This year I wasn’t able to pay attention to Star Wars Celebration the way I would normally like to due to work comittments, but I’ve been doing my best to get caught up on announcements and wanted to give some first thoughts and impressions about announcements and commentary that was released this weekend. Thoughts are not exhaustive, and in no particular order – I’d love to hear what you all think!
Andor: For a long time, I’ve felt like I might be the only person on the planet who was actually looking forward to Andor. I’ve heard a lot of people saying they felt like this was the most boring character in Rogue One, and I know a lot of people don’t see the point of the series because of his death in the movie. While I haven’t talked about it, I’ve been really excited about this series.
In some ways, Rogue One lifted or loosely adapted elements of the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series. The plot was about the capture of the Death Star Plans. This material was covered in the old EU in a few different ways, but probably the most well-known version was this series of computer games. In that, an ex-stormtrooper named Kyle Katarn parterned with Jan Ors for merc missions on behalf of the Rebel Alliance. Kyle had his own reasons for joining up after discovering what the Empire was really about. I always felt that Rogue One just flipped the main protaganist and sidekick roles, and played with the names a bit. Kyle Katarn became Cassian Andor, and Jan Ors became Jyn Erso.
Recent comments by Tony Gilroy have hinted that the series may make us rethink some of what we know about main characters. At first, this comment rankled a bit – it feels like Disney likes meddling in things they don’t fully understand. The more I thought about it though, the more convinced I became that the character that they’re talking about is Mon Mothma. The old Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series showed a different side to Mon Mothma – the pragmatic side that understood that sacrifices were necessary in war. To most of the Rebellion, Mon Mothma was the brave and virtuous senator, angelic in her opposition to Palpatine. To the agents who served her, she bore more in common with General Draven.
If this theory bears out, we’ll get to see a little added depth to the Rebellion – fleshing out more of their early determination of how far they were willing to go. I would expect to see more of Saw Gerreras partisans, and an exploration of how far is too far in war. Played correctly, I think Andor could be a surprise hit. (Also, the cinematography in the trailer is gorgeous.)
Skeleton Crew: I was alerted to this project by a text message from a friend of mine. “What is Skeleton Crew?” I had no idea. He gave me a brief description of short announcement of the series to me, and my first thought was “This sounds like they’re shooting for either Lost in Space or The Goonies in Star Wars.” My next thought was “What do you want to bet that these are children of cultists who are being smuggeld out of Exegol?” Neither thought makes me very happy, but these are early days. With little to no information to go on, I’m guessing this is targeting younger audiences. Not interested, but willing to be proven wrong.
Tales of the Jedi: This series has me both excited and disappointed. I had my own thoughts on what I wanted Tales of the Jedi to be, and this isn’t it. Even so, I’m always excited to learn more about Count Dooku. I hope in telling these stories, we might also learn more about how Qui-Gon came to meet the Force Shaman that taught him how to maintain his identity after death. Could be interesting, but not a huge source of interest to me.
The Mandalorian Season 3: I did manage to watch a recording of this panel, minus the trailer footage that was aired. It was good to see all of the folks who are involved in this series and love being a part of it. That said, I didn’t feel anything of real value was revealed. It’s a bit disappointing to hear that the series won’t be released until February of next year, but if the quality is good, the wait will be worth it. I am excited to hear that we’re going to be featuring the conflict over the throne of Mandalore as a focus point, but disappointed to have heard that Babu Frik (or an alien much like him) is going to be featured. I’m still working very hard to compartmentalize ST content from everything else in my mind – if they keep trying to tie this stuff to their garbage trilogy, my exit from anything further will be coming sooner rather than later.
Ahsoka: Not much revealed here, except for that we have casting for Sabine Wren, and we know that at least Hera, Jacen, and Chopper will be in the series. This really is sounding like a live action sequel to Rebels, and I’m excited about that. I’m hoping that Vanessa Marshall will be able to play Hera in live action, I think she’s earned it – only time will tell.
The Bad Batch Season 2: I watched and enjoyed The Bad Batch Season 1, but it wasn’t must-see content for me. There were scenes that I did enjoy, and I’d be thrilled if Season 2 picks up with Weyland/Mount Tantiss and the cloning operation there. (Seeing more Republic Commandos would be exciting, too.) I’m just not that invested in the story of Omega, and I don’t want to see a lot of filler. If they can tell a tight story that has a point, I’ll be invested – otherwise, it’s just an “extra’ for me.
Kathleen Kennedy Comments: At some point, Kathleen Kennedy made comments that the future of Star Wars movies will explore the period of the sequel trilogy and beyond. The next movie announced on the slate is Taika Waititi’s untitled movie, and supposedly the Rogue Squadron movie is still in development. My personal feeling is that Kathleen made this comment because it served her own agenda, and she had to say something. Taikas movie is still in development. While I love Taikas movies in general, I’m a bit wary of him producing a Star Wars movie. He’s known for his humor, and while humor is certainly an element of Star Wars, I think the last thing the franchise needs is a “wacky” movie. I’m not sure if he can play one straight, but until we learn more about what his project actually is, there’s no way to tell if it will be interesting or not. If you believe Rogue Squadron is still going forward, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Coupled with comments that Kathleen made about Kevin Feige’s movie not being in active development (which seem to directly contradict Michael Waldron’s comments about working on the script for that project), I can’t help but feel that movie development for Star Wars is effectively moribund until Kathleen is fully out.
Galaxys Edge/Galactic Starcruiser: The introduction of Mandalorian Era characters in Galaxy Edge in Anahim and Galactic Starcruiser in Walt Disney World seems to only lend weight to this theory. With the interest in Obi-Wan already seeming to slump, I think the alarm bells at Lucasfilm and Disney must be blaring. Internally, they have to know that they have major problems. They are sitting on mountains of debt, their stock price is down (though not as bad as they have been), and their recent efforts have met met with more of a “Meh” than excitement. They know that the Mandalorian is popular, and seems to be the only thing that Star Wars fans can collectively agree upon. Knowing this is where their bread is buttered, they’re hoping to arrest flagging interest, but they can’t pivot quickly. My guess is, Kathleen will be shuffled out as soon as it is expedient after Indy 5’s release. Jon Favreaus comments at the Mandalorian Season 3 panel that he intends to be here “for a long, long time” were telling, I think.
Jedi Survivor: The announcement I am most excited about from Celebration 3. I adored Jedi: Fallen Order, and while the trailer gives away almost nothing, I cannot wait to continue the adventures of Cal Kestis. While the trailer was cinematic and included no gameplay, I can’t help but notice how much the graphical fidelity has improved for the cinematics even in just 3 years – the Fallen Order was no slouch in that department. 2023 can’t get here fast enough for this release.
What was missing: In spite of these announcements, this Celebration felt like it lacked “punch”. Most of the announcements centered on projects we already knew about. It’s inexcusable that Lucasfilm/Disney have been unable to bring any movie projects out of development and into production, and if that doesn’t change soon, expect the trades to start whispering again. The one pivot that Lucasfilm has been able to make is a focus on prequel or prequel adjacent content. Given that they initially wanted to avoid any reference to the prequels at all, I can’t help but be happy for prequel fans and Lucasfilm alike. I think it’s good and healthy that these movies have had a critical re-evaulation, and that more content will be coming forward from this era.
That’s my thougts on the major announcements – what are yours? Do you think we’ll see a Thrawn casting announcement at any point in the near future? Do you think Joruus C’baoth is the mysterious figure in the tank in the Jedi: Survivor trailer? How many times will we hear O-MEEE-ga in the Bad Batch Season 2? Leave your comments below! And keep visiting That Park Place for all the latest Star Wars news and analysis!
