Lots of new Star Wars news to break down for the past few weeks. We’ve had San Diego Comic Con, which I was unable to attend…again. With plenty of little Alderaan-sized chunks on news that have been coming out regarding various projects, I thought I’d give you my spin on those situations.
Ahsoka
No, Ewan McGregor is not in this season, but Hera is. The big news I’m talking about is that picture of Ezra Bridger from Season 2 of Ahsoka. He still has his 3 facial scars but no beard. He’s officially another Bokken Jedi on the side of the Rebellion (well, technically it’s the Resistance since it’s after the Imperial war machine has been defeated. My guess is that he’s training Kanan Jaruus’ son on how to be a great Jedi. He’s wearing a classic Rebel jacket with it’s doo-dads and stuff, but no sign of a rebuilt Jedi. He’s also on a spaceship of some kind. Now, he’s the guy who’s feeding the New Republic all this intel on Thrawn, the Dark Side and a brand new galaxy. Can the New Republic figure out how to get to Peridia? AND..that’s only if they believe him. People who served with Ezra and his fellow soldiers trust him, but there are politicians who won’t believe him. We know Force Ghost Anakin will make a comeback (or maybe even a full Clone Wars flashback).
We also know there’s a new actor playing Baylan Skoll, and that Shin Hatti is on her own. There was also a cool rumor that Starkiller from the video games would make an appearance as one of the new Mortis Ghosts. I can’t see the average fan who never watched Clone Wars understanding any of that, but having the apprentices of Anakin and Vader go head-to-head?
The High Republic
SPOILERS AHEAD, JEDI! I read Trials of the Jedi, which is the definitive end of the book series. We saw the end of Marchion Rowe and his Nameless. We also saw the beginning of the ineffectual era of the Jedi, becoming more beholden to politicians rather than independent like they want. I haven’t been paying too much attention to the comics because I find the art of the Tales series a little juvenile for me. I do like Keeve Trennis and Sskeer though. I’m also looking forward to the Art of book, the second one for The High Republic. The publishers showed some original Nameless designs and Azlin Rell, the blind Dark Side user.
Mandalorian Visual Guide
Good Lord, I have been waiting for this since they first announced this book, then cancelled it. I would think this one would not only have info from the first three seasons of the show, but also a significant chunk from the movie.
Comics
I’m glad Doctor Aphra has her own comic again! However, I couldn’t care less about Valance. The comic about Han Solo finding the Falcon, meeting characters he spoke about in The Force Awakens. I haven’t gotten into the flagship series yet. I’m enjoying the Jedi Knights comic more than I thought I would. My wish list still includes a regular series for The Ronin. How about a Cobb Vanth or Q’ira mini-series?
Gina Carano
So apparently this lawsuit has been all settled and everybody’s somewhat happy. Star Wars left the door open to have Cara Dune come back to the universe. I really liked her character and potential storyline as a ranger of the New Republic and was sad to learn it wasn’t going to go anywhere. Maybe a few years and movies down the line?
Rotta the Hutt
I know there hasn’t been any real news regarding The Mandalorian and Grogu movie except the odd article here and there. That, and the fact they actually built a life-sized AT-AT for the sequence shown in the trailer. I’m really looking forward to a Rotta the Hutt live action introduction. We haven’t seen him since he was the “cute” li’l Huttling from the Clone Wars movie, and there’s only been a glimpse of him on pirated Celebration footage. Now I want to see a jacked Hutt who fights in the gladiator pits! If he could say something like, “if he dies, he dies” or “I must break him” that would be fine with me. I would imagine that after the death of Jabba, Bib Fortuna and the other Hutts would probably make a move against Rotta so that he couldn’t lay claim to his father’s criminal empire and sell him to the gladiator pits (see Gladiator II followed by The Book of Boba Fett). Instead of dying in the pits, Rotta becomes a winning superstar. This guy is ready-made for the side of a Star Wars deluxe toy. Can’t wait.
The Black Series/Action Figures
They had some new figures announced like a new Jango Fett and The Stranger, but since I’m not a collector, this is just plain cool news, not mindbending. If someone were to ask me, however, my wish list would definitely include some Nameless figures (with and without cybernetic enhancements). Not to mention the characters from Trials of the Jedi in their armor and the characters from the High Republic comics. At SDCC, they did show a bunch of “battle” figures from the trilogy like Obi-Wan vs Anakin or Luke vs Vader. Call me crazy, but I would love to see a Dooku vs Yaddle (final battle at The Works on Coruscant), Some Jedi Knights figures from the comic series would be neat, especially an updated Atha Prime (since he was only seen as a drawing from a cancelled toy series) and the “ninja” assassin trying to kill Qui-Gon Jinn.
Rey and Finn
Allow me to say that I enjoyed the crap out of the sequel trilogy, but I’m always open to info about improvements. I usually dismiss junk like it’s Kathleen Kennedy’s fault and that Lucasfilm is thinking of trashing and replacing the whole trilogy. However, this is straight from John Boyega’s mouth:
“I think I assumed he was Force-sensitive from The Force Awakens script or at least by the time I got to the end of The Force Awakens script. I thought they were planning dual Jedis. I actually thought that they would Obi-Wan and Darth Vader us a bit. That we would turn against each other or something along those lines.”
They could do this for the new Rey movies and I wouldn’t be mad.
Matt Smith
It was recently announced that Matt Smith, who played the 11th Doctor in Doctor Who show, was cast in the Ryan Gosling Star Wars movie Starfighter. I remember hearing rumors that Smith was going to play a younger Palpatine in the sequel trilogy. I can see Matt Smith in an Imperial officer uniform and I don’t want the Force to touch this new movie! Mia Goth is unique and unusual enough to pull off some kind of Sith Witch. Her character is supposed to be allied with Smith and I just want a pure military feel to this one, a’la Top Gun: Maverick.