Star Wars: Starfighter Casts In Villain Role

It seems Lucasfilm is making progress on one of their many planned Star Wars movies. The current name is Star Wars: Starfighter which will star Ryan Gosling and be directed by Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine). The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Mia Goth (Pearl) as been cast as one of the bad guys attempting to get the person that Gosling's character is protecting.

Mia Goth makes for an interesting choice as her claim to fame is really she isn't that famous except for being the girlfriend of Shia Labouf. Her wheelhouse is usually art house and avante garde films often with a strong sexual component. She does seem to be trying to create a more mainstream (and longer lasting) acting career with roles in Gullermo del Toro's Frankenstein and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.

The current rumor is the film is set about five years after The Rise of Skywalker so a post First Order galaxy with a production start date aiming for this fall to hit a May 28, 2027 release date. As with all things involving the Star Wars movies, until they actually complete production, its possible all this could change.

New Star Wars Live Action Series From Lost Creator

With Star Wars: Andor about to end its run in three weeks and The Mandalorian probably done after the upcoming movie, Disney+ seems to want a replacement show. Lucasfilm has tapped Carlton Cuse to come up with that new series along with his son Nick Cuse. Nothing has been revealed about the story, the time table, or anything else. 

The pair have a good track record with Carlton Cuse creating series like The Adventures of Brisco County Jr (highly recommend), Lost, Locke & Key, and more. His sone produced Masters of the Air, Watchmen, and others. Basically a whole lot of experience at making TV shows within a budget, something Disney+ is probably very focused on right now after a series of costly Star Wars TV shows that didn't return their investment. 

As with anything related to Lucasfilm, there is what they plan to do and there is what they actually do so treat this is just one of many future Star Wars possibilities.

Three Animated Star Wars Seasons Announced

As Star Wars Celebration concludes this weekend in Tokyo, Lucasfilm released trailers for new seasons for two animated series and a third anime style one planned. Below is trailer for Star Wars Visions Volume 3 which has 9 Japanese animation studios tell their own stories in their style. One of the episodes of the season will include a return to the character of Lah Kara from the first season. 

From those two episodes will be a spin-off series called "Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi" that will continue her adventures when released in 2026. The two shorts and series are set after the events of "Rise of Skywalker". The second video below is a trailer Young Jedi Adventures season 3 coming this fall.

New Andor Season 2 Featurette, TV Spot

Andor season 2 premieres this Tuesday with first three episodes being released on Disney+. Here is a brief featurette and TV spot for the season.

Ahsoka Season 2 Includes Hayden Christensen

Star Wars Celebration is being held in Tokyo. As part of that there was a panel on Ahsoka Season 2 which begins production next week. Info that they were willing to reveal is that Hayden Christensen will return once again as Anakin Skywalker. A role he reprised in season 1 to great effect. In addition it has been confirmed that Rory McCann (Game of Thrones) is playing Jedi Baylan Skol, replacing Ray Stevenson who passed shortly before the first season premiered. Ahsoka creator spoke about Ray and his character saying:

“I found a way in — I had Ray in my head. I’m grateful for all my conversations with him about Baylan. So, I understood what to do, it just took a while to get there. I’m very confident now that Ray would be happy with the direction that we’ve chosen,” added Filoni who made the decision in concert with the late actor’s family.

“The character is meant to be the parallel to Ahsoka in every way. If there’s a light, there’s a dark, and Baylan is representing a different journey for a Jedi as you (Rosario) represent one who walked away from the (Jedi) order, so did he. That’s a parallel that must continue,” said Filoni.

Season Two of Light & Magic Now Available

Disney+ has surprised launched season two of the documentary series "Light & Magic" that covers the work of Industrial Light & Magic, the company founded by George Lucas. ILM is pretty much the company that moved visual effects to new heights decade after decade. Any existing VFX company stands on their shoulders. The previous season ended on Jurassic Park while this three episode season starts with The Phantom Menace.

Lucasfilm Annimation 20th Anniversary Video, Darth Maul Series Announced

Turns out this year Lucasfilm Animation is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The video was part of Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo where they also announced "Maul - Shadow Lord" which is a new animated series from the division that first was started for The Clone Wars movie. The series is set about a year after The Clone Wars series as Maul recovers from his fight with Ahsoka.

Previous Lucasfilm Animation head and now CCO Dave Filoni said “Unfortunately I can’t tell you too much, but what I can say is Sam Witwer’s involvement in the show has been pristine. I’m very excited about him being able to review the scripts and provide input in all of that as well. Dave Filoni and Sam created the character for animation, and so it’s very important to hear his thoughts as well for the character depth. We learn some different things about this character. He’s got some different traits that you wouldn’t necessarily think he has that make perfect sense from what he’s been through.” 

Star Wars Movie Announced Starring Ryan Gosling

Star Wars Celebration is being held in Japan this weekend. As part of opening day, Disney has announced a new film for the franchise starring Ryan Gosling (Barbie, The Fall Guy). The movie is titled Star Wars: Starfighter and aiming for May 28, 2027 release date for the 50th anniversary of the franchise. Shawn Levy (Strangers Things) is directing the film based on script written by Jonathan Tropper. No other details about the film were revealed. Lucasfilm is also still working on a trilogy of films with Simon Kinberg and possible films from James Mangold, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Taika Waititi. While the record on getting films made has been spotty, Gosling is not a cheap get and likely has a pay or play contract where he gets his payday regardless if the film is made or not so Lucasfilm has strong incentive to see this one through.

Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld Trailer

Disney+ has revealed the trailer for their next Star Wars: Tales of... series following Tales of the Jedi and Tales of the Empire. Star Wars: Tales of the Underword's entire season (think 4 episodes) will premiere on May 4th, also called Star Wars Day. 

The season will focus on Star Wars: The Clone Wars characters of Asajj Ventress and Cad Bane. Ventress is living her post fall of the Empire life and forced to go on the run while Bane must confront a marshall who was once his friend.

Andor Season 2 Official Trailer

With a little less than a month out from the release of the second and final season of Andor, here is the official trailer for the season. The series first three episodes will hit Disney+ on April 22.

Andor Season 1 Recap, Episodes on Hulu and YouTube

Andor Season 2 hits Disney+ on April 22 and Disney+ is beginning its prep. Below is a 14 minute recap of season one to help remind you of what came before. If need a reminder of where its going, that would be Star Wars: Rogue One. In addition Disney is making the full season of season 1 available on Hulu if want to catch up that way. Lastly, the first three episodes of season 1 of Andor is out on YouTube.

Andor Season 2 Special Look

Disney+ has posted a "special look" short video that is a combo of TV spot with a touch of behind the scenes as the cast talks about season 2 that will start streaming on April 22.

Kathleen Kennedy Quitting Lucasfilm? (Updated)

An unverified rumor reported by Puck News and The Hollywood Reporter indicates that Kathleen Kennedy may end her 13 year run as leader of Lucasfilm. This has not been confirmed by any official sources nor has Kennedy spoken about it one way or the other. However their reps were contacted and no denials were issued so its definitely possible. 

Kennedy started with the company in 2012 while it was still owned by George Lucas and remained on board when Disney bought the company. She led the charge to relaunch the franchise with the final trilogy based on mostly on the work of JJ Abrams and continued to lead the division through a series of movies and television shows. 

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew just completing its run and Andor season 2 on the horizon. What it could mean for the franchise is hard to judge until a replacement is announced but likely whatever projects that are currently in the pipeline like The Mandalorian movie would remain so while projects still in their writing phase like half a dozen movie concepts would get a revisit. 

Update: In an interview with Deadline, Kennedy confirmed stepping down from Lucasfilm is part of future plans but provided no timeline. My guess there were plans to do it soon but the leak is causing a bump to later date.

The truth is, and I want to just say loud and clear, I am not retiring. I will never retire from movies. I will die making movies. That is the first thing that’s important to say. I am not retiring. What’s happening at Lucasfilm is I have been talking for quite some time with both Bob and Alan about what eventual succession might look like. We have an amazing bench of people here, and we have every intention of making an announcement months or a year down the road. We are in lockstep as to what that’s going to be, and I am continuing. I’m producing the Mandalorian movie right now, and I’m also producing Shawn Levy’s movie, which is after that. So I’m continuing to stay at Lucasfilm and looking very thoughtfully with Bob and Alan as to who’s stepping in. So that is all underway, and we have every right to make that announcement when we want to make it.

Andor Season 2 Trailer, Chapter Release Plan

Below is the first trailer for Andor's second and final season is coming to Disney+ starting April 22. The 12 episode season is getting a unique plan as it moves towards Star Wars: Rogue One. The story will have four chapters, each chapter being three episodes long with each chapter being released on Disney+ every Tuesday for four weeks in a row. This doesn't necessary mean that the story for that chapter will be three episodes long as some episodes are standalone.

Ahsoka Season 2 Finds New Baylan Actor

A new actor, Rory McCann, has been tapped to replace the late, great actor Ray Stevenson in the role of Baylan Skoll when Ahsoka season 2 starts filming. Stevenson died in May 2023 after filming the first season. Rory McCann may be familiar to most as "The Hound" in Game of Thrones but also has been in Jumanji: The Next Level, Gladiator II and more. 

There is currently no known production date for season 2 nor a release date but at current pace, seems like filming will likely start sometime this year for a 2026 release date, nearly four years after the first season release. Lucasfilm has production issues to put it mildly.