What to expect from Star Wars and Disney+

Now that the streaming service has a name, the marketing for Disney+ has really begun… Along with some inklings of how it will work.

Per Vulture’s Josef Adalian, Star Wars will be one of the “five central content hubs” for the service (along with classic Disney, Marvel, Pixar and National Geographic) so there won’t be much need for Netflix-style scrolling.

We also know that they’re aiming for the monthly price to be less than Netflix (cheapest plan: $7.99). Disney’s ESPN+ streaming service, which launched earlier this year, currently charges $4.99 a month. So I suspect we’ll be looking at something that’ll run fans $5-7 a month. (And maybe even some savings if bundled with an ESPN+ or Hulu subscription?)

But! The content. What’s coming for Star Wars? Here’s what we know for sure, some speculation about what else may be in play, and what we definitely won’t see.

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The real problem with Forces of Destiny?

Youtuber Jenny Nicholson has a smart, measured (and sometimes hilarious) take on the Forces of Destiny line, how it’s failing the intended audience of young girls, and how it could be improved. As someone who was a girl pre-Bratz (let alone Monster High, a doll line I was only barely aware of), it’s a pretty intriguing look at a lot of things that wouldn’t even have occured to me – and here’s one real-life example from a dad.

(And yes, if you’re keeping track, there is a brief Mara Jade mention.)

New short to debut on May 25 Forces of Destiny broadcast

There were only seven episodes in the last pack of Forces of Destiny shorts, as opposed to the usual 8, and Lucasfilm publicist Tracy Cannobbio says the eighth one will debut in the May 25 broadcast on the Disney Channel.

The timing makes it seem likely that it could be related to Solo – a Qi’ra, L3-37 or Val short, perhaps? But it’s only a day after the film debuts, so much of the potential audience might not even know those characters. We also know, thanks to the toys, that there’s a Rey and Kylo short in the pipeline as well. Rey only appeared in one of last week’s shorts.

Hopefully we’ll hear more (beyond the time) in the days leading up to the broadcast.

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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Forces of Destiny is back on March 19

Disney has announced that we can expect the next set of Forces of Destiny shorts on Monday, March 19. All eight new episodes will debut at 10:00 a.m. PT (1:00 p.m. ET) on Disney’s Youtube and Disney.com. The special will air on the Disney Channel the following Monday (March 25) at 9:50 p.m. ET/PT.

Voices include Mark Hamill (Luke), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz), Kelly Marie Tran (Rose), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Catherine Taber (Padmé) and Matt Lanter (Anakin).

Titles, descriptions, and images in a gallery under the cut. Continue reading “Forces of Destiny is back on March 19”