The Star Wars Celebration 2025 is in full swing in Japan, taking place in the Makuhari Messe Convention Center near Tokyo as we speak. There was no 2024 event, so Lucasfilm and Disney have a lot to unveil: new movies, new TV shows, updates on projects in development, and other announcements across other media. 2x6e2e

So, let’s get down to exactly what’s been confirmed.

The Mandalorian and Grogu comes to theaters May 22, 2026. #StarWarsCelebration pic.twitter.com/Z7DRuvkG7M

— Star Wars (@starwars) April 18, 2025

Everyone’s favorite terse helmeted bounty hunter and his adorable green kid are coming to the big screen on May 22, 2026. Series mastermind Jon Favreau will direct and it appears there’s a chance this will effectively function as a feature-length fourth season of the TV show, potentially wrapping up the story (for now).

Exclusive footage shows Pedro Pascal as a maskless Mando and Grogu wielding the Force, together with confirmation that Sigourney Weaver will appear in a mysterious role and The Bear star Jeremy Strong will play Rotta, the buff gladiator son of Jabba the Hutt. Sure, sign me up.

New movie ‘Star Wars: Starfighter‘ 2n5xl

Shawn Levy. Ryan Gosling. A new standalone story coming from a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars: Starfighter is coming to theaters Memorial Day 2027. pic.twitter.com/uiTLfRA0fz

— Star Wars (@starwars) April 18, 2025

We’d known Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling were teaming up for a Star Wars film for some time. Now we know what it is: Star Wars: Starfighter will be the first movie set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker and is billed as an “entirely new adventure” with “all-new characters”.

Gosling appeared on stage and said:

“Being here and seeing all of you [makes it] more inspiring to do it. There’s so much creativity and imagination in this room and there’s so much love. It’s such a great reminder of how much movies can mean to us, specifically how much these movies mean to us. ‘The force is a mysterious thing, but, as I’m here, the force is the fans. All we can hope for is, ‘May the fans be with us.’”

Other specifics are unknown, though it was underlined that this isn’t a sequel to The Rise of Skywalker but its own thing. Given the title Starfighter, we can probably assume a focus on space dogfights, but who knows? The movie will begin shooting in early 2026 for a May 28, 2027 release.

Maul: Shadow Lord announcement 1i711u

The fandom for the Shadow Lord has already begun. Maul – Shadow Lord, a new animated series is coming to @disneyplus in 2026. pic.twitter.com/rxzk0E53jH

— Star Wars (@starwars) April 18, 2025

Coming in the final moments of the Lucasfilm Animation showcase, this animated Disney Plus show focuses on The Phantom Menace villain Darth Maul and will show him training an apprentice. Star Wars animation mastermind Dave Filoni is behind the show, with longtime Maul voice actor Sam Witwer reprising the role. Further details are unknown, though it will premiere in 2026.

Disney Plus show updates 362ok

Dave Filoni confirms that he “is still working with” Mortis and the World Between Worlds in AHSOKA pic.twitter.com/podcR8ePCw

— Star Wars Holocron @ SWCJ (@sw_holocron) April 18, 2025

Andor season 2 arrives on Disney Plus next week, with creator Tony Gilroy and star Diego Luna showing a sneak peek of some key events and how the show will tie into Rogue One. We also got some information on Ahsoka season 2, which will begin filming later this year. Star Wars Visions‘ third season is also on the way, with nine new shorts from various animated studios. The first episode of animated show Tales from the Underworld was also shown, focusing on Asajj Ventress.

Books s522y

The new Darth Vader novel MASTER OF EVIL is set very shortly after the events of REVENGE OF THE SITH.

“This period is covered very well in Charles Soule’s Marvel comic…except there are gaps in the comics. And there is a particular gap in the comic that I don’t think Charles or… pic.twitter.com/dx9z4i8Acn

— Star Wars Holocron @ SWCJ (@sw_holocron) April 18, 2025

The Lucasfilm Publishing: Manga Mania! , revealed new manga adaptations and The High Republic stories. Notable releases include Star Wars: Master of Evil, a Darth Vader novel by Adam Christopher (Nov. 2025), and an updated Star Wars: Women of the Galaxy featuring characters like Avar Kriss (April 2025). A deluxe Doug Chiang art collection was also announced for December 2025.

The Celebration runs over the weekend, so if there’s anything else unveiled we’ll be sure to let you know.

Calls for Star Wars to follow trends established by the MCU have been littering the internet for years, as people urge the intergalactic franchise to take cues from massively popular releases like Guardians of the Galaxy or even The Avengers.

Several ideas popularized by Marvel’s string of massive releases have also been plugged as potential fresh avenues for Star Wars, but it turns out fans are not interested in a Star Wars multiverse or an Endgame-esque conclusion to the Mandoverse. The conversation recently shifted gears and instead suggested the MCU has something to learn from the Star Wars universe. A fan openly wondered why the sprawling cinematic franchise has yet to mimic the titanic sci-fi favorite’s official celebration, creating its own Marvel alternative akin to the recent Star Wars Celebration, which ran from April 7-10 in London.

The massive event served both as an opportunity for Star Wars diehards to gather and celebrate the timeless franchise, and as an opportunity to announce, discuss, and hype Star Wars projects like Ahsoka, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and the reintroduction of Daisy Ridley’s Rey.

Marvel fans would like to see the MCU take up a similar tradition. The franchise puts out a massive amount of content each year, after all, and an official Marvel Celebration could serve as a great opportunity to plug future projects and promote releases. Both franchises are owned by Disney, and both tend to dominate the box office with fresh releases, so it’s fair to wonder why — and how — an official MCU day doesn’t exist yet.

In the comments below a post pondering this exact question, people largely heaped blame on D23 and San Diego Comic Con, which currently serve as Marvel’s biggest annual events. Both tend to serve the same purpose as Star Wars Celebration does, but — as OP minterbartolo pointed out — during these events, the MCU is forced to share the stage with a range of other projects. Were there a specific MCU Celebration, it could zero in on exclusively Marvel projects, rather than yielding time to anything else.

While there is some for the idea of an MCU Celebration among commenters, most feel the event would be unnecessary. The franchise already gets plenty of buzz — something that is likewise true of Star Wars — and SDCC makes plenty of space for announcements in the franchise.

That’s not to say it will never come to , of course. This is Disney we’re talking about, after all, and if the behemoth brand sees a monetary benefit in initiating an official MCU holiday, it will almost certainly come to eventually. Assuming the next few MCU releases turn the tides back in the franchise’s favor, of course. As of late, the MCU is hemorrhaging fans, thanks to a string of lackluster releases, and viewers are starting to lose faith in the property. Should it turn things around, and reclaim the fans it’s losing, however, a future Marvel Celebration isn’t out of the question.

The dates for the next Star Wars Celebration have been announced. After a very successful 2023 celebration in London, Star Wars announced that Japan will be the next destination. Unfortunately, this intergalactic party will not take place until 2025.

The announcement was made on the official Star Wars Twitter , hinting that 2024’s celebrations will be skipped. It was confirmed via the official Star Wars website that the three-day 2025 event will take place at Makuhari Messe Convention Center, located near Tokyo, Japan. This marks the second time that the Star Wars event was held in Japan since the first took place in 2008 at the same location.

At the moment, it’s currently unknown what will be announced or revealed in the event. It was announced in the 2023 celebrations that three new Star Wars films will be released, with Daisy Ridley reprising her role as Rey Skywalker. At the same time, a handful of trailers for multiple Star Wars series, such as Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew, were also released at the event.

What’s interesting about the 2025 event is that just like its 2008 predecessor, Japan’s Star Wars celebrations will be commemorating significant anniversaries in the Star Wars franchise. 2025 will celebrate the 20th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith and the 10th anniversary of Star Wars: Episode 7 – The Force Awakens. So expect huge announcements and guests to appear at the future event.

Ticket sale dates for the 2025 Star Wars Celebration have not yet been announced.

Star Wars Celebration 2023 served up quite a delectable spread this past weekend, and fans of the franchise’s live-action endeavors ate particularly well; with three new feature films confirmed to be in development, including a biblical Jedi epic from James Mangold, a Mandoverse-centric film, and the big screen return of Daisy Ridley’s Rey, the pipeline couldn’t possibly be more fruitful.

Except, of course, for the additional reveal of the trailer for Ahsoka, Dave Filoni’s incoming Disney Plus series starring Rosario Dawson as the eponymous former Jedi padawan. In other words, the story that Rebels die-hards have been waiting for.

It will be hard to top the hype generated by Lars Mikkelsen’s return as Grand iral Thrawn, a character he loaned his voice to in animated projects, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t be remiss to sleep on Ahsoka‘s other incoming foes; especially Shin Hati, a dark force gunning for the title hero’s head, who made quite the impression during her window of trailer screentime.

In an interview with ComicBook, Ivanna Sakhno (Pacific Rim Uprising) was happy to delve into what we can expect from her attention-grabbing antagonist, and teased how she’ll play a pivotal role in exploring the ever-essential relationship between the light and dark sides of the Force.

“It’s very interesting that you say that nobody sees themselves as a villain. And I think it’s a big part of understanding her being and also understanding the reason behind that darkness within somebody. Dave, I think has done such a brilliant job in this series, expanding our understanding of the spectrum and what comes between the Light and the Dark. But she’s incredibly analytical, quite intense… She’s incredibly skilled in the lightsaber combat. But at the same time, throughout the journey, we slowly begin to see her recreate her history in order to make for a better future. So, that is part of that spectrum.”

ing Shin in the hunt for Ahsoka will be Mikkelsen’s aforementioned Thrawn, as well as Ray Stevenson’s Baylan Skoll, a survivor of Order 66 and master to Shin. Hayden Christensen is also set to reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker in the series.

Ahsoka is set to premiere on Disney Plus in August.

Hayden Christensen was in attendance at the Star Wars Celebration held in London over the long Easter weekend, an occasion that allowed him to champion all things Star Wars and also discuss his own experience with the franchise. The audience was happy to see the Anakin Skywalker actor and cheered him on as Christensen allowed the emotions of the celebration to get to him.

Christensen first made his way into the Star Wars universe back in 2000 when he was announced to be playing the role of Anakin Skywalker, who fans already knew would transform into the iconic Darth Vader. Aged only 19 years old, Christensen stepped into a world that already had such deeply devoted fans and the result was not exactly favorable.

There were many complaints lobbed at the prequel, including more than a few for Christensen’s performance as Anakin. Some fans called it wooden and uncompelling, as the role earned the actor a Razzie award for worst ing actor in Revenge of the Sith. In more recent years, public opinion has shifted as many pointed out that the substandard writing and lackluster direction should shoulder much of the blame.

After the negativity that surrounded his role as Anakin, Christensen removed himself somewhat from Hollywood (though not entirely) and bought himself a ranch to which he could retreat from a life in the limelight. That was until the director of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Deborah Chow went to meet with Christensen on his ranch in order to bring him back into the Star Wars universe to reprise his role as Darth Vader.

It was in that installment that Christensen got his time to shine, meaning that his arrival at the Star Wars Celebration was greeted with cheers of appreciation from the massive audience as he made his way to talk with the host. Cheers and chanting went on for quite some time, with the actor starting to look more and more emotional the longer it lasted. As the din died down Christensen responded, “Man, you guys sure know how to make a guy feel good folks,” which only set them off again.

The actor was visibly emotional, with his eyes appearing to tear up as of the crowd shouted out “We love you Hayden!” to which Christensen responded, “You’re making me emotional” whilst attempting to retain composure. His return to the franchise almost 20 years on from the prequels has allowed the actor to redeem himself and the character in the eyes of fans who were thrilled to see him in person at the event.

Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 is in full swing, and fans old and new of George Lucas’ historic sci-fi mythos are eating about as well as they could hope — with sneak peeks of the second season of Andor, a brand new trailer for the live-action Ahsoka series, and a rather ominous teaser for the tail-end of season three of The Mandalorian, there’s been lots to chew on so far.

Perhaps the big marquee announcement, however, was the reveal of three brand new live-action Star Wars films in development, each of them bolstered by a powerhouse director. But what exactly might these films entail, and who’s going to be behind the camera for each of them? Here’s everything you need to know about the three live-action Star Wars films announced at SWCE 2023.

James Mangold will helm the story of the first Jedi 1s174a

James Mangold, whose directorial credits include such works as Logan, Ford v Ferrari, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, is set to spearhead a film that takes place during the dawn of the Jedi, predating the Old Republic era, which itself takes place thousands of years before the events of A New Hope.

Perhaps fittingly, the film has been described as a “biblical epic,” and we can’t wait to see what Mangold ends up crafting here.

Dave Filoni is bringing Disney Plus to the big screen 313t2f

The second announced director for Star Wars‘ next feature-length endeavor is Dave Filoni, an already-prolific figure in the Star Wars sphere thanks to his involvement in such works as The Mandalorian, The Bad Batch, The Clone Wars, and Rebels.

His presence in the Star Wars Disney Plus library will translate to his film quite significantly; Filoni’s movie will be set during the New Republic and is said to wrap up the interconnected stories of a multitude of Disney Plus shows, including the aforementioned Mandalorian, as well as The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka.

Rey’s return will be spearheaded by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy 1v5u1p

The third live-action film announced at SWCE will be set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, and will see Daisy Ridley reprise her role of Rey Skywalker. Following the Resistance’s victory against the First Order, the film will follow Rey as she seeks to rebuild the Jedi Order under the watchful gaze of Luke and Leia’s Force ghosts.

Helming this film will be the Academy Award-winning Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, whose film Saving Face, a short documentary about acid attacks on women in Pakistan, won her the aforementioned honor in the Best Documentary Short Film category.

Elsewhere, Obaid-Chinoy directed two episodes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Disney Plus series Ms. Marvel, specifically “Seeing Red” and “Time and Again,” which each hold a 100 and 95 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, respectively.

It looks like Star Wars fans will be getting the prequel to end all prequels. Earlier at Star Wars Celebration Europe today, it was confirmed that James Mangold has been given the directorial reins for a future Star Wars film.

Taking place before the Old Republic era, which places it well over 3000 years before the events of A New Hope, the film will follow the story of the galaxy’s first-ever Jedi, and has been described as a “biblical epic.”

The news comes alongside the announcement of two other live-action Star Wars movies, one of which will be helmed by Star Wars regular Dave Filoni, while the other will be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (Ms. Marvel). Filoni’s film will be set during the New Republic era and will incorporate storylines from The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and various other Disney Plus properties. Obaid-Chinoy’s film, meanwhile, will take place after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, and will once again star Daisy Ridley as Rey as she sets out to rebuild the Jedi Order.

Mangold’s previous directorial works include Logan, a Wolverine-centric swansong set in the Fox Universe of X-Men films for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also directed and produced the 2019 film Ford v Ferrari, which received a Best Picture nomination at the 92nd Academy Awards.

He’s also no stranger to the Disney world either, having directed and co-written the script for the film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which just received a brand new, action-packed trailer earlier today.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is shaping up to be something special. The show is described as a coming-of-age story focused on four teenage actors, with influences from The Goonies. The shoot wrapped in January with the show coming later this year and the first trailer has just debuted as part of the Star Wars Celebration in London.

Sadly, right now, this is officially for attendees only, though those in attendance seem to like what they’ve just seen. First impressions are that it’s reminiscent of Solo: A Star Wars Story and has reminded attendees of the group of kids from E.T.

Edit: the trailer just leaked, so here it is:

We also now know that Jude Law’s character will be a Jedi Knight and that The Banshees of Inisherin‘s Kerry Condon will appear in the show. Others confirm it feels like The Goonies, which is certainly confirmed by this blurry cam footage.

It’s also assembled a sterling team of directors. MCU Spider-Man director Jon Watts has created the show and will direct at least one episode, with the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert on board, as well as The Green Knight‘s David Lowery and Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier.

It’s looking like this will drop around November/December this year, but let’s hope the official footage is released very soon.

The Lucasfilm Studio Showcase is now underway in London as the opening event of the Star Wars Celebration. So far, the audience has gotten teasers for Andor season two, and The Acolyte. Those in attendance were also treated to an extended sneak peek at the next episode of The Mandalorian, which confirms some big things on the way.

Spoilers follow.

First up, we now know that Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon will finally make his return to the show next week. But beyond that, they’ve also seen Grand iral Thrawn referenced in dialogue by both Gideon and Bo-Katan. Thrawn is one of the most dangerous Imperial commanders, renowned for his tactical skills and cunning.

He’s previously been mentioned by Ahsoka in season two of The Mandalorian, but it’s looking like he’s going to make his full live-action debut either this week or next. Casting has been kept under wraps, so we’re eager to find out who’s slathering on the blue face paint to embody the role.

Along the way, we also learned that Brendol Hux, the father of Domnhall Gleeson’s Armitage Hux from the sequel trilogy, is involved in some way. It’s unknown how he and Thrawn are linked, though we expect this plotline to continue beyond The Mandalorian when Ahsoka lands.

We should get a trailer for Ahsoka tomorrow at the dedicated to it, which may reveal him on screen. Either way, we can’t wait to see how they do justice to him.

The Mandalorian‘s final two episodes will be directed by Rick Famiyuwa and air on April 12 and 19.

Andor reinvigorated Star Wars with it being — by far — the best Disney Plus TV show. The Rogue One spinoff saw Cassian Andor gradually realizing the necessity of taking down the Empire and beginning to walk the path that’ll lead to his heroic death of Scarif right before A New Hope begins.

The show has always been planned to consist of two seasons, with the second having been filming in the UK since earlier this year. The cast and crew just appeared at the Star Wars Celebration in London, where they said they loved the enormously positive response and confirmed when it’ll land on Disney Plus.

Showrunner Tony Gilroy has said they’re already halfway through filming, with the shoot wrapping this August. As the first season premiered in September 2022, we think season two will land at around the same time, so we think Andor will return in September 2024.

The season is likely to build on the show’s connections to Rogue One and take us through the gradually assembling Rebel Alliance prior to the original trilogy. The final shot of season one showed the Death Star being assembled, so that will almost certainly be a huge motivation for the characters as the series goes on.

A brief teaser was also aired, so let’s hope it ends up online soon:

If this season can match the quality of what we’ve already gotten, we’re going to be in for a real treat.

Andor season one is streaming on Disney Plus.

Once again, we Star Wars fans in eagerly awaiting a new episode of The Mandalorian. For weeks, the show has been teasing the return of Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon, who somehow escaped New Republic custody. His current location is unknown, though a fragment of Beskar embedded in the wall of the shuttle transporting him seems to point to Mandalorian intervention.

Whether this is the work of the Nite Owls or even a Thrawn-ish bit of misdirection is a hot topic of debate amongst the fandom, but we want some answers tomorrow — along with more of Esposito’s deliciously smug Star Wars villain.

Beyond that, we’re now just days away from ‘Star Wars Celebration’, which will take place in London’s ExCel convention center over Easter weekend. It’s looking like there are going to be some big reveals from Disney and Lucasfilm, hopefully delivering trailers for shows and potentially the unveiling of a new movie.

But a piece of merchandise may have already spoiled one Ahsoka character…

An ‘Ahsoka’ LEGO set may reveal more than Lucasfilm intended p1a31

German LEGO site Promo Bricks has unveiled a series of Star Wars LEGO sets: a Republic Gunship, A Republic Swamp Speeder, and the UCS Venator Star Destroyer. But it’s the Ghost set from Star Wars Rebels that has fans intrigued. Translated from German, the site says “the Ghost will be available as a set based on the Ahsoka series” and confirms that five minifigs are included. They are:

“These are Hera, Chopper, the Mon Calamari mechanic Quarrie, also known from Rebels , Hera’s son Jacen and a previously unknown male character with dark skin.”

We have no idea who the “unknown male character” is, but this is a great indication that Jacen Syndulla, son of pilot Hera Syndulla and Jedi Kanan Jarrus will be making the leap to live action. Rebels was set in the years before A New Hope, at which point Jacen was a child. Ahsoka is set around the time of The Mandalorian, likely meaning that he’ll have grown up a bit in the meantime and should be a teenager.

Alternatively, we know at least some of Ahsoka will be told via flashbacks, meaning there’s a chance we’ll see key moments from Rebels reworked into live-action and we’d get the child version of the character.

It seems likely Jacen will have inherited his father’s force sensitivity, so we may see Ahsoka and Ezra Bridger taking on the responsibility of training him in the Force. Post-Return of the Jedi, there aren’t too many Padawans around, but we just hope Hera doesn’t drop him off at Luke’s Jedi Academy for training, as he’d likely have ended up mincemeat at the hands of Kylo Ren.

We don’t have any indication of who’s been cast as Jacen, so let’s hope we get a trailer soon.

When to tune in for the ‘Star Wars Celebration’ 3l3b12

Expect a raft of updates on Star Wars projects over Easter as ‘Star Wars Celebration’ takes place in London. As this is taking place in the U.K. many big announcements may be made in the early hours of the morning for U.S. fans, so here are the times to keep an eye on.

On Friday, April 7 at 11:00 am GMT (07:00 am ET) we’ll get Lucasfilm’s Studio Showcase, which is billed as a “must-see” where key creatives and special guests will meet “to discuss the many current and  Star Wars adventures, including The Mandalorian, Andor, and more!”.

The following day on Saturday, April 8, the Ahsoka showcase will begin at 11:00 am (07:00 am ET), featuring Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau and some of the cast, with them promising “a look at the series”. Expect a trailer to drop soon afterward.

On Monday, April 10 at 01:00 pm (09:00 ET) we’ll get our first look at the second season of the animated anthology Star Wars Visions, featuring representatives from animation studios Aardman, Cartoon Saloon, D’ART Shtajio, El Guiri, La Cachette, Punk Robot, Studio Mir, Triggerfish, and 88 Pictures.

Finally, the weekend will conclude with the closing ceremony at 04:00 pm GMT (12:00 pm ET) which will recap the weekend. We don’t know if this event will feature one last trailer reveal, but Lucasfilm promises that “this is a send-off you won’t want to miss” so we have high hopes. The one fly in the ointment may be that these are exclusive trailers for the event and won’t be made available online, though we’re sure there’ll be at least one sneaky fan recording this with their phone.

Fans single out General Grievous’ exceptional battle skills for praise 202847

Any non-Force who can square off against a Jedi and come out on top is worthy of praise. Even the galaxy’s most fearsome conventional warriors like Jango Fett could only temporarily slow down a Jedi and beat a hasty retreat, so fans are giving Revenge of the Sith‘s General Grievous some love for managing to defeat countless Jedi in battle, only losing to Obi-Wan Kenobi at the height of his powers (and only then once he’d forced him to resort to a blaster).

Grievous also featured in Star Wars: Clone Wars by Genndy Tartakovsky, where we saw him at the height of his powers as essentially the Jedi’s boogeyman. Here he showed why he was so feared, using his cybernetic body and quad-lightsaber style to aggressively attack Jedi in a way they simply couldn’t train for. This post just about sums it up:

We’d have loved to see more of him in live-action, as his full potential on screen was never realized. So, if Disney is willing to go back and explore relatively obscure characters, why not something going into detail on Count Dooku training and building this custom-designed Jedi murder machine? Can anyone say Tales of the Jedi, season two?

We’ll once again be burning the midnight oil to see The Mandalorian‘s sixth episode the moment it lands. If we don’t get Moff Gideon, we’re going to riot.

Tomorrow will bring the fifth episode of The Mandalorian’s third season and we’re hoping that we’ll get an idea of what the finale might look like. Star Wars‘ top show feels like it’s carefully lining up its pieces, with Bo-Katan and Din Djarin now firmly teamed up, mysterious teases of Imperial cloning projects, and some light being shone on Grogu’s mysterious past.

Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon is going to leap into the middle of this and shake things up, though we’re beginning to suspect another Star Wars big bad may finally make his blue-skinned, deviously tactical live-action debut ahead of Ahsoka. However it shakes out there’s going to be some major drama, and along the way we might even get to see Grogu finally start speaking.

But before we get ahead of ourselves the dust is still settling on last week’s episode, with one piece of casting in particular sending social media wild.

Ahmed Best posts a heartfelt video message to all Star Wars fans 3f2u1

Everyone loves a redemption arc and right now Ahmed Best rivals Anakin Skywalker. For years he was pilloried for playing Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace, with Best later revealing that the sheer volume of hatred led him to consider taking his own life. Now he’s back, with Jedi Temple Challenge host Kelleran Beq revealed to be the Jedi Knight responsible for spiriting Grogu away to safety during Order 66.

Fans loved seeing him back and now Best has posted a video thanking fans for their and saying he’s just as excited as them about the franchise:

Best describes himself as a “Star Wars news junkie” in this video. So, if you’re reading this Ahmed we think you’re the bee’s knees. Here’s hoping we see more of Kelleran Beq and Grogu in The Mandalorian, especially as it seems that the pair’s next stop after Coruscant may well be Naboo. Could we see some Best meets Best action if Jar Jar makes a comeback? Stranger things have happened!

The Mandalorian stunt double teases what sounds like a major fight 83v5k

Din Djarin and Bo-Katan might be BFFs right now, but trouble has been brewing between the pair of them ever since Din took possession of the Darksaber from Moff Gideon. Wielding this ceremonial weapon holds huge significance for the Mandalorian people and would legitimize a new Mandalore.

Now stuntman Brendan Wayne, who doubles for Pedro Pascal in the Beskar armor (and who’s also John Wayne’s grandson) has given an interview with the Star Wars Sessions podcast (via StarWarsNewsNet) teasing what’s coming and mentioned an intriguing-sounding scene between the pair:

“There’s a scene coming up with Bo and Mando, and it is – I don’t know which version they chose, as far as what was going back and forth between us, but I think it’s going to… I had a great time doing that, and it was a lot of varying emotions came here and there, and this, there’s just such a really cool quality that I felt that I was able to play around in as an actor – which most of the time you’re not aware of it, you’re in the moment and you go – but there’s something about that, and the do-si-do that we had, while physical and verbal, was super-intense, and I think it’s gonna be really cool. I think you’re gonna enjoy it.”

We’ll it this doesn’t necessarily confirm it’s a fight scene, but a “physical and verbal” “do-si-do” certainly sounds like the pair are going to clash to us. With Bo-Katan apparently warming to life among Din’s Mandalorian comrades it’ll be interesting to see where their loyalties lie. If she can fit all the criteria to be the new Mandalore (while keeping her helmet on) they may be bound by the Creed to follow her, even if that means once again leaving Din out in the cold.

Fingers crossed for some answers tomorrow.

StarWars.com takes a deep dive into the franchise’s history in the United Kingdom 5cpj

Star Wars is inextricably linked with the British film industry. That deep connection has been explored in a fascinating new article on StarWars.com that picks up with George Lucas’ first trip to London in 1971 and tracks the long production connection. A New Hope was famously filmed in the UK due to the country having an impeccably experienced film crew, with many actors in the film being Brits.

Both Lucas and the British film industry benefited, with the article explaining that:

“EMI Elstree even expanded thanks to Star Wars. A new stage — named for the series and pre-financed by Lucasfilm — was constructed especially for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980). At 250 feet long and 45 feet high, it housed the full-size Millennium Falcon which had been made in pieces and trucked in from the Welsh coast.”

Much of The Phantom Menace was shot in the UK, as were the sequel trilogy, Andor, and the Disney Plus show The Acolyte.

The article also takes time to praise the UK Star Wars fan community, noting that:

“A ionate fan community grew quickly, and by the release of Empire, the energy was palpable. The day before the sequel’s release in May of 1980, stormtroopers roamed London ing out “Happy Empire Day” buttons.”

London will soon get a chance to shine once more, as April 7 sees the four-day Star Wars Celebration take place in the ExCel convention center. Rumor has it new movies will be announced, but the weekend is sure to be full of amazing cosplay, cool interviews, and exclusive merch. We’re hoping to see you there, so watch this space.

In the meantime, we’ll once again be burning the midnight oil to watch this week’s episode of The Mandalorian the moment it drops. Surely after four episodes, the return of Moff Gideon has to be on the cards, as this season doesn’t have a big bad so far and we want someone to mix things up a bit. See you tomorrow!