Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Among today’s batch of
The standard edition of Queen’s Shadow was released earlier this month, but Master & Apprentice won’t be out until April 16 – meaning fans who pick it up at Celebration (April 11-15) will get it at most few days early.
We’re also starting to see the author panels on the schedule
Werner Herzog has much more important things going on that his “real small” Star Wars role – he’s actually promoting his documentary Meeting Gorbachev – but he does drop us a big hint about his character in the upcoming TV show The Mandalorian.
Now this is not a secret anymore, a small part, real small part, in “The Mandalorian,” the Star Wars sequel or whatever you call it. I like to do it because I know I’m good on screen, but only if I have to play a real villain.
So there you have it: Werner Herzog is likely playing a Star Wars villain, and he’s not particularly concerned with what place his project has in the franchise – as is his right, because he’s Werner Herzog and we’re all mostly still amused that he’s here at all.
The Mandalorian, which stars Pedro Pascal in the title role, will debut on the streaming service Disney+, probably later this year.
Three new Star Wars comics are coming to the shelves on Wednesday, March 27, 2019. Doctor Aphra #30 and Vader: Dark Visions #2 from Marvel, and Star Wars Adventures #19 from IDW.
Delilah S. Dawson’s next Star Wars novel, Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire, isn’t just a theme-park tie-in – it’s also a follow-up to her first, Phasma. As widely hinted and speculated when the book was first revealed, the novel’s lead is Resistance spy Vi Moradi, who was an important part of the first book. Here’s the blurb:
After devastating losses at the hands of the First Order, General Leia Organa has dispatched her agents across the galaxy in search of allies, sanctuary, and firepower—and her top spy, Vi Moradi, may have just found all three, on a secluded world at the galaxy’s edge.
A planet of lush forests, precarious mountains, and towering, petrified trees, Batuu is on the furthest possible frontier of the galactic map, the last settled world before the mysterious expanse of Wild Space. The rogues, smugglers, and adventurers who eke out a living on the largest settlement on the planet, Black Spire Outpost, are here to avoid prying eyes and unnecessary complications. Vi, a Resistance spy on the run from the First Order, is hardly a welcome guest. And when a shuttle full of stormtroopers lands in her wake, determined to root her out, she has no idea where to find help.
To survive, Vi will have to seek out the good-hearted heroes hiding in a world that redefines scum and villainy. With the help of a traitorous trooper and her acerbic droid, she begins to gather a colorful band of outcasts and
misfits, and embarks on a mission to spark the fire of resistance on Batuu—before the First Order snuffs it out entirely.
I wouldn’t expect Phasma herself, given the book’s time frame, but there is another character hinted at up there. (Ssh, it’s a spoiler for those who haven’t read Phasma.)
Galaxy’s Edge: Black Spire is due out on August 27 (up just a tad from the first
The full cover, with art from GFFA regular Darren Tan, is under the cut.
Continue reading “Dawson’s Black Spire is a not-so-stealthy Phasma sequel”
Hayden Christensen is the latest guest addition. He last appeared at Celebration Orlando in 2017 to a standing ovation, 15 years after his debut at Celebration II ahead of Attack of the Clones.
→ And finally, the full schedule is out. StarWars.com has the majors, and the complete one is here. Don’t forget about… Whatever this queue thing is.
→ And, of course, even more exclusives.
It’s for real this time. All of The Clone Wars – the movie, the first five seasons, and “The Lost Missions,” aka S6, is departing Netflix on April 7.
The series is all but certain to return to streaming when Disney+ launches – and though we still haven’t heard if the new episodes will be up there at launch, that seems like a pretty safe bet as well. Disney+ is expected to launch later this year.
As for the gap, well, that’s why they still make Blu-rays: Nothing on streaming is certain forever.
Oh, Jon Favreau. So, is Taika Waititi voicing IG-88? All we know for sure is that he is a confirmed director for the series. We don’t even know if that’s actually IG-88, although we have seen it – or a similar droid – before.
Or… Is the helmet the actual hint here? I leave it to you, Mandofans.
The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars TV show, is expected later this year. It will be exclusive to the Disney+ streaming service.
After the lines at Celebration Orlando proved more than a little traumatic, Reed has introduced a whole new system for getting into panels: A reservation and virtual queue called Lightspeed. It includes an advance lottery for the big panels that will be on the three big stages, with fans assigned to seating sections. It all sounds totally simple and I’m sure no one will be confused at all! The first lotteries open next Thursday, March 28… If you have your badge. (Apparently, they’re in the mail?)
But seriously, the line for the prayer circle for the livestream’s return starts here.
In other Celebration news… The Mandalorian panel with Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni will be Sunday, and there are merchandise exclusives.
#Beardwatch goes medieval as Mark Hamill talks about his Knightfall mega-beard on Jimmy Kimmel Live and dodges Episode IX questions.
Hamill fans will find the season 2 premiere of Knightfall on the History Channel on Monday, March 25 at 10 p.m. Eastern.
We’ve heard unverified rumblings before that the first of the non-saga Star Wars films from Game of Thrones’ David Benioff and D.B. Weiss would come out before Rian Johnson’s, but today we have a time frame from Star Wars News Net: It’s up after IX, with filming to begin in the fall.
They – or rather, their source, who they say has “worked on every Star Wars film since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm” – also claim that the films will be set in the Old Republic era, which will perhaps be most familiar as the Legends (i.e. currently noncanon) video game Knights of the Old Republic and various spinoffs, which include the still-active MMO The Old Republic.
If Lucasfilm’s aim is indeed to “appeal to a more Game of Thrones style audience.”, the still somewhat controversial pick (a couple of not-in-the-books rape plots on Game of Thrones, and that whole Confederate thing) of Benioff and Weiss suddenly does make a lot more sense.
To be honest, this whole thing reads to me like a repackaging of earlier (and even shakier) rumors and fan theories/wishful thinking, so I can’t put a lot of faith in it. (If you’re curious, the first KOTOR-centric movie “rumor” dates back to early 2013.) But as little as it appeals to me, there’s no doubt that the Knights of the Old Republic games and their offshoots are beloved by many fans. It’s hardly inconceivable that Lucasfilm might want to take a whack at them in canon. But, as always, I’m skeptical.
Consider that we still know next to nothing about anything happening past Episode IX, which could change at Celebration. For the moment, let’s just hope this rumor doesn’t lead to another round of “Rian got fired” from the angry bros and their short attention spans.