Forces of Destiny begins airing July 3 on Youtube

Forces of Destiny will debut online July 3 – next Monday – on Disney’s Youtube channel. New shorts will then premiere on the channel every day at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT.)


Eight in total, the shorts will feature Rey, Jyn Erso, Leia Organa, Sabine Wren, Padme Amidala, Ahsoka Tano “and others.” (We get a glimpse of Luke, Yoda and… a tree in the preview video above. Is the tree female? Or is that supposed to be Anakin?)

Rebels’ Hera Syndulla will reportedly appear in an episode set during Return of the Jedi.

Their broadcast debut will be Sunday, July 9 on the Disney Channel. Merchandise drops in August – early looks at the toy packaging are floating around now.

New “micro-short” series Forces of Destiny to highlight the women of Star Wars

Announced overnight, just ahead of the official opening of Celebration Orlando, is Forces of Destiny, a new series of animated shorts highlighting Rey, Jyn Erso, Sabine Wren, Leia Organa, Ahsoka Tano and more.


The series will launch in July on the Disney Youtube, with additional shorts debuting on the Disney Channel in the fall. Daisy Ridley, Felicity Jones, Tiya Sircar, Ashley Eckstein and Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata) are among those returning to voice their characters.

The series will also have book and action figure tie-ins. We’ll learn more later Friday at the “Heroines of Star Wars” panel here in Orlando.

Behind the scenes with E.K. Johnston on writing Ahsoka

e-k-johnston-cropAhsoka by E.K. Johnston comes out today from Disney-Lucasfilm Press in hardcover, eBook and audio. It tells a great story that helps fill in some of the critical gaps between her departure from the Jedi Order in The Clone Wars and her appearance as the Rebel agent, Fulcrum, in Rebels.

In early September, author E.K. Johnston was a guest panelist at Salt Lake Comic Con, where she discussed her novel on two panels: “The Life and Times of Ahsoka Tano” (alongside Pablo Hidalgo, Amy Ratcliffe, and moderated by Bryan Young; panel available from Full of Sith) and “Star Wars Books: Writing the Force” (alongside Christie Golden, Cecil Castellucci, Matt Martin, and moderated by yours truly). Here is an abridged transcript of the panel, focusing on Johnston’s responses to the moderator prompts and panelist discussion as relating to writing the newest chapter in the story of Ahsoka Tano.

Here’s what Johnston had to say (trying to stay spoiler free) on the behind-the-scenes of writing Ahsoka: Continue reading “Behind the scenes with E.K. Johnston on writing Ahsoka”

Star Wars out this week: Ahsoka, Darth Vader #25

ahsoka-book2-crop

Tuesday is a big day for Ahsoka Tano fans, as E.K. Johnston’s Ahsoka hits the shelves. The book fills in at least some of the gaps between her last appearance in The Clone Wars and her first in Rebels. The audiobook version, also out Tuesday, is read by Ashley Eckstein. You can check out a sample on Soundcloud.

Comic fans have a big Wednesday ahead as well, with Darth Vader #25, the final issue of the ongoing series. In true Marvel fashion, it has several variant covers. And StarWars.com has a two-part interview with writer Kieron Gillen for the occasion.

If that doesn’t do it for you, there’s also Han Solo #4 and The Force Awakens #5.

Also coming up in October we have Pablo Hidalgo’s Star Wars Propaganda on the 25th. Our next novel is Catalyst by James Luceno, which will give us some background on Rogue One, out on November 15. Check out our book release schedule for the rest of 2016.

EUbits: Post-Vader, Kieron Gillen sticking with Star Wars for new ongoing comic

sw-classifiedKieron Gillen’s Darth Vader ongoing may be ending with #25, but he’s on board for the replacement – which has been solicited as simply Star Wars: Classified. He’ll be joined by artist Kev Walker, who’s not quite new to Star Wars – he did a cover for Dark Horse’s Republic #55 back in 2003. The new comic, which will also be an ongoing title, will be launched with a number of variant covers in December.

Meanwhile, the flagship Star Wars comic will feature a Yoda story (via Obi-Wan’s journal) in issue #26. Writer Jason Aaron discusses it with StarWars.com’s Dan Brooks.

→ Ashley Eckstein is narrating the audiobook for E.K. Johnston’s Ahsoka, which is out next month. (via)

The Force Awakens novelization in paperback will contain two short stories: Alan Dean Foster’s ‘Bait’ (from Star Wars Insider #162) and Delilah Dawson’s ‘The Perfect Weapon,’ which was released as an eBook.

→ Tosche Station’s Thrawncast has officially begun with the discussion of Heir to the Empire’s first four chapters.

EUbits: First Ahsoka review, checking in with J.W. Rinzler and the Making of TFA

ahsoka-book2-cropThe first review of E.K. Johnston’s Ahsoka has appeared on Kirkus. It’s short, but there do appear to be some minor spoilers. Still, they say it “a great treat for young—and not-so-young—Star Wars fans that provides a thrilling back story for a compelling character.” The book is due out October 11.

Checking in with The Making of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Co-author J.W. Rinzler was on a podcast recently, and long story short, it’s still a big question point.

Star Wars Reads is back for 2016. The generally kid-centric event is “a month-long campaign” set for October.