B&N’s edition of Resistance Reborn will have exclusive bookmarks; Del Rey at NYCC

Rebecca Roanhorse’s Resistance Reborn isn’t coming out next week – at least for most of us – but when it does, fans who get it from Barnes & Noble will also get these double-sided bookmarks.

The book is Del Rey’s entry in the Journey to the Rise of Skywalker series, and is out on November 5 – but Del Rey is going to New York Comic Con next week (October 3-6), which will have a whole panel on Journey. There’s no con edition or early release for this round, but Roanhorse will be signing posters.

Del Rey lists three Star Wars centric panels – an audiobook one on Thursday, Lucasfilm Publishing on Friday, and the Journey panel, “Join the Resistance!” on Saturday, immediately followed by a Roanhorse signing. Other Star Wars authors signing include Delilah S. Dawson, Cavan Scott and Christian Blauvelt, and all the relevant details are in this PDF.

If you’re not attending NYCC, don’t worry – there are Journey novels coming out on Force Friday, but we’ll get to that in a day or so. (Or you can just check out the schedule, which is jam-packed.)

Deborah Chow to direct Obi-Wan TV series

The Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series has a director and a writer, Lucasfilm announced today. Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian, American Gods, Jessica Jones) is set to direct, with Hossein Amini (The Alienist, Drive) writing. It’s not yet clear if both are aboard for the entire season, or are just the first announced.

The show, which features the return of Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, takes place eight years after Revenge of the Sith – 11 before A New Hope.

Deborah Chow
Deborah Chow

“We really wanted to select a director who is able to explore both the quiet determination and rich mystique of Obi-Wan in a way that folds seamlessly into the Star Wars saga,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement. “Based on her phenomenal work developing our characters in The Mandalorian, I’m absolutely confident Deborah is the right director to tell this story.”

The show will be on Disney+, the streaming service that launches later this year. It’ll be the third live-action Star Wars series, and the second staring a major returning movie character, after The Mandalorian and a Cassian Andor-centric Rogue One prequel.

Marvel’s Kevin Feige developing a Star Wars movie

Well, this is unexpected: Kevin Feige, the mastermind behind Marvel Studios, is now developing a Star Wars film for Lucasfilm, Disney’s Alan Horn told The Hollywood Reporter.

Further details are slim, as to be expected with this sort of officially-sanctioned reporting, but THR says he has talked to “a major actor” about a “specific role.” Feige is known as a big Star Wars fan – he made an appearance on The Star Wars Show last year:

Although there are three Star Wars movies on the schedule after December’s The Rise of Skywalker, beginning in 2022, we have few clues on what exactly they’ll be. Game of Thrones’ D.B. Weiss and David Benioff are handling the first, but the 2024 and 2026 movies remain mysteries. The Last Jedi’s Rian Johnson, who’s signed for a trilogy, has recently said he may make another film on his own before going back to the franchise, depending on how the schedule works out.

Triple Force Friday will launch product reveals on Thursday livestream

Speaking of Force Friday, StarWars.com rolls in this morning with the news that a product launch livestream is coming Thursday. Here’s the teaser, featuring a few familiar faces:

Warwick Davis will host the live portions from Pinewood Studios in London, though I would be shocked if Galaxy’s Edge doesn’t make an appearance somehow.

The first wave of products for the three big launches coming later this year – The Mandalorian, The Rise of Skywalker, and video game Jedi: Fallen Order – will all be in stores October 4, but this will be our first (official) look at some of them.

Disney publicity onslaughts continue, but not for anything actually new (yet)

The Rise of Skywalker (D23 sizzle)

If you haven’t heard enough about Disney+ or Galaxy’s Edge, boy are you in for a treat… Anyone who didn’t sign up for the streaming service during D23 can get in on the action now. At least one commercial was aired during the Emmys last night (where Star Wars alum Phoebe Waller-Bridge and her show Fleabag took home 3 awards – comedy actress, directing, and best comedy series).

As for Galaxy’s Edge, it’s full court press time now that it’s open on both coasts (though the second ride is still months out) and it’s getting an ABC “takeover” and a two-hour primetime TV special on Freeform. (If you can stand the chipperness, there’s a sneak peek at EW.)

As for that other big event coming up in December – remember movies?!? – things are slowly progressing. A spot for The Rise of Skywalker (the new D23 footage, sans flashback intro) was shown during Sunday night’s NFL game, and there’s apparently a spot based on the first trailer in circulation as well. An Empire cover with Kylo Ren has been spotted, not to mention a ton of toy leaks I won’t even get into. With Force Friday coming on October 4 we don’t have long now… No matter how long it feels.

Marvel’s Star Wars to end on Hoth with ‘Empire Ascendant’

The “end” of Marvel’s flagship Star Wars series is getting a bookend – a one-shot finale issue called Star Wars: Empire Ascendant. It’s written by Charles Soule, Greg Pak, Simon Spurrier, and Ethan Sacks, with art by Luke Ross, Roland Boschi, and more. The first of sure-to-be-many covers is by Riccardo Federici.

The issue will have the Rebel Alliance building Hoth, but will also address “the fate” of Doctor Aphras – so it sounds like Marvel’s second ongoing series might also be “ending.” The latest issue we’ve seen solicited, #40, is the end of a storyline and also coming in December.

Meanwhile, see the full cover for Empire Ascendant under the cut.

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