"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ..."
Hello there!
Bet you didn't see this one coming, did you?
In favour of the very simple fact that it was almost literally Star Wars week going from last week to this one, and because I'd basically been streaming the news and keeping tabs on it pretty much all weekend, I decided to skip the traditional movie review.
Instead, I'm going to be chatting (briefly) about what happened over this past weekend, or what we KNOW happened, because there's bound to be stuff in the background that we have no clue about either.
And you know me - I'm a Star Wars fan, have been since the Prequels.
Also, you already know I'm going to say the Prequels are AWESOME. Your argument is invalid to me, because those were the movies I grew up with.
So without further ado, it's time to dig up our lightsabers from wherever we buried them (middle of the desert included), grab our astromech droids and head on out among the stars.
Because the Star Wars Celebration just happened, guys, and it was AMAZING.
Links to all my previous related Star Wars works, both visual and physical medium, can be found at the bottom of the page.
The Anaheim celebration took place between May 26 and May 29, having been postponed from the rather nefarious year of 2020 because of COVID reasons. Now, however, it had the time and the opportunity to happen, and looking at the stuff online it feels like anyone who was anyone came by to say hi to the fans.
It also happily coincided with the Disney+ release of Obi-Wan Kenobi (which, if you haven't seen the first two episodes yet, what are you waiting for?!), so naturally everyone was hype about THAT.
But in short, some of the names that showed up, in no particular order, are: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, Pedro Pacal, Temuera Morrison, Rosario Dawson, Ian McDiarmid, Giancarlo Esposito, Anthony Daniels, Sam Witwer ...
and Baby Yoda.
Yep, Grogu made a special appearance during The Mandalorian panel, because Favreau and Filoni love the little guy as much as the fans do, and so he was parked onto the table to wave and smile and move his little ears to an applause worthy of the Pope.
You could also see him in Mando's new ship, waving out of there, because Favreau and the team brought a bunch of costumes, props and set stuff to the convention to show off to the fans as a sort of thank you for their continued support.
Is there any wonder that these guys are the busiest at LucasFilm at the moment, and the most beloved?
There were panels throughout the weekend covering everything, from the publishing side of things - because the High Republic era seems to still be going strong in spite of the lukewarm welcome the books have received thus far - to hearing some new stuff from the creative minds behind the upcoming Ahsoka series, The Mandalorian, Andor, and honestly, you name it, it was PROBABLY somewhere during this Celebration schedule.
There are tons of videos and clips available on the official Star Wars Youtube Channel so I highly encourage you to have a look, because it is AMAZING.
One of my personal favourites has got to be the voice actress of Ahsoka Tano from the animated series leading the panel that celebrated the 20th anniversary release of The Attack of the Clones, which reunited some of the cast members, including Ewan and Hayden who popped up because, what are the Prequels without Obi-Wan and Anakin, right?!
Honestly, the entire scope and spectacle is too good to capture in words, as much as everyone will try, but you either needed to be there to believe it, or to witness some of it through video because the welcome these creators and actors received from the fans is beyond anything I've known in a while.
And I mean, it's well deserved. If you don't give Favreau and Filoni a standing ovation when they show up, then I don't know what rock you're living under.
But that's enough about me gushing over everything that happened - let's get to the real juicy stuff, which is all the titles that were announced for near or far release!
LucasFilm actually did its very own showcase, similar to how gaming companies will do them, and I already talked about all the panels that were organized, so now we're just going to be listing everything that's coming in the VERY near future, because man is it a good time to be a Star Wars fan!
Our first and nearest has to be the LEGO Star Wars: Summer Vacation, which will see our heroes having some down time (with guaranteed hilarious results) on August 5, followed closely by Andor, which is landing on Disney+ on August 31.
Fall 2022 is bringing us the second season of Bad Batch, which is spectacular because leading up to Celebration everyone and their mother was wondering what was happening to the show. Now we know! There's many more adventures to come, especially as we'll also be seeing an animated series titled Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi, which will feature beloved characters all over, as per direct quotes.
Moving into 2023 we will absolutely be seeing more adventures with The Mandalorian in February, as well as Ahsoka which is also slated for the same year's release, though nothing specific has been said about the dates there.
However, we know that in spring we get another chapter of Star Wars: Visions, as well as a new release titled Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, which is EQUALLY amazing. A new release also shoved in the already action-packed fiscal year is titled Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which features none other than Albus Dumbledore aka Jude Law take on a currently undisclosed role.
And because this isn't enough, remember the game, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order? Well, it's getting a sequel in 2023, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and everyone better be HYPE because this game was absolutely spectacular, and the trailer already looks AMAZING for this sequel!
Honestly though, this is barely scratching the surface of everything that went down in Anaheim. There were coming book reveals, comedic timing, special moments shared between cast and fans, additional details revealed from filming this or that, costumes made an appearance (listen, that green Padmé dress harkening back to Revenge of the Sith? Flawless!), and so much more.
Because they also announced that the Star Wars Celebration is headed back to EUROPE, baby, in 2023!
So honestly, buckle up. The future is looking bright, bright, bright, and I am here for it, especially since Disney+ is expanding into new territories as well, making streaming things that much easier.
I'll definitely be seeing you around the internet with more Star Wars to come, because this is where the fun begins.
May the Force be with you!
xx
*images not mine
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