Now here comes the trailer for the episodes, promising a lot of explosive action, fresh threats, and ominous warnings that our heroes are in over their heads even more than ever.
Picking up a year or so after the explosive end of Season 3, the first volume’s episodes found Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and his family living in Southern California, having made the smart choice to move away from Hawkins, Indiana. While Eleven is having trouble fitting into a new school, she’s soon informed by Sam Owens (Paul Reiser) that her particular set of mysterious skills are needed back in Hawkins.
There’s just one small problem with that plan: she doesn’t have them anymore. Yet back in Hawkins, things continue to be, well, strange. Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) are facing their own challenges, moving on up to Hawkins high school and all the potential bullying, hormonal issues and fashion challenges that presents.
But possibly having an even harder time is Sadie Sink’s Max Mayfield, who is still grieving the death of brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery), who sacrificed himself in the big battle.
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They’ll need real help, as something even more terrifying is on the way and a giant conflict is bubbling away, with some of it tied to the creepy new location of the Creel House. Then there’s poor old Jim Hopper (David Harbour), locked away in a prison in Kamchatka, Russia. At least he’s alive, but for how long?
The end of Season 4’s first volume saw Mike’s sister Nancy (Natalia Dyer) trapped in the Upside Down by new big bad Vecna and friend Steve (Joe Keery) in a bad way after being attacked by bat creatures.
With threatening voice-over from Vecna (who, spoiler alert, we learned is the son of the ill-fated Creel family, born with special abilities and eventually sent to the same facility that housed Eleven.) He went on to become a member of the staff (played in adult form by Jamie Campbell Bower) but has since embraced his inner darkness and is now hunting Hawkins townsfolk, killing them, and dragging them to the Upside Down.
And now he and Matthew Modine’s Dr. Brenner are all about telling Eleven that even with her powers restored, she might not be enough to stop him.
Is this the end for the Hawkins heroes? Well, we doubt it, given that Season 5 is in the works and planned to actually wrap up the series, but there’s every indication that not everyone will make it out of the season alive. Protect Steve’s hair at all costs!
Promising to be the biggest episodes yet – the two finale entries have a combined running time of nearly four hours – ‘Stranger Things 4’ Volume 2 lands on Netflix on July 1st.
On the big screen front, he’s developing a ‘Shang-Chi’ sequel which will return Simu Liu’s hero to theaters, and likely explore a dangerous dynamic from within his own family again.
He’s also busy working on new Disney+ series ‘American Born Chinese’, which, while it features no superheroes, draws from on a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang and boasts a story rich in Chinese mythology. It also reunites Cretton with Michelle Yeoh and Stephanie Hsu, who both appeared in ‘Shang-Chi’.
But more directly in Marvel TV terms, Cretton is producing a ‘Wonder-Man’ Disney+ series, which has now hired Andrew Guest as its head writer.
In the comics, Wonder Man’s real name is Simon Williams, the son of a wealthy industrialist whose company falls on hard times due to competition from Tony Stark’s Stark Industries. As a result, Williams accepts an offer from villain Baron Zemo that gives him ionic superpowers including super strength and durability. After fighting the Avengers several times, Wonder Man ultimately joined their ranks.
While his history with Stark may still be referenced, the lack of Robert Downey Jr. and the character in the current MCU will likely require some retooling. Still, Marvel fans have been wondering when Williams might show up.
The Cast of Guardians of The Galaxy, from left to right, Michael Rooker as Yondu, Rocket, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Zoey Saldana as Gamora, Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, and Dave Bautista, Drax the Destroyer and Baby Groot photographed exclusively for Entertainment Weekly on May 23, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia.
James Gunn had planned to include easter egg posters featuring the character – with Nathan Fillion playing him – in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’, but the footage featuring the images ultimately ended up edited out.
Cretton will be a co-creator on the series with guest and, schedule permitting, may direct a few episodes.
As for Guest, he has his own MCU bona fides since he worked as a consulting producer/writer on ‘Hawkeye’. And he’s well versed in comedy, having worked on scripts for ‘Succession’, ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ and ‘Community’.
This marks just the latest development on the Disney+/Marvel front, as the company has a variety of new shows in the works. The hottest prospect for fans is the notion of Daredevil/Matt Murdock – played once more by Charlie Cox – and his nemesis Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) both coming back for a series about the Man Without Fear following their appearances in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ and ‘Hawkeye’ respectively.
We also know about ‘Ironheart’ which has just started shooting, plus ‘Armor Wars’ and a ‘WandaVision’ spin-off based around Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness character.
If, by now you’ve finished watching the approximately 576 hours of ‘Stranger Things’ Season 4 Volume 1 (okay, more like nearly nine hours), two things are probably true: you have Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” stuck in your head and you’re eagerly anticipating the next Volume.
Netflix is throwing us all a tiny tease of what we can expect via some new pictures from Volume 2 which, let’s not forget, comprises two episodes running nearly four hours when watched together.
Picking up a year or so after the explosive end of Season 3, the first volume’s episodes find Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and his family living in Southern California, having made the smart choice to move away from Hawkins, Indiana. While Eleven is having trouble fitting into a new school, she’s soon informed by Sam Owens (Paul Reiser) that her particular set of mysterious skills are needed back in Hawkins.
There’s just one small problem with that plan: she doesn’t have them anymore. Yet back in Hawkins, things continue to be, well, strange. Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) are facing their own challenges, moving on up to Hawkins high school and all the potential bullying, hormonal issues and fashion challenges that presents.
But possibly having an even harder time is Sadie Sink’s Max Mayfield, who is still grieving the death of brother Billy (Dacre Montgomery), who sacrificed himself in the big battle.
They’ll need real help, as something even more terrifying is on the way and a giant conflict is bubbling away, with some of it tied to the creepy new location of the Creel House. Then there’s poor old Jim Hopper (David Harbour), locked away in a prison in Kamchatka, Russia. At least he’s alive, but for how long?
The end of Season 4’s first volume saw Mike’s sister Nancy (Natalia Dyer) trapped in the Upside Down by new big bad Vecna and friend Steve (Joe Keery) in a bad way after being attacked by bat creatures.
These new pictures could be considered a spoiler – unless the shot of Nancy with the gang is a flashback – but show the various storylines we’ve been following, including Mike and friends’ attempt to find Eleven, her digging into her tragic lab past alongside Dr. Martin Brenner (Matthew Modine), Hopper and Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder) trying to get out of Russia alive and the characters in Hawkins making plans to take on Vecna (who, it is revealed, also has ties to Eleven’s past).
“The final episode has more FX shots than the entirety of Season 3,” co-creator Matt Duffer told Empire magazine after the first Volume dropped.
“There’s an hour-long chunk in the final episode that just doesn’t stop,” adds his brother and fellow show boss Ross. “It’s the most complicated thing we’ve ever attempted to do. It’s all tension and dread, with a run-time that would be long even for a movie. Then – well, everything goes to hell…”
Yeah, because life is always so peachy keen and easy for the Hawkins crew! ‘Stranger Things 4’ Volume 2 lands on Netflix on July 1st.
(L to R) Gil Kenan, Logan Kim, Ernie Hudson, Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures EntertainmentTony Vinciquerra and Director Jason Reitman at Echo-Fest on the lot of Sony Pictures in celebration of Ghostbusters Day.
There was a lot of talk a few years ago – around the time that Paul Feig’s ‘Ghostbusters’ was about to come out – about a big new universe being built around the idea of spook chasing. Visions of a Marvel-style connected series of stories (a GBCU?) danced in Sony’s heads, but back then it was not to be.
Now, though, given the success of ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ last year, it appears that the traps have been sprung, the containment facility breached, and all manner of ghostly goings-on are in the works, with a day – the same day the original 1984 ‘Ghostbusters’ was released, calendar fans – dedicated to announcements about the future of the franchise.
First and foremost was word that Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan, who co-wrote ‘Afterlife’ (which Reitman also directed) are busy on the script for the sequel. Little was revealed about it other than it promises to chronicle “the next chapter in the Spengler family.” That points to the return of Phoebe (McKenna Grace), Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and their family for more ghost hunting.
And the movie’s codename, “Firehouse” confirms (as with the shot of Ecto-1 driving into the city at the end of ‘Afterlife’ plus Ernie Hudson’s Winston Zeddemore re-opening the original base of operations) that the new movie returns to the familiar environs of New York.
Ernie Hudson at Echo-Fest on the lot of Sony Pictures in celebration of Ghostbusters Day.
We also learned that Dark Horse has plans to publish a ‘Ghostbusters’ comic series that will bridge the gap between ‘Afterlife’ and the upcoming sequel.
Reitman and Kenan have also been developing an animated movie based on the concept, though didn’t expand on what that might focus on. Could Feig’s gang finally get their due again on screen? Or is this a whole new team? Either way, the pair is busy with the ‘Afterlife’ sequel, so the actual creative duties are being handled by co-directors Chris Prynoski and Jennifer Kluska and writer Brenda Hsueh.
And that’s not all! There is also a plan for a new ‘Ghostbusters’ animated sequel, an interesting development, since the original characters already came to TV twice at least, via ‘The Real Ghostbusters’ and then ‘Extreme Ghostbusters’. This new show is at a very early stage so far, with no writer attached to oversee it just yet. Still, despite their packed schedule, Reitman and Kenan will also have a hand in that.
There was also an emotional moment as Ivan Reitman Way – dedicated to Jason’s late father, the man who produced and directed the first two ‘Ghostbusters’ films – was unveiled on the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City, along with the announcement of a virtual reality training simulator called ‘Ghostbusters VR Academy’ that will be cropping up in locations around the country.
It’s clearly a good time to be a ‘Ghostbusters’ fan, and Sony will no doubt be hoping that we’re gonna know who to call for years to come.
(L to R) Gil Kenan, Director Jason Reitman, and Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment Tony Vinciquerra at Echo-Fest on the lot of Sony Pictures in celebration of Ghostbusters Day.Echo-Fest on the lot of Sony Pictures in celebration of Ghostbusters Day.Echo-Fest on the lot of Sony Pictures in celebration of Ghostbusters Day.
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The last episode of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ brought up old ghosts and some returning flames from the past. Time for episode four, where we got a rescue to pull off.
We open on Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) waking in and out of consciousness after his little stint with Vader (Hayden Christensen). Obviously injured and being brought to a settlement of people helping others escape from the Empire. He is tossed into a Bacta tank and is instantly visited with visions of his fight with Vader, while Anakin going through the same thing, parallels their history. Out of panic, Kenobi escapes the tank.
Tala (Indira Varma) tells him he still needs time to heal, and Kenobi asks where Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) is, unknowing of her capture. We are shown Leia taken by the Empire and Reva (Moses Ingram) telling her Kenobi is dead, and that she should give up hope that anyone is coming to help her. Tala takes Obi-wan to a man named Roken (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) who appears to be the leader of the settlement, and he tells Ben about the Empire and what they’re capable of, and how his wife was killed by their hand.
He shows Kenobi a hologram of the Empire facility, Tala explaining she still has officer clearance and can get him in. The two head off, the other members of her group being hesitant to get into a fight. We see Ben trying to use the force to move an object. He can still do it—it’s just tough, like it’s trapped in his body and soul somewhere he can’t reach. “Something’s cannot be forgotten.”
Reva confronts Leia about the safe house they found. She asks how Kenobi died, and Reva lies. Leia very sternly says she doesn’t know where the “path” is, staying firm in hiding everything from the Empire. Tala lands on the base and there is suspicion around her because this isn’t her sector, so she’s not allowed in. She is stopped by a guard who is interrogating her for paperwork, but she uses her high-ranking cover to gain access.
Obi-Wan also gains access to the base when Tala uses her credentials, and she secretly helps him by opening doors and giving directions. Reva is still attempting to get the info out of Leia, but the little girl is proving to be tough. Lola (Leia’s droid) tries to escape, but the inquisitor figures it out and stops it from leaving the cell. She slowly starts to talk about her past, reminiscing to the princess that she too used to have a droid.
Tala is found out, and Ben is on his own. He hides from a pair of troopers but uses the force successfully to confuse them. In the meantime, Tala knocks out the officer who discovers her. Reva is still trying to push Leia to the edge mentally. Leia says she will tell her, but claims she needs to tell her father (Jimmy Smits) first. Angered, Reva sends her to be tortured to discover the truth.
Ben finds the secure sector, only to discover a disturbing amount of Jedi and resistance members locked up in a tomb in a substance similar to amber. It is a mixture of adults, children, species of all kinds, in a weird and macabre trophy room.
Kenobi hears Leia and calls for Tala to make a distraction and boy does she make one. Tala instructs Reva she needs to speak to her. She explains where the hidden escape tunnels are, but she is unable to lie to the Inquisitor successfully.
The distraction does its job though, and Ben saves Leia. Meanwhile, Reva is interrogating Tala. It is revealed to them that Obi-wan and Leia were spotted, and the escape begins. An underground hallway window is about to break as their being attacked by troopers and will flood the room with water. But Ben uses the force and escapes drowning. Showing no matter what it seems like, his connection to the force is still strong.
Tala and Ben discreetly move to her ship but are stopped by Reva. They get surrounded only for a group of ships owned by the Resistance to come and rain fire down on the platform. One ship makes an escape while the other is shot down.
Vader is angry at his base being attacked so openly and that his Inquisitors couldn’t stop them from getting away. He force-chokes Reva, releasing her to speak when she motions to him. She claims to have placed a tracker on the ship (inside Leia’s droid), and that it will lead them to Kenobi. The group make it back to the resistance ship, down one fighter. But in a moment of peace, Leia takes hold of Ben’s hand. Fade to black.
The one thing that ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ has been really doing well is adding brand new characters to the ‘Star Wars’ universe. Both Reva, played by Moses Ingram, and Tala portrayed by Indira Varma, respectively. Both also showing a distinct different view of the Empire.
In Tala, we have a character who joined the Empire at a time when she thought they were all for protecting the galaxy. But, as the show mentions, she realized that it was changing, and not for the better. This contradicts with how we can interpret Reva’s point of view of the Empire.
In her, we are introduced to a character who sees the Empire as the final goal for the galaxy. That control and fear goes hand in hand, and that both can be accomplished whether people like it or not. Like the rest of the Empire, Reva is willing to do whatever she can to show loyalty and strength.
These two characters show just how vast the world of ‘Star Wars’ can be on either side. You have one character who we know saw the error in what she was believing and changed sides to put a stop to it, and we have another person who thrives in that evil, becoming one with the darkness to gain the power she needs to be on top.
I hope the remaining two episodes of ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ continue this path of gracing the universe with brand new, interesting characters that we can only hope we’ll see more of in the future!
If even the genre-steeped likes of Robert Rodriguez (producer of ‘Predators’) and Shane Black (who was in the original 1987 ‘Predator’ and wrote/directed 2018 misfire ‘The Predator’) can’t crack a great movie set within the alien hunter franchise, what hope does anyone else have?
That question will hopefully be answered in positive fashion by ’10 Cloverfield Lane’ director Dan Trachtenberg, who is behind a bold new take on the ‘Predator’ mythos. He’s aiming for more success by turning back the clock and making a prequel movie, which has a new trailer online.
‘Prey’, set 300 years ago, is the story of a young woman, Naru (Amber Midthunder), a fierce and highly skilled warrior. She has been raised in the shadow of some of the most legendary hunters who roam the Great Plains, so when danger threatens her camp, she sets out to protect her people. The prey she stalks, and ultimately confronts, turns out to be a highly evolved alien predator with a technologically advanced arsenal, resulting in a vicious and terrifying showdown between the two adversaries.
The Comanche Nation is a Native American tribe today headquartered in Oklahoma, having migrated through Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas. Trachtenberg and his team have stated their intent to present a respectful portrayal of the Comanche people in ‘Prey’. “The filmmakers were committed to creating a film that provides an accurate portrayal of the Comanche and brings a level of authenticity that rings true to its Indigenous peoples,” says a statement.
Producer Jhane Myers, an acclaimed filmmaker, Sundance Fellow, and member of the Comanche nation herself, is known for her attention and dedication to films surrounding the Comanche and Blackfeet nations and her passion for honoring the legacies of the Native communities.
Writer Patrick Aison, who developed the movie with Trachtenberg, has written for shows including ‘Treadstone’ and ‘Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan’, while Trachtenberg broke out in the short film field and TV commercial space. Since directing the most successful ‘Cloverfield’ spin-off, he’s mostly been making episodes of TV including ‘Black Mirror’ and ‘The Boys’.
“It was very tricky to find a way to have the Predator feel, at once, 300 years earlier in iteration and in what it has to wield, but also feel still feel far more advanced than what our characters are used to and have ever dealt with before,” Trachtenberg told Collider. “That way, it really can feel like this David and Goliath grudge match unfolding. That was challenging. Some things in the trailer are teased, and I’m excited for people to watch some familiar gadgets and some familiar weapons in the arsenal, but also a lot of new things that I think are super cool and that I hope people will enjoy.”
‘Prey’ is targeting an August 5th release via Hulu.
Last week was the start of the new Disney+ ‘Star Wars’ series ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’. But what if you just happened to miss it? Don’t worry, we’re back to give you a quick rundown.
For those of you who missed the start, the episodes show us Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) post the prequel trilogy; having stationed himself on Tatooine to keep watch over a young Luke Skywalker (and unknowingly being hunted by Imperial inquisitors). He receives a call from Bale Organa (Jimmy Smits), in need of help when his daughter Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) is kidnapped. It spurs Kenobi to leave his self-exile to save her.
Episode 2, it’s Ben and Leia on the run, escaping through a seedy mercenary planet, all with the Empire and Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) slowly on their tails, dealing with fake Jedi and kidnapping mercenaries, and finally escaping on a cargo vessel. But now, we continue where that left off.
We open with a shot of Obi-Wan trying to call out for his old master, Qui-Gon (Liam Neeson). We get flash images of both Darth Vader in current time and Anakin Skywalker’s voice-overs from the prequels.
We see Vader talking to Reva (Moses Ingram), and it’s implied she hid the fact it was her who killed the Grand Inquisitor. Vader promises if she proves herself, the job title will be hers.
Back to Obi-Wan and Leia, and the little girl asking how the Force works. He asks her if she’d been afraid of the dark and mentions it’s like when you turn on a light. It feels safe. He hands her Lola, the adorable droid that Obi-Wan has fixed and brought back to life.
They approach the planet where the mining ship was headed, and it’s filled with Empire troopers. It’s revealed the planet is Mapuzo. Obi-Wan appears to see a hallucination of Anakin in the distance.
Cut to Reva reporting to an Imperial outpost. She informs the other Inquisitors that Kenobi is in a mining system, and that Vader put her in charge. There’s clear tension within them, and it’s seen as the Fifth Brother (Sung Kang) challenges her. She tells them to send out drones anyway.
Obi-Wan and Leia make it to the meeting point given by the fake Jedi, Haja (Kumail Nanjiani). Leia waves down a passing alien and get him to drive them to the spaceport. Freck (voiced by Zach Braff), an Empire sympathizer, picks up a group of storm troopers.
Kenobi accidentally calls her Leia, alerting the storm troopers. He lies, the troopers believe him, and they leave. Leia turns to him and confronts him, saying she knows Obi-Wan is lying to her. She asks if he’s her real father, but he tells her that he is not her dad.
He begins to explain how the Jedi took him from his family when he was young, but the moment is stopped by a checkpoint. Freck confirms their strays, and the troopers confront the two of them. He tells Obi-Wan to raise his head for a scan. He kills the troopers, but one grabs Leia.
He saves her and the two of them run, only to be stopped by another group of troopers. The Imperial officer with them kills the group and saves Leia and Obi-wan. Off planet, Reva and the Second Brother still argue, trying to steal the credit for finding Kenobi from one another.
The Officer, Tala (Indira Varma), is the one sent by Haja, and explains she can find them a way out. Leia apologizes to Obi-Wan for running and explains that she misses home. Tala explains that multiple Jedi have used the underground passageways to get away from the Empire. She explains that they are searching for anyone Force sensitive, not just Jedi, but especially children.
A pair of Troopers find the hiding spot and search the room, which is an old droid part depot. Leia approach’s Tala and asks if it’s scary to pretend. She explains why she joined the Empire, and that she stopped believing in what they were doing.
Tala opens the gate and Obi-Wan is hit with…something. It’s revealed what he felt was Darth Vader, as he is outside with the Inquisitors. He stops, as if sensing someone, and pulls a civilian out. Instantly snapping their neck and killing them. Kenobi sends Leia with Tala and tells her to get Leia to Alderaan. He makes it outside and runs as soon as Vader spots him.
It’s in the desert when Ben and Anakin are in front of each other once more. But instead of facing him, Obi-Wan runs, finally activating his saber as Vader tells him “You cannot run.” Once more pitting the two together.
“What have you become?” Ben asks, Vader responding “I am what you made me.” We’re shown a quick cut of Reva finding the droid workshop, making her one step closer to Leia and Tala.
Finally, our first lightsaber dual between Vader and Ben, cut between Reva searching for the other two. Tala decides to go back for Ben and tells Leia to run and find the pilot who will take her home.
Anakin most definitely has the upper hand in the fight, obviously taking advantage of Ben’s fall to time and trauma. Vader corners him, and throws Kenobi into a pit of fire, parallel to what Obi-Wan did to him in the prequels.
Tala saves Ben’s life, with her droid coming in for the save and then cut to Leia being trapped by Reva, her turning and running. The episode ends there.
Now, with a new ‘Star Wars’ series there’s so much one can speculate and discuss. So, let’s start off with something easy. Who might we see from existing lore that could show up in live action?
While this is still an early episode, I’d love to discuss a character who may or may not show up in the last half of the series. First premiering in the video game ‘Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’, Cal Kestis is a perfect fit for both returning Obi-Wan to his former glory and a great way to connect continuities.
In the series, we’ve already been shown how Kenobi has given up on the Force, even the Jedi Order. He seems helpless in front of Vader and it’s clear that his strength is basically gone. Bringing in a character like Cal, a survivor of Order 66 and one of the last remaining Jedi, would show Obi-Wan that the Jedi are not totally dead and that their philosophy still works.
See you all next week for more fun and surprises!
‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Poster Courtesy of Disney+
Though the focus at this weekend’s Star Wars Celebration was on the big-ticket televisual likes of ‘The Mandalorian’ and its various live-action spin-offs, the galaxy of animated ‘Star Wars’ series continue to expand, and a number of announcements were made, including the first trailer for Season 2 of ‘The Bad Batch’.
The series, which functions as both a sequel and a spin-off to ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’, follows the exploits of a squad of elite clone troopers also known as Clone Force 99, consisting of Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair, and Echo (all voiced by actor Dee Bradley Baker). These troopers, with genetic mutations that give them different abilities, take on daring mercenary missions.
This first look at the new season suggests a time jump, with the main characters looking older and sporting updated armor. But they’re still tasked with finding their way in a universe that just keeps getting more and more dangerous. But at least there’s a young Wookiee with a lightsaber.
‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ will arrive on Disney+ in the fall.
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‘The Bad Batch’ wasn’t the only ‘Star Wars’ animated series to get a news update. We also learned that new anthology series ‘Tales of the Jedi’ will also be arriving later this year.
Adapted – albeit very loosely and with a serious time period shift – from the Dark Horse comics, the show will chronicle the younger days and origin stories of Force practitioners from both sides. We can expect to see the rise of Count Dooku – who, of course, was once a Jedi before his turn to the dark side. And, of course, was the mentor of Qui-Gon Jinn, with Liam Neeson returning to voice the character (and his son, Micheál Richardson, will play the character in his younger days). Episodes will also focus on the youngest days of Ahsoka Tano.
‘Tales’ stories are being described as “tone poems” that rely more on their visuals than huge slabs of dialogue. And, given where Dooku’s story ends up, don’t go expecting them all to be full of joy. “We had a fun time, but these aren’t just fun, happy stories. It gets rough at times,” ‘Star Wars’ TV supremo Dave Filoni said at the Celebration panel for the show. “You wouldn’t be happy unless you overcome something possibly tragic along the way. Some of these are dark. Some of these I watched later and was like, ‘Wow, what was I doing?’ And I was in lockdown like everyone else, so that explains that. But this Dooku one, which I don’t know if you know, doesn’t end up so good for him, I was like, ‘This is surprisingly tragic.’”
Finally, there will be a second run of ‘Star Wars: Visions’, in which the Lucasfilm team lets animators, and their studios tell original tales set within that galaxy far, far away with a variety of styles. The new stories, coming from shorts come from animation studios in Japan, India, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Chile, France, South Africa, and the United States.
We’ll have to wait a little longer for those new episodes though, as they’re not due on Disney+ until Spring 2023.
(L-R) Carrie Beck, Brad Rau, Michelle Ang, Dee Bradley Baker, Jennifer Corbett, Matt Michnovetz and Dave Filoni attend the panel for “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” series at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 29, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).
(L-R) Emily Swallow, Katee Sackhoff, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Dave Filoni, Rosario Dawson, Giancarlo Esposito, Brendan Wayne, Rick Famuyiwa, Lateef Crowder, Carl Weathers, Pedro Pascal and Jon Favreau attend the panel for “The Mandalorian” series at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 28, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).
Day three of Star Wars Celebration got kicked off on Saturday at the Anaheim Convention center with thousands of fans gathering to watch ‘The Mandalorian’ season 3 presentation.
On hand were the show’s creators and executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. “For me it’s been a dream come true,” Favreau began. “The type of story I wanted to tell fits the small screen. I wanted to set it in a small part of the larger Star Wars universe.”
“Star Wars TV, I’m up for it since 2008,” said Filoni. Favreau went on to explain that it was difficult keeping the big secrets from the first and second seasons, which included Grogu in season 1 and Luke Skywalker in season 2.
Favreau also talked about the direction ‘Star Wars’ television is taking on Disney+. “When I first saw ‘Star Wars’, it was a continuation of serialized stories,” he explained. “So, with television, you get six or eight a year, and they are a lot of fun to write. We also can tell the story over several hours and this job is the most fun I’ve ever had. I’m going to keep doing it for a while.”
Pedro Pascal attends the panel for “The Mandalorian” series at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 28, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).
But it wouldn’t be a ‘Mandalorian’ panel without Mando himself, Pedro Pascal, who quickly joined the producers on stage. Pascal began by talking about his favorite moments “Luke would be up there, but there are too many to choose.” Pascal also discussed Mando’s relationship to Grogu and how difficult their time apart was. “It’s very hard to be separated and it’s the closest I’ve ever come to being a dad. You watch the show, and you see how much that child loves his dad. Maybe it’s time for me to have one now.”
Filoni talked about the plan to bring Grogu and Mando back together in ‘The Book of Boba Fett.’ “What was interesting, is that we already had the plan to have Luke train Grogu,” he explained. “So, it made sense to have him train him based on the philosophy that began in the original trilogy. Which is why I wanted to direct the episode, and bring Ahsoka in, which made a significant moment.”
Favreau compared the moment in ‘Book of Boba Fett,’ where Luke makes Grogu choose between going back to Mando or becoming a Jedi and compared it to the Peter Bogdanovich film ‘Paper Moon.’
Joining the panel were actors Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon), Carl Weathers (Greef Karga), and Emily Swallow (The Armorer), who all had something to say about their time on the show.
Giancarlo Esposito attends the panel for “The Mandalorian” series at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 28, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).
Esposito started things off in jokingly villainous style: “I will squash that little Baby Yoda!” But he continued with his heart on his sleeve. “I want the child within me to come back through the child in Grogu. But that child has been reunited with his father now and I am so happy to be part of this franchise.”
He also described part of his process. “I make up a backstory for myself and that sometimes does not correspond with the backstory they write for me,” he admitted. “The creators of the show give me hints that allow me to fill in the blanks of my character. But when you work with people that are as playful as they are, you get a sense of what they want. The most compelling moment for me was when Jon and Dave came on set and saw what I was doing. Jon said, ‘You’ve been doing this for a longtime and I trust you.’ When you work with people that trust you, that empowered me. and that is what this show is about. It elevated and uplifted me, and I will never forget it.”
Swallow clearly gets a kick out of playing the mysterious, Zen-like Mandalorian Armorer. “I love inhabiting her space. She is wise and she waits,” the actress said. “The bond of community that the Mandalorians have, especially with the armorer, speaks to what ‘Star Wars’ is about, and I really love that about this character.”
Carl Weathers was taken aback by the large crowd in the hall and thanked them for their support with the show. Weathers, who also directs ‘The Mandalorian’, discussed his work on the series. “I owe it all to Jon Favreau. If Jon hadn’t invited me to be in this, I wouldn’t be sitting here right now. Working with Dave has also been phenomenal, and I owe so much to those guys.”
Asked to tease a little bit about directing an episode from season 3, Weathers got playful, threatening Filoni and Favreau that he was about to reveal a spoiler. “I can run faster than you!” taunted Weathers, before continuing. “Okay, here is the spoiler: in the spring of 2023 ‘The Mandalorian’ will be out again! No, no spoilers, it along with the other episodes will be spectacular. I’m just really lucky that I got a good script, good actors, and help from Jon and Dave who know everything about ‘Star Wars’. It’s a lovely sandbox to play in.”
Temuera Morrison attends the panel for “The Mandalorian” series at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 28, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).
The panel then shifted to talk of ‘The Book of Boba Fett,’ with Fett himself, Temuera Morrison taking the stage and thrilling the crowd with a Fett version of a Māori Haka war dance. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare anyone. Just thought I’d wake you all up,” the actor said.
Morrison discussed what it was like making ‘Book of Boba Fett’, but first recalled his time on ‘Star Wars: Attack of the Clones’. “We had a wonderful time in Sydney,” he said. “Many. many years later, I think Boba had to look a little bit like me, so. I want to thank everybody. They’re the ones who work hard making us look good in front of the camera, so I want to acknowledge everybody from our crew. We have a lot of crew and people behind the scenes out there in the crowd with us.“
Co-star Ming-Na, who plays Fennec Shand, couldn’t be there because she has covid. The crowd cheered for her. “Ming-Na sends her apologies,” said Morrison.
After that, it was time for more ‘Mandalorian’ season 3 talk. Katee Sackhoff, who played Mandalorian Bo-Katan Kryze in two episodes of season 2, then took to the stage. She’s primed to return in a big way for the third season, especially since she still wants to get her hands on the Darksaber that is in Mando’s possession.
Also new on stage? Rick Famuyiwa, who has directed three episodes of the show as well as cameoing as X-Wing pilot Jib Dodger. He’s been promoted to executive producer alongside Filoni and Favreau for the third season.
(L-R) Rick Famuyiwa and Katee Sackhoff attend the panel for “The Mandalorian” series at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 28, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).
“Jon saw my film ‘Dope’ and said, ‘that is Star Wars material,” Famuyiwa explained. “The first film I saw in a movie theater was ‘Star Wars’. I went to see that movie and from the moment I saw the opening crawl, my life was changed. So, this has always been a dream of mine to tell stories in this universe. It was an honor and I have been around for the ride ever since. I’m excited for next season!”
“My dad raised me on Science fiction and strong characters,” said Sackhoff. “When I was little, you didn’t have a lot of strong female characters to choose from. We had Sigourney Weaver, but I wanted to be Bruce Willis. Playing this character is such a gift. Jon and Dave are responsible for creating so many strong characters. To be able to start with her ten years ago and that Dave trusted me to bring her to live-action means the world to me, and you are in for a treat.”
Favreau then introduced some exclusive footage of ‘The Mandalorian’ season three. The trailer is mostly the same footage that was shown during the opening day presentation on Thursday, but is much longer and contains some new shots, and also features Mando and Grogu together again, as well as actors Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers and Amy Sedaris (who plays tech expert Peli Motto).
What can you expect? More moments of multiple Mandalorians (try saying that three times fast) roaring into the sky using their rocket packs, a white colored protocol droid, several creatures the same species as ‘The Rise of Skywalker’s Babu Frik (hey-heeeey!) and a grounded Star Destroyer were all spotted during the screening.
Rosario Dawson attends the panel for “The Mandalorian” series at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 28, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).
The panel then pivoted to ‘Ahsoka’. Dave Filoni said of making the series, “I’m very happy because no one knows anything about that or where it is filming.” As he said that, Ahsoka Tano herself, actress Rosario Dawson, took to the stage in a surprise appearance that thrilled the crowd.
Dawson told the audience that it has been amazing filming so far and that cameras have been rolling for three weeks. “We started filming on my birthday, May 9th!” she enthused.
And according to Dawson, she always wanted to play Ahsoka. “It’s because of people like you that I’m here,” she told the audience. “I was a fan cast online so I just retweeted that and when Jon and Dave started working on ‘Mandalorian’ they looked at the timeline and I was the right age now. It’s been an honor to bring this character to life and to see how much everyone wants to see her come to life in this series.”
Another big surprise – Dawson summoned Chopper, the droid from the Filoni-created animated series ‘Star Wars Rebels’ on stage. The chatty character (for whom Filoni also provided the electronic ‘voice’ on the show) was a huge hit with the audience.
(L-R) Temuera Morrison, Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder attend the panel for “The Mandalorian” series at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 28, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).
Then It was time for a sizzle reel of footage from that initial ‘Ahsoka’ shooting period. It featured Dawson’s Jedi walking on to the bridge of the ship Ghost from ‘Rebels’, with characters from that show in live action, including Twi’lek pilot Hera Syndulla (though only from behind and without revealing her casting). Cut to ‘Rebels’ own Mandalorian, Sabine Wren (played in the ‘Ahsoka’ show by Natasha Liu Bordizzo) looking at the image of the animated ‘Rebels’ cast as seen in the series finale.
After the footage screening, Bordizzo herself walked on stage. “I feel like I have just been adopted into a new family,” she said. “It is the most welcoming and creative set I’ve ever been on. I know how much Sabine means to people in the room. She means a lot to me too, and I think you’ll be really excited about the journey she is about to have.”
Finally, to end the presentation, Favreau reached below his table and lifted up Grogu, who was moving and waving to the crowd. Pascal was excited and referred to himself, Filoni and Favreau as Grogu’s “My Three Dads.” The entire cast finished the panel by taking a group photo with “the artist formerly known as Baby Yoda.”
Jon Favreau attends the panel for “The Mandalorian” series at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California on May 28, 2022. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney).
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You can watch our interviews with the casts of ‘The Mandalorian,’ ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ and ‘Ahsoka’ at Star Wars Celebration by clicking on the video player above.
(L to R) Director Rian Johnson and Carrie Fisher on the set of ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi.’
While ‘Star Wars’ remains in the middle of a fallow period in terms of its movie output, the televisual galaxy on Disney+ seems to be ever expanding. According to Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy, plans are moving forward on both fronts.
Speaking to Vanity Fair as part of a long article about the various big and small screen ‘Star Wars’ projects, Kennedy offered an update on the movie front.
“We have a road map,” Kennedy says, before admitting that Rian Johnson’s planned new movie – announced five long years ago after he made ‘The Last Jedi’ – are essentially in limbo because of other commitments. “Rian has been unbelievably busy with ‘Knives Out’ and the deal that he made at Netflix for multiple movies,” she says, before clarifying that a ‘Wars’ movie from Taika Waititi and ‘Last Night in Soho’ co-writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns is most likely to be first out of the gate in the new era.
‘Rogue Squadron’, which ‘Wonder Woman’ director Patty Jenkins has been developing, is further off, amidst chatter about script issues and Jenkins’ own schedule (she’s also still planning a third outing for Gal Gadot’s DC heroine).
The biggest idea to come out of the Kennedy interview is that Lucasfilm is not looking to continue the breakneck pace that saw the sequel trilogy, plus other titles including ‘Rogue One’ and ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ rattle out within a year (or less) of each other. The latter’s less successful box office was also factor, leading to concerns about a glut of ‘Wars’ stories causing fandom fatigue.
Yet the company is keeping the pipeline flowing on the Disney+ front, with studios in California, London and Vancouver cranking out shows including more ‘Mandalorian’, and various spins on catalogue characters including ‘Andor’ and ‘Ahsoka’.
(L to R) Diego Luna, Felicity Jones and the voice of Alan Tudyk as K-2SO in ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.’
There’s ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ due on May 27th, with ‘Andor’ – following the earlier days of Diego Luna’s Resistance fighter from ‘Rogue One’ – late in the summer.
Season 3 of ‘The Mandalorian’ will follow that in late 2022 or early 2023 with all the Baby Yoda you might want, and ‘Ahsoka’, starring Rosario Dawson as the titular Jedi, next year.
Further away is the intriguing likes of ‘The Acolyte’, which is being led by filmmaker Leslye Headland. Set 100 years before the events of ‘The Phantom Menace’, it chronicles the time of the High Republic.
“We’re taking a look at the political and personal and spiritual things that came up in a time period that we don’t know much about. My question when watching ‘The Phantom Menace was always like, ‘Well, how did things get to this point?’” says Headland. “How did we get to a point where a Sith lord can infiltrate the Senate and none of the Jedi pick up on it? Like, what went wrong? What are the scenarios that led us to this moment?”
Describing her series as a mystery thriller set in a prosperous and seemingly peaceful era, when the galaxy is still sleek and glistening, she explains that the Jedi will be different from how we’ve usually seen them. “The Jedi uniforms are gold and white, and it’s almost like they would never get dirty. They would never be out and about,” Headland says. “The idea is that they could have these types of uniforms because that’s how little they’re getting into skirmishes.”
Headland has Amandla Stenberg starring in her show so far, but even further out from a production point of view is a series from Jon Watts, who has been behind the last three ‘Spider-Man’ movies.
His show is described as a galactic version of classic Amblin coming-of-age adventure films of the ’80s. Casting notices are out for a group of kids, while Watts has been developing the scripts alongside ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ writer Chris Ford. So far, it’s still known by its codename: ‘Grammar Rodeo’, which references a ‘Simpsons‘ episode in which Bart and his schoolmates steal a car and run away for a week, using a phony educational event as an alibi.
Wherever you want to watch ‘Star Wars’, it sounds like you’ll have plenty to keep you busy in the future of that galaxy far, far away.
