It was a chaotic case of nerd ecstasy on the conference heart in Anaheim, California, mere steps from Disneyland. For the primary time since Star Wars Celebration Chicago in 2019, followers gathered to take in no matter particulars Lucasfilm is prepared to supply on its upcoming reveals and flicks — from the about-to-premiere Obi-Wan Kenobi with Ewan McGregor to a never-before-revealed Star Wars collection starring Jude Regulation.
And though the occasion known as Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm was right here to remind us that it would not simply do Star Wars. A brand new Disney+ collection based mostly on the 1988 Ron Howard film Willow was revealed, and Harrison Ford was readily available to tease the still-unnamed fifth Indiana Jones film that has simply wrapped manufacturing.
As ever, what the supremely secretive studio did not reveal about its 2022 to 2023 slate was virtually as attention-grabbing as what it did. No phrase on deliberate Star Wars motion pictures by Taika Waititi, Patty Jenkins or Rian Johnson; no point out of promised Disney+ Star Wars reveals Acolyte or Rangers of the New Republic.
Whereas we maintain our breath for these tasks, let’s dive in to precisely what we simply discovered about every present and film, and what all of it means for the way forward for Star Wars and past.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Might)
The group gave Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen (aka Anakin Skywalker) a standing ovation after they took to the stage following a stay choral efficiency of Duel of the Fates. McGregor mentioned he may really feel “all of your love for the prequels,” which introduced but extra cheers — although not as many as when the gang discovered they’d be seeing the primary two episodes of the present forward of the remainder of the world.
That mentioned, there wasn’t a lot to disclose on the Kenobi entrance; apart from the trailers and one clip (above), Lucasfilm is preserving a good lid on the present’s story. We have famous all of the fan questions it might reply, and talked to director Deborah Chow about what it would not comprise. The primary two episodes drop on Disney+ early on Friday Might 27.
Andor (August)
You assume six episodes’ price of Obi-Wan Kenobi is cool? Strive 24 episodes about Cassian Andor, the insurgent spy performed with doe-eyed angst by Diego Luna in Rogue One. The primary 12 episodes, aka Andor season 1, arrive on Disney+ in August, and open 5 years earlier than the occasions of Rogue One. The second season is already in pre-production; creator Tony Gilroy says it’ll lead straight into the start of the film. (Which, provided that Rogue One leads straight into A New Hope, ought to finally give followers a seamless viewing expertise lasting greater than 24 hours.)
The Andor trailer, in the meantime, is solely beautiful — and rife with political intrigue within the rising Galactic Empire. Senator Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) has a significant position to play. So does a brand new Insurgent determine performed by Stellan Skarsgård. Plus we get the briefest shot of Clone Troopers, suggesting that these Stormtrooper predecessors had been lively later within the Empire’s historical past than followers knew.
Andor hits Disney+ on August 31, and as with Obi-Wan Kenobi, the premiere contains two episodes.
Willow (November)
A cult favourite amongst fantasy followers, Willow was a George Lucas joint that hit screens in 1988 to middling critiques and respectable field workplace receipts. It is usually finest remembered at the moment for its groundbreaking use of CGI. Now a brand new technology of followers will probably be launched to the diminutive Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis, who additionally performed Wicket the Ewok in Return of the Jedi) in a narrative set a long time after the unique. Willow, produced by Ron Howard and written by Jon Kasdan (son of Empire Strikes Again and Raiders of the Misplaced Ark scribe Lawrence Kasdan), premieres on Disney+ November 30.
Ahsoka (2023)
Credit score: lucasfilm
The Disney+ collection starring Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, lightsaber-wielding veteran of Clone Wars, Rebels and The Mandalorian, did not get a lot of an replace. All we all know, nonetheless, is that it is going to be set in the identical time interval as Mandalorian and debut someday in 2023.
Nevertheless, producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni did introduce a clip of Dawson greeting followers from the set the place Ahsoka is at present filming. Followers had been fast to notice that her lekku (these blue/white head tentacles) had been of extra applicable Clone Wars/Rebels size, not the shorter variations seen in Mandalorian. As a result of that is the form of factor we care about, individuals.
The Mandalorian Season 3 (February)
It was a case of “you needed to be within the room”: Filoni and Favreau supplied a clip of the third season of their hit Disney+ present, premiering in February 2023. (This mirrored a second at Celebration 2019 when the very first scene of the then-forthcoming present was screened for attendees solely.)
Within the clip, Mando and the Youngster (having been reunited in E-book of Boba Fett) are on their option to the destroyed homeworld of Mandalore. Mando says he must be “forgiven for my transgressions” — taking his helmet off, in different phrases. “Did you assume your dad was the one Mandalorian?” a smiling Bo-Katan (Katee Sackoff) asks Grogu. The strain between her and Mando is palpable. Appears to be like like we will get that conflict over the Darksaber that the Season 2 finale foreshadowed.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (2023)
Jude Regulation within the Star Wars galaxy. What else do it’s worthwhile to know?
Oh, alright: Skeleton Crew is a Disney+ collection that focuses not on Regulation, alas, however on a bunch of 10-year olds misplaced within the galaxy. It is set across the identical time as Mandalorian and Ahsoka, which suggests we will get some extra crossover characters — particularly given the truth that Filoni and Favreau are producing. Spider-Man filmmaker Jon Watts is the principle artistic power.
Indiana Jones 5 (June 2023)
Credit score: Lucasfilm
An overwhelmingly emotional stage presentation masked a scarcity of stories concerning the subsequent outing for Harrison Ford as Professor Indiana Jones. The legendary John Williams, conducting on his ninetieth birthday, revealed the brand new Obi-Wan Kenobi theme, then kicked it old style with the Indiana Jones fanfare. Ford, 79, emerged to thank Williams for a tune that, he mentioned, was “enjoying within the room throughout my final colonoscopy.”
However that plus a launch date and a single nonetheless picture of Ford within the film, which has now been shot, was all we received. No title was introduced (hopefully they’ll do higher than Kingdom of the Crystal Cranium), and neither director James Mangold (Logan) nor producer Steven Spielberg had been readily available to supply extra. We do know that Ford’s co-stars embrace Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Antonio Banderas.
Hopefully followers will get extra information — on this, and maybe one other Star Wars film or two — earlier than Ford’s subsequent routine checkup.
