: “When gone I am, the last of the Jedi you will be” – both instances of this referred to Luke.

Finn will have to choose whose side he’s on.

Speaking at Celebration actor John Boyega said that The Last Jedi will have a lot of action and we may see Finn having a struggle choosing his allegiances: “Finn has some combat in this one, and it’s going to be really interesting and people are going to love it [it’s] very physical, very physical. He’s on a new mission, there’s a new goal now. The Resistance is under immense pressure. The First Order is back and badder than ever, and it requires Finn to make a choice as to what side he’s on.”

This seems really weird to us as the very notion of Finn becoming part of The First Order again seems very unlikely… so what does he mean?

‘Star Wars IS for kids!’ says George Lucas

Speaking at the 40 Years of Star Wars panel, creator George Lucas said that no matter what, Star Wars was always for the kids: “I’m not supposed to say this,” Lucas said, smiling, “I wasn’t supposed to say it then, but this is a film for 12-year-olds.

“when you’re 12-years-old, you’re about to enter the real world. You’re probably scared, you don’t know what’s going to happen,” he continued. “Here is a little idea of the things you should pay attention to. Friendship, honesty, trust. Living on the light side, avoiding the dark side.”

However, he was clear to say that nothing is more important than when Star Wars makes a new young fans happy: “None of it makes any difference – in the real world, the critics, certain fans, they’re not very friendly – but when you see all these little kids, and the look on their faces, it’s everything.”

We don’t think, despite us all being adults here at FTN, that we can disagree with Lucas here… we know it’s for kids; we were kids when we found it, but it’s the attachment to the story, the lore, the characters, that makes Star Wars more than just a bunch of movies, comics, tv shows, games etc, it makes it important and the 12-year-old in us all can be grateful to Lucas for creating that.

The Last Jedi behind the scenes shots are awesome 

Director Rian Johnson shared a series of images from the upcoming movie and they are a delight! The images feature Leia (Carrie Fisher), Poe (Oscar Isaac), Finn (John Boyega), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) and Rey (Daisy Ridley).

And we have them all right here:

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This last image of Rey reminds us of this great behind the scenes image from Episode II: Attack of the Clones featuring Temuera Morrison as Jango Fett:

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Anyway, we digress…

 

The Disney Parks Star Wars adventure is going to blow us away!

Star Wars and Disney Parks: A Galaxy in the Making is something that is going to rock our collective world in 2019.

At a dedicated panel at Celebration, creative minds from Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Imagineering discussed the new galactic lands being created at Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts.

The team shared exciting new details about the story behind this mysterious destination somewhere on the Outer Rim — lying on the edge of the Unknown Regions. The remote village was once a busy crossroads along the old sub-lightspeed trade routes, but the prominence of the outpost has been bypassed with the rise of hyperspace travel. Now home to those who prefer less attention, it has become a thriving port for smugglers, rogue traders and adventurers traveling between the frontier and uncharted space. It’s also a convenient safe-haven for others intent on avoiding the expanding reach of the First Order.

Unusual characters from across the galaxy have landed here, preferring the “no questions asked” environment as well as easy access to exotic supplies and an abundant supply of ready rogues looking to join a crew for their next adventure.

Check out the video and images below:

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Some people have already seen a rough cut of The Last Jedi…

Daisy Ridley in an interview said that she has spoken to a few people who have seen a rough cut of The Last Jedi and describe it as… different?

Different can be good, right?

“I’ve spoken to a number of people that have seen a rough cut, and everyone’s like, ‘It’s different. It’s different’,” said the actress.

“So I think with Rian’s vision and his image, and also I think he had JJ, who you know brought all the old fans back and the new fans in and he had all this stuff. Rian, I think, had more room to kind of do his thing.”

We’re not sure what ‘different’ means but whatever it is, we can’t wait until December 15th, 2017 to arrive!

Check out the interview below:

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👉 Daisy Ridley says she has spoken w/ people who have seen a rough cut of #TheLastJedi and they say….#SWCO pic.twitter.com/JsDboLbEE8

— ErikDavis (@ErikDavis) April 14, 2017

New images from The Last Jedi show plenty of Luke and Rey… and a Sith-yellow eyes Kylo Ren!

These new images may not show much of great note but we are definitely interested to see that Kylo Ren’s eyes are Sith yellow in the new image… does this mean he has finished his lessons with Snoke and become a full Sith apprentice? Food for thought…

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What is the new planet we saw in The Last Jedi teaser trailer?

Director Rian Johnson has been talking about Crait, the new planet seen in the teaser trailer (below).

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“[It’s a] mineral planet that is home to an old rebel base there that’s now abandoned [and] ends up playing a key role in the movie,” says the director.

In the clip we see resistance fighters seemingly painting red lines on the ground as they fly toward a bunch of approaching First Order Walkers: “they have to deal with a very pressing and immediate threat,” Johnson adds.

He wouldn’t address the rumours that, in the movie, the resistance are scavenging rare minerals which they are using to finance themselves…

Ahsoka to return for final season of Star Wars Rebels

Dave Filoni was the man who created Ahsoka Tano waaaay back in 2008 when the Clone Wars movie was released, so he knows the character better than anyone given that he guided her through that series and then again when she returned in Rebels.

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However, her seeming death at the hands of Darth Vader in Season 2 of Rebels was a devastating blow to many fans (ourselves included) but now Filoni has confirmed that, due to fan reaction, she will be back in the show’s final season, season 4.

Now this could of course be flashbacks, we have no idea however we did note that during the Rebels panel Filoni wore a tee-shirt that read ‘Ahsoka lives?’. However, by the time the panel neared its end the teeshirt read: ‘Ahsoka lives’. The missing ‘?’ was addressed by Filoni who said it “fell off”, but we really don’t think it just fell off. Do you?

The six inch Black Series are bringing us some great figures this year…

Finally, Hasbro unveiled promotional images for several of its 6-inch The Black Series Star Wars figures at Celebration.

Below we have posted images of Rey and her speeder from Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($59.99) and Luke Skywalker and his X-34 Landspeeder from Star Wars: Episode IV – New Hope ($59.99).

In the single figures line we have Now we have San Diego Comic-Con exclusive Grand Admiral Thrawn ($49.99), Jaina Solo Fan Figure Vote 2016 Winner ($19.99), Grand Moff Tarkin ($19.99), Toys ‘R’ Us exclusive Clone Commander Gree ($24.99) and Game Stop exclusive Inferno Squadron Pilot from Star Wars Battlefront II ($19.99).

Another expensive – but exciting – year of collecting ahead, then…

And it looks like we’re getting the Vintage Collection back after several years without seeing it on our shelves…