Jason at Making Star Wars today says that the early buzz he’s heard on The Force Awakens has been very positive, from production to people who’ve actually seen the film in some form. Now, I would still be cautious, but it’s a good sign.
Spoilerphobes beware: Rey and Kylo Ren’s background?
A user on Reddit (aka automatic red flag, the website) claims to know some background information on Rey, Kylo Ren and a few other characters from The Force Awakens. S/he’s implying it’s from the novelization, and it’s a burner account, so who knows if any of this has actual merit. Take it as you will. (via)
Even they say that Snoke isn’t Plagueis, though.
Star Wars out this week: Shattered Empire #3, Chewbacca #1
It’s hard to believe that after last week’s glut of comic releases that we’re still getting new comics on Wednesday, but so it is. Fans don’t have to wait long for Shattered Empire #3, and there’s also Chewbacca #1, which launches a new mini-series.
Don’t forget, we learned of several upcoming books, short stories and the next comic mini-series at NYCC this weekend. Our next novel, however, is Battlefront: Twilight Company by Alexander Freed on November 3.
Video: J.J. Abrams on The Force Awakens, Disney
J.J. Abrams was recently part of a Vanity Fair talk with producer Brian Grazer and Apple’s Jony Ive. In addition to telling the story of how he turned it down at first yet again, he also confirms that he has final cut on The Force Awakens – although Disney being Disney, the contract would allow otherwise.
He also praises the Disney folks, saying “I cannot say enough about how Bog Iger and Alan Horn have understood this thing that is now part of the Disney company. And they’re not trying to Disney-fy it, they’re not doing anything other than, I think, an incredibly smart thing, which is letting Kathleen Kennedy — who is a remarkable person and producer — run and lead Lucasfilm to a place where I think it wants to go. They let us make the movie we wanted to make.” (via)
NYCC: Next Marvel limited series goes back to the prequel era for Obi-Wan & Anakin
Obi-Wan & Anakin, a 5-issue limited series from writer Charles Soule (Lando) and artist Marco Checchetto (Shattered Empire) will debut in January, CBR reports. Here’s the official synopsis for #1:
“Before their military heroism in the Clone Wars, before their tragic battle on Mustafar, and many decades before their final confrontation on the Death Star… they were Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan learner, Anakin Skywalker. It’s been a few years since Obi-Wan pledged to train the young “chosen one,” but even as they have grown closer through training, it has been a difficult road. Now, called to a remote planet for assistance, Master and Padawan may be pushed to the breaking point. Writer Charles Soule (Lando, She-Hulk, Daredevil) and artist Marco Checchetto (Star Wars: Shattered Empire, Avengers World, Punisher) bring us a tale of the Jedi at the height of their power…”
Marvel has previously touched on the very end of the prequel era with the Rebels tie-in Kanan: The Last Padawan.
UPDATE: CBR has an interview with Soule about the mini-series.
NYCC: New novels coming from Claudia Gray, Chuck Wendig, and a LOT of short stories

A new novel, the next two Aftermath titles and a handful of short stories were announced at NYCC this afternoon.
Aftermath: Life Debt (Summer 2016) and Aftermath: Empire’s End (2017) will be the next two from Chuck Wendig, while Claudia Gray has New Republic: Bloodlines set for a spring 2016 release. It’ll be set six years before The Force Awakens, and it doesn’t seem to be a Lost Stars sequel. (The Life Debt and Bloodline covers were spotted earlier today by Jedi Bibliothek.) UPDATE: Chuck Wendig on the upcoming books.
We also have short stories coming based around the aliens in Maz Kanata’s castle (as seen in Vanity Fair.) The first, ‘Bait,’ from Alan Dean Foster, stars a character called Grumgarr and will appear in the Star Wars Insider. Another, ‘The Perfect Weapon’ from Delilah Dawson, will be released electronically and feature Bazine, the woman in black. It’ll be released electronically in November, and there’s a temporary cover over at StarWars.com.
There’ll be four more stories from Landry Walker called ‘High Noon on Jakku,’ ‘All Creatures Great and Small,’ ‘The Face of Evil,’ ‘The Crimson Corsair and the Treasure of Count Dooku.’ They will also be released electronically, not as a Tales of book as we reported before. (Whoops.) All the e-novellas will come out on December 1, and the Landry ones will released in print, along with two more stories, in April.
At the panel, Pablo Hidalgo said that the Story Group took into account worldbuilding from George Lucas, the early Micheal Arnt script, and things Rian Johnson wanted to explore in VIII when building Journey to The Force Awakens. They’ve closely mapped out what happens after Return of the Jedi – revolving around Jakku – and the lead-in to The Force Awakens, but things between those two points are looser for creative freedom. He said to reread the Journey books in a year, and see what you catch.
As for Shattered Empire, Greg Rucka revealed that he hadn’t actually pitched the book to include movie characters like Luke, Leia and Han when the first cover was revealed. But he also promises that #4 will be a love letter to Luke, comparing him to Qui-gon Jinn.
You can listen to the panel audio over at The Wookiee Gunner, who also has helped me fill in a few gaps here.
Five things to watch for in the Rebels S2 premiere
With the premiere of season two of Rebels coming up (sure, it officially happened last week at New York Comic Con, but for most of us it’s next week) it’s time to get psyched for all the goodies we know are coming in season two: The return of some old faces, and the raising of the stakes of this little rebellion against the Empire. We know that Darth Vader, Captain Rex, and Hondo Ohnaka (#TeamHondo) will be showing up this season, and the premiere will focus on the return of the clone troopers, now a bit older. Here’s five things to look for in this two part episode (some spoilers ahead):
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Report: The Force Awakens will premiere on December 14
The Force Awakens will officially debut on December 14 in Los Angeles for its world premiere, The Hollywood Reporter says today. A London premiere will likely follow.
For the rest of us, it will hit theaters on December 18 in the U.S., and a day or so earlier in a few places overseas.
Video: New trailer for Star Wars Rebels S2
The latest trailer for season 2 of Star Wars Rebels has debuted! We do learn a bit about Sabine, and meet an old ally of hers – although given some of Dave’s comments, I don’t think the new character is someone who had a speaking role on The Clone Wars.
The trailer first showed up on Tumblr and was taken down, but reblogs are forever.
John Boyega: Racist backlash to first The Force Awakens appearance was “unnecessary”
John Boyega talks about getting cast in The Force Awakens, being on set, and the racist reaction to the first trailer with V Magazine:
“It was unnecessary,” he says of the negativity. “I’m in the movie, what are you going to do about it? You either enjoy it or you don’t. I’m not saying get used to the future, but what is already happening. People of color and women are increasingly being shown on-screen. For things to be whitewashed just doesn’t make sense.”
He says his career choices have been about sidestepping sterotypical roles for black actors. “All the films I’ve done have had a secret commentary on stereotypical mentalities,” he says. “It’s about getting people to drop a prejudiced state of mind and realize, ‘Oh shit we’re just watching normal people.’”