New Forces of Destiny arrives with Force Awakens cut scene, return of the Gorax

The latest set of Forces of Destiny episodes are live now on Youtube. The one with Rey and Finn begins with something very like a cut scene from The Force Awakens, but we’ve also got some offscreen The Last Jedi action with Chewbacca, Artoo and porgs. There’s also the long-awaited solo Padme adventure (set in The Phantom Menace era), and two post-Return of the Jedi Ewok adventures, including the return of the Gorax. Watch them all below.

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May the 4th roundup: Mark, Rian and Doctor Aphra

May the 4th is rarely a big day for anything but goofiness, and we did get that in spades. Below, Kristen Bell (guest hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live) surprised Adam Scott with Mark Hamill.


→ In addition to giving a few quotes to Entertainment Weekly, The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson did share a quick video with another Star Wars luminary:

→ Meanwhile, Han Solo director Philip Lord teases something he can’t talk about just yet.

Marvel’s Doctor Aphra won the latest Hasbro fan figure poll. Expect a 3.75-inch action figure, the character’s first, sometime next year.

→ Also: Laura Dern still isn’t saying much, Star Wars character popularity by state, Padme’s outfits ranked, and a Force playlist.

→ And no, we didn’t get a new Vanity Fair spread, as many of us were assuming. But do expect one later this month. Let’s just not pin it on any specific dates this time.

Win a Star Wars notebook collection!

Since Star Wars Day is coming up later this week, let’s kick May off with a contest! Chronicle Books recently released a Star Wars Notebook Collection to celebrate the 40th anniversary of A New Hope. This three-pack of blank lined notebooks features iconic ANH artwork on the front, back, and inside covers, as well as spot quotations throughout the notebooks. Each notebook has about 60 pages, and is 6 x 8.5 in. Perfect for keeping a journal while you’re waiting for some escaped droids to show up and start you on your hero’s journey. Thanks to our friends at Chronicle Books, we’re giving away one three-notebook set to a random winner!

Want to win? Simply leave a message in the comments of this post by the deadline of 11:59 pm EDT on May 5, 2017, and we’ll announce a random winner on May 7. We can ship the book to a winner in the U.S. or deliver it to you in person if you’ll be attending Origins Game Fair in Columbus in June or San Diego Comic-Con in July.

Good luck and May the 4th be with you!

‘The Star Wars Show’ is your new Wednesday addiction

The Star Wars Show

Hosted by StarWars.com’s Andi Gutierrez and Peter Townley, ‘The Star Wars Show’ will appear every Wednesday at 12:00 p.m. PT. (3:00 p.m. ET.) It will cover a wide variety of Star Wars news and stories from across the franchise.


In the inaugural episode, they talk to World of Warcraft director Duncan Jones, recap Star Wars Day, and show some extra scenes from Maz’s castle in The Force Awakens.

May the 4th roundup: Blasters, severed hands and more

@chrizmillr: Can't wait to get "shooting"! #MayThe4thBeWithYou
@chrizmillr: Can’t wait to get “shooting”! #MayThe4thBeWithYou
Chris Miller, one of the directors of the upcoming Han Solo standalone, celebrated May the 4th by sharing a shot of Han’s iconic blaster. It’s not casting news, but we’ll take it. Episode VIII director Rian Johnson – who is currently shooting – opted for dry humor.

→ Remember the old Episode VII rumor about Luke’s hand floating through space? Well, in yesterday’s Sun interview, Mark Hamill confirmed that it was indeed in the script at one point. On that note, Vox’s Todd VanDerWerff takes a look back at The Force Awakens and the challenges of making a remake/revival fun. Meanwhile, io9 is looking for VIII clues in yesterday’s Daisy Ridley video.

→ Chuck Wendig shares the first line of Aftermath: Life Debt. ComicBook.com has the first look at The Force Awakens comic adaptation. It’s scripted by Wendig, but the preview features only Luke Ross’s interior art.

John Jackson Miller talks about writing Star Wars with Omni.

→ Room’s Jacob Tremblay is fishing… He did get a response from one future Star Wars director, so that’s promising.

→ R2-D2 and C-3PO hung out in Entertainment Weekly’s elevator.

→ The Revenge of the Sith soundtrack is getting a limited release on vinyl.

→ StarWars.com has a look at upcoming The Force Awakens Funko Pop figures, including General Leia and Luke Skywalker.

→ And finally, my favorite new product: Star Wars Tiki cups.

Video: Unboxing Star Wars: Bloodline, C-3PO comic & Jello!

Unboxing-Star-Wars-title-card-05-04-2016

Happy Star Wars Day! We’ve got a special episode of Unboxing Star Wars for May the 4th! First, Baby Jawa, Yowie and I check out the fun at “The Dome Awakens”, the Star Wars Day celebration at the downtown San Diego Public Library held on May 1, 2016. Then it’s time to review the recent C-3PO one shot comic by James Robinson and Tony Harris, and get excited for the new Star Wars novel, Bloodline, by Claudia Gray. We finish up with the results of our first try at making Star Wars Jell-o Jigglers, and then some Baby Jawa fun time!

Quick reviews
C-3PO #1 – A fun (and long-awaited) tale that does indeed explain the origins of Threepio’s red arm. Read this comic then watch the LEGO Star Wars short “The Resistance Rises: Poe to the Rescue” for an interesting crossover of canon and LEGO Star Wars.
Bloodline – Strongly recommend! I had high expectations for this novel because of Gray’s first Star Wars novel, Lost Stars, and she surpassed them. I really enjoyed this tale – it’s a top-notch story with some great characters, and Gray nails Leia’s character.
Star Wars JELL-O Jigglers Mold Set – Comes with two 6-character mold trays and 4 boxes of Jello! All the characters look great, except Yoda, who is in some sort of action pose which doesn’t quite work right. Be sure to use the special mold instructions on the big box instead of the regular Jiggler instructions on the inside boxes of gelatin.

Get more info on Wear Star Wars Every Day or make a donation at GoFundMe or sign up to make a per-day pledge.

Note: Del Rey provided a copy of Star Wars: Bloodline for review.

May 4th is incoming: Gird for puns

sunhamillWe don’t know what, if anything, is being planned for May 4th… Well, except one thing: Mark Hamill spent the 3rd as special editor for British tabloid The Sun. (It’s for charity!) Here’s the story, and the tweets.)

Last year on May 4, we got The Force AwakensVanity Fair cover story, which gave us our first look at Kylo Ren unmasked, Maz Kanata’s name, and a whole bunch of aliens. Alas, the magazine has already announced their May cover for this year, and it’s Amy Schumer. (Ironically?) Which isn’t to say I don’t expect Rogue One! Just maybe not this early.

In any case, history has shown us that Lucasfilm likely isn’t playing hardball tomorrow. (They almost never do – I just really love those silly VF shoots.) May the 4th is really a fandom event, and the fans will be out… In force.

(I’m sorry.)

Rumor: Second anthology film will star Boba Fett

Boba Fett, moments before going out like a chump

What’s May the 4th without a movie rumor?

Today’s contender is courtesy of The Wrap, who’s claiming that the second anthology movie – the one Josh Trank is no longer directing – will be “a Boba Fett origin story.” (Wait, is it Attack of the Clones? Again? In 3D?)

Of course, this is far from our first Boba Fett rumor. He’s been a frequent subject since the standalone films were announced, including a recent one that claimed ‘Boba Fett’ will turn out to be a Dread Pirate Roberts-like figure, passing the name from the original clone onto others. The Wrap is a far more trustworthy source than many, and Out Like A Chump: The Boba Fett Story may seem inevitable, but only time will tell if any of these rumors pan out.