Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Star Wars

  • Massive ‘STAR WARS: STARFIGHTER’ Leak Unmasks Characters, a New Jedi Planet, and a Tom Cruise Mud Duel

    Massive ‘STAR WARS: STARFIGHTER’ Leak Unmasks Characters, a New Jedi Planet, and a Tom Cruise Mud Duel

    The galaxy far, far away just suffered one its biggest structural information breach in years. With director Shawn Levy’s highly anticipated blockbuster Star Wars: Starfighter locked to blast onto IMAX screens next May, a massive wave of seemingly authenticated plot and casting leaks has spilled onto the web.

    Published by industry insider MakingStarWars, the extensive breakdown formally unmasks the core character archetypes, a pristine new Jedi hideout, and some incredibly wild, star-studded lightsaber skirmishes.

    Here is the breakdown of the major secrets that just slipped past Lucasfilm’s Gammorean guards.

    1. The Core Cast and Han Solo Dynamic

    The leak details the film’s lead duo, revealing a heavy emphasis on emotional chemistry:

    • The Protagonists: Flynn Gray anchors the film as a young character named Cade (using an American accent). He is heavily paired with Ryan Gosling, whose character’s name sounds like “Rone” or “Ronin”. Early narrative drafts establish that Gosling’s character was originally the absolute best friend of Cade’s father.
    • The Dynamic: Described as a rogue, Han Solo-style smuggler archetype, Gosling’s mission is to safely transport young Cade across the galaxy. Cade prominently wears a highly specific, plot-important necklace, while Oscar-winner Amy Adams is locked in to play the child’s mother. Insiders note that Levy’s proven track record directing young actors on Stranger Things paid off massively here, with Gosling and Gray reportedly displaying “tremendous” on-screen chemistry.

    2. The Planet Adaria: A Muddy Jedi Sanctuary

    The central destination for Gosling’s transport mission is a brand-new terrestrial planet named Adaria.

    • The Aesthetic: Adaria is described as a lush, deeply green location inspired by East Asian architecture, heavily crowded with tiki-style huts and a stark, muddy terrain. On set, massive mechanical struts—heavily implied to be colossal starship landing gear—were constructed.
    • The Legacy: The planet functions as a secret, sacred Jedi refuge and academy. Set witnesses report seeing a crowd of background Jedi designed to resemble Padawans, heavily mirroring the youthful Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker aesthetics from the end of The Phantom Menace.

    3. Mud Duels and a 650-Year-Old Cantina Owner

    The leak dropped some incredibly intriguing details regarding the film’s massive physical action sequences:

    • The Lightsaber Clashes: Remember those wild rumors about Tom Cruise making a surprise cameo on set? The leak confirms that Cruise physically filmed a high-octane lightsaber duel taking place directly in the deep mud of Adaria. Furthermore, a parallel, plot-heavy duel on the planet features Mia Goth locking sabers against Aaron Pierre, with Pierre’s character deeply tied to the Adaria sanctuary.
    • Eva Mendes’ Secret Role: In a brilliant bit of real-world crossover casting, Ryan Gosling’s wife, Eva Mendes, makes her franchise debut as a heavily glammed-out, alien cantina owner named Belle. The character is a non-human entity who is roughly 650 years old, sporting a wildly distinct aesthetic composed of gold skin-tight pants, a corset, and a sweeping golden cape.

    The film is moving at light speed. Following highly exclusive footage packages shown behind closed doors to theater owners at CineEurope, actor Matt Smith recently verified that Levy has already compiled a fully watchable, rough cut of the entire movie.

    Star Wars: Starfighter officially lands in theaters and IMAX in May 2027.

  • Lucasfilm Unveils Trailer for Star Wars: Visions New 8-Episode Limited Series “The Ninth Jedi”

    Get ready to return to a galaxy far, far away through the lens of anime. Lucasfilm has officially the release date for the all-new limited series, Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi, which is set to premiere exclusively on Disney+ and Hulu on August 5, 2026.

    The announcement, which debuted at Anime Expo 2026, introduces a new “Star Wars: Visions Presents” banner, designed to showcase longer-form stories within the Visions universe. This new limited series serves as a continuation of the fan-favorite shorts “The Ninth Jedi” and “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope.”

    Picking up shortly after the events of those original shorts, the new series follows Lah Kara as she continues her Jedi training under the guidance of Margrave Juro. The narrative promises an epic journey of self-discovery, as Kara and Juro’s small fellowship of Jedi-in-training embark on a quest to save her father, Lah Zhima.

    With the trailer and key art officially unveiled at the Los Angeles Convention Center, fans don’t have long to wait before diving back into this unique corner of the Star Wars galaxy

  • ‘The Ninth Jedi’ Series To Debut First Episode Today at Anime Expo Ahead of Summer Release

    The greatest modern hope for Star Wars animation is officially stepping out of the anthology shadow today. Lucasfilm is launching its highly anticipated summer campaign at Anime Expo 2026 in Los Angeles, treating convention crowds to the world-first premiere screening of episode one of Kenji Kamiyama’s Star Wars: The Ninth Jedi.

    Originally exploding onto the scene as a breakout standalone short in the first season of Visions, The Ninth Jedi completely captivated fans by introducing a distant, tactile future where the Jedi Order is a mythical memory. The narrative tracks Kara, a force-sensitive young girl and daughter of a master blacksmith, who must deliver newly forged, color-shifting lightsabers to a mysterious leader named Margrave Juro before a predatory Sith cell intercepts them. Following a brief intermediate chapter in Visions Season 3, the concept has officially been elevated into a full-scale standalone series.

    Having recently directed The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, showrunner Kenji Kamiyama brings an unparalleled pedigree for handling massive, established mythologies within an anime framework. The Ninth Jedi meticulously balances high-stakes cosmic rule-bending with a lived-in, rule-bound universe that echoes the classic call-to-adventure magic of the original trilogy without relying on nostalgia traps or Skywalker canon.

    Giving The Ninth Jedi a full episodic sandbox is easily the smartest creative decision Lucasfilm has made all season. It proves the studio recognizes that the absolute future of the franchise relies on diversifying its visual mediums and letting elite visionary directors take genuine creative risks. With the preview episode dropping on the AX floor today, look for the full series to anchor Disney+ sometime this August—officially serving as the perfect, high-fantasy antidote to standard live-action fatigue.

  • A Long Time Ago…Ian McDiarmid Reveals George Lucas’ Forgotten ‘Palpatine’ TV Show

    A Long Time Ago…Ian McDiarmid Reveals George Lucas’ Forgotten ‘Palpatine’ TV Show

    Before Disney+ made live-action Star Wars television a routine reality with The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, George Lucas was dreaming up a vastly different small-screen empire. Speaking to an enthusiastic crowd at Spacecon 2026 in San Antonio, legendary actor Ian McDiarmid dropped a massive bit of lost Lucasfilm lore: George Lucas once personally pitched him a live-action prequel-era television series tracking the political ascent of Sleepy Sheev Palpatine.

    Described as a dark, historical character study, the unproduced project would have pulled back the curtain on the bureaucratic manipulation that transformed a Naboo senator into a galactic tyrant.

    The Creator’s Pitch

    During a panel appearance, McDiarmid reminisced about a private lunch he shared with Lucas prior to the director selling the company to Disney in 2012—a time when live-action Star Wars TV was considered entirely speculative.

    “[George] said, ‘I’ve got this idea, and I hope you might want to be involved,’” McDiarmid shared with the audience. “‘We could sort of follow the Emperor’s progress, like Hitler’s, some of that. There might be an assassination attempt, and of course it wouldn’t succeed.’ It sounded really exciting. And he also said that maybe you could direct one, and then I fainted. But sadly, that didn’t come to pass.”

    McDiarmid’s comments reveal that Lucas’ ambitions were far grander, implying Palpatine’s political machinations and survival against internal coups were actually intended to be the central driving engine of the narrative; however, the series died when Lucasfilm transitioned to Disney, with the studio shifting focus back to theatrical sequels and eventually the safer, post-Empire Mandoverse era of television.

    While this specific iteration is dead, the DNA of Lucas’ political thriller lives on in Tony Gilroy‘s Andor. If Lucasfilm sees the passionate fan response to McDiarmid’s Spacecon comments, perhaps the door isn’t entirely shut on a Marvel Spotlight style historical look back at the dark side’s finest politician.

    Source: Popverse

  • A New Hope—Leslye Headland Open to ‘The Acolyte’ Season 2 Return

    A New Hope—Leslye Headland Open to ‘The Acolyte’ Season 2 Return

    The weather in the Star Wars universe might be constantly shifting, but Leslye Headland isn’t closing the door on the High Republic just yet. Following the sudden and highly publicized cancellation of The Acolyte back in 2024, the showrunner has dropped a new wave of comments that have fans making an immediate appeal to Lucasfilm’s creative brass.

    In a brand-new profile published by Empire, Headland made it clear that despite the online vitriol and the streaming bubble burst, she is still completely down to bring her dark side narrative back to Disney+.

    While Lucasfilm famously opted not to move forward with a second season due to dwindling viewership against a massive production budget, Headland revealed the show has been experiencing a noticeable streaming resurgence and a shift in public perception.

    “I would still want to do it! Absolutely,” Headland told Empire. “As more people discover it, I think people may want to see some form of the story come back… I’m having a resurgence of The Acolyte in my real life. I speak with people who are really big fans, and were disappointed in the cancellation.”

    Season 1 ended on a series of massive, cliffhanger lore-drops—including the physical reveal of Darth Plagueis lurking in the shadows and Jedi Master Yoda’s looming complicity in a High Republic cover-up of the massacre at Brendok.

    Had a renewal come through, Headland shared that her long-term plan was designed to act as a direct narrative runway into the sequel trilogy.

    Season 2 would have delved further into the backstory of Qimir/The Stranger (Manny Jacinto), diving deep into his fractured relationship with Jedi Master Vernestra Rwoh. It would have also focused on the dangerous web of Sith lineage between The Stranger, his new apprentice Osha, and his ultimate master, Darth Plagueis.

    “We did have a lot of stuff that we wanted to explore, including tying in lore to the sequels,” said Headland. “Getting into who exactly Manny’s character is, his connection with Vernestra, his connection with Plagueis, and then his connection with other sequel-established things.“

    The Acolyte still holds the unfortunate milestone of being the first live-action Disney+ Star Wars show to be out-and-out publicly canceled by the studio, a decision Headland admitted surprised her with its “swiftness,” making her willingness to return to the sandbox shows an immense amount of creative resilience. The Acolyte took bold, unprecedented structural risks by showcasing a fundamentally flawed Jedi Order and centering the emotional narrative around an active Sith dynamic. Leaving Darth Plagueis as a one-frame cameo feels like a massive disservice to the broader tapestry of the saga.

  • Major ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ Plot Leak Discloses Roles for Ryan Gosling, Mia Goth, and More

    Major ‘Star Wars: Starfighter’ Plot Leak Discloses Roles for Ryan Gosling, Mia Goth, and More

    While the galaxy is currently chewing on Jon Favreau’s safe and nostalgic The Mandalorian and Grogu, director Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine) is heading toward an entirely untamed frontier. A massive new plot leak has revealed the first concrete details regarding the secretive characters played by Ryan Gosling, Mia Goth, and Amy Adams in Star Wars: Starfighter.

    Set five years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker, the May 28, 2027 standalone film is positioning itself as a high-stakes, big-hearted family space adventure—but with a heavy dose of criminal underworld grit.

    The leak, from @fiveswalker, confirms that Ryan Gosling is playing the central protagonist, an isolated, cynical pilot trying to make a living in a rebuilding galaxy.

    His mother (Amy Adams) is force-sensitive, and so is he. At the beginning of the film, she is killed, but in her dying moments, gives her son her lightsaber and tells him to go find his uncle, who he’s never met. The kid’s pretty smart, and manages to get off-world, finding his uncle in a cantina, a washed-up pilot and war hero haunted by ghosts of his past.

    -FivesWalker
    • The Mission: Gosling’s character is thrust into a sudden protective role when he is forced to look after his nephew, played by newcomer Flynn Gray.
    • The Mother’s Plea: Amy Adams plays Gray’s mother (Gosling’s sister). The inciting incident of the film features her sending her son away with his uncle to protect him from a mysterious connection to the Force that has drawn the wrong kind of attention.

    Shawn Levy previously teased that our heroes would be pursued across the galaxy by a dangerous duo of antagonists. We now know exactly what that pairing looks like.

    • The Enforcer: Mia Goth—who described filming the project as one of the best experiences of her career—is playing the lead female villain. Far from a Sith Lord, her character is described as a ruthless, highly calculating mercenary or bounty hunter specializing in capturing Force-sensitive individuals for an elite underground syndicate.
    • The Brains: Matt Smith is locked in as Goth’s partner. The leak describes Smith as a warlord who is “infamous across the galaxy.”

    Mia Goth will be playing a force-senstive, lightsaber using character. She will be working for a warlord/arms dealer (Matt Smith) who is infamous across the galaxy. And yes, she is on the hunt for Ryan Gosling’s nephew. There have been various rumors saying she is a Sith cultist. Those are false. I would describe her more [as] a mercenary (think of Baylan and Shin). While she has ties to Matt Smith’s character, she has her own agenda and plans. Plans that might involve training a certain someone.

    -FivesWalker

    The leak does nothing to cast doubt on the rumors that Star Wars: Starfighter is meant to serve as a bridge to a new trilogy and will feature a cameo by Daisy Ridley‘s Rey.

  • Review: ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’

    Review: ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’

    A long time ago, in a galaxy not too far away, Lucasfilm published and snail mailed Bantha Tracks, fka The Official Star Wars Fanclub Newsletter, which was essentially the ultimate lifeline for the first generation of Star Wars fans.

    When Star Wars exploded in 1977, Lucasfilm was utterly overwhelmed by fan mail. Charles Lippincott, Lucasfilm’s head of marketing, realized they needed a centralized way to communicate with their rapidly growing fandom. The fan club was officially formed in 1978. When the newsletter first launched, it had a highly literal, uninspired title: The Official Star Wars Fan Club Newsletter. Looking for something with more personality, the club ran a contest in Issue #2 asking fans to submit a better name. A teenager from Ohio named Preston Postle won with the suggestion Bantha Tracks—a clever nod to the massive Tatooine beasts. The new banner debuted on Issue #5 in 1979 which also marked the first mention of something called Imperial Shock Troopers.

    In 1982, the Imperial Shock Troopers morphed into Mandalorians in the pages of Star Wars #68, which expanded on the history of Boba Fett. Though those original Star Wars comics aren’t canon–which means the world building done within them doesn’t hold water–the interest built because of them continues to be crucial to the current New Republic Era stories being told, primarily, by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. On occasion, chapters of The Mandalorian have felt like Favreau was furthering the fantasy inspired in young fans by the original Star Wars films and the insider tidbits delivered in Bantha Tracks.

    (L-R) Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU. Photo by Nicola Goode. © 2025 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.

    Over three seasons of The Mandalorian, Favreau made nothing into something…and something substantial and beautiful at that. Favreau found a corner of Lucas’ lived-in universe and, expanding on the foundation Filoni poured in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, built a post-Imperial saga skyscraper that stands tall among the tales spun by The Creator and his legacy. And in The Mandalorian and Grogu, Favreau spins not only a worthy new chapter to his own story but one steeped in everything Lucas meant Star Wars to be and always wanted to tell himself.

    Mandalorians are stronger together.

    Bo-Katan Kryze

    It seems clear that the primary objective of the film is to establish Din Grogu as a full-fledged Mandalorian. Though he could not speak the words, Din Djarin’s foundling took the Creed in Chapter 24 of The Mandalorian and now walks the way of the Mandalore. Now partnered with his father as an independent contractor for the New Republic, Grogu finds himself on a mission that ultimately serves as an opportunity for The Child to prove his worth as the apprentice of Din Djarin.

    The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Dragonsnake in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm. © 2026 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.

    And in that pursuit, The Mandalorian and Grogu reveals it’s as Star Wars as Star Wars gets. Full of high stakes, exotic locales, larger-than-life heroes, weird and menacing monsters and relentless momentum, Favreau‘s film fits perfectly in the seams of the larger Star Wars universe Lucas imagined and outlined but was never able to attend to, despite his best intentions. Mando’s mission, assigned by New Republic Colonel Ward, takes him and his apprentice to the noxious Nal Hutta and the noir-inspired Shakari where they find themselves in the midst of a classic gangster double cross involving Rotta the Hutt and Janu Coin, an Imperial warlord first seen in Chapter 23 of The Mandalorian.

    Droid Mercenary Guard, Sister Hutt, Brother Hutt and Droid Mercenary Guard in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm. © 2026 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.

    While the film is full of fantastic action sequences, a top notch score and some incredible visuals, it’s also full of the familiar archetypes Lucas built the franchise around. Good and evil. Fathers and sons. Choices and consequences. Betrayal and redemption. Though it may not feel like an overly impactful chapter in the New Republic saga, The Mandalorian and Grogu does just enough on that front to tie into the ongoing narrative and make it clear that the conflict between the Adelphi Base crew and the Imperial Remnant is coming to a head. But what it really is, for the first generation of fans, is the kind of story that only existed in the corners of our minds or non-canon novelizations now brought to life on the big screen. A Star Wars film made for Star Wars fans by Star Wars fans. It’s a Bantha Tracks fever dream and one of the best non-saga projects made to date.

  • Hayden Christensen’s Post-‘Ahsoka’ Star Wars Future Reportedly Revealed

    Anakin Skywalker isn’t fading into the Force just yet. Despite the agonizing wait for Ahsoka Season 2 pushing into early next year, a new report indicates that Lucasfilm has plans for Hayden Christensen to return as th Chosen One.

    According to industry insider Daniel Richtman, Christensen has signed on for at least two additional Star Wars projects following his excursion to Peridea.

    Christensen’s transition from prequel star to the absolute emotional anchor of modern Star Wars has completely revitalized the franchise’s legacy storytelling. While Dave Filoni has clearly set the stage for Anakin’s Force Ghost to play a pivotal, cosmic role guiding Sabine and Ahsoka through the runes of the Mortis Gods, this new deal could extend beyond the streaming universe.

    Rumors of an Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 2 concept continue to float around the campfire, but all eyes are currently on the upcoming theatrical slate. Dropping Christensen’s Force Ghost into the Rey-led film to offer historical counsel on rebuilding an untainted Jedi Order would provide the ultimate thematic bridge connecting all three generations of the Skywalker Saga.

    Whether he’s pulling on the dark leather of Darth Vader for an Underworld-era flashback or guiding the future of the Jedi as a radiant specter, keeping Hayden on the payroll is the smartest piece of world-building Lucasfilm has executed this decade.

  • Lucasfilm’s Next Star Wars Streaming Show Hit with Significant Delay

    Lucasfilm’s Next Star Wars Streaming Show Hit with Significant Delay

    The path to the galaxy outside the galaxy far, far away has a roadmap. Lucasfilm has officially locked in the premiere window for Ahsoka Season 2…and it’s coming quite a bit later than hoped.

    Dave Filoni’s flagship series is set to return to Disney+ early in 2027.

    The Season 1 finale, “The Jedi, The Witch and The Warlord”, was a dense and expansive installment in the overall lore of the franchise and teed up an incredibly interesting Season 2 which was expected to stream in 2026. However, for reasons Lucasfilm did not reveal at the Disney Upfront presentation, fans will have to wait at least 8 more months before finding out what awaits Ahsoka, Sabine, Baylon and Shin on Peridea and how the returns of Thrawn and Ezra Bridger from that same planet will shape the New Republic.

    The new branding is heavy on the celestial runes we saw at the end of Season 1, suggesting that the World Between Worlds and the statues of the Mortis Gods on Peridea will be the primary focus. Rosario Dawson was on hand at the Upfronts to tease that the “stakes are higher” and the “battles are bigger,” which potentially justifies the extra year of post-production.

    A four-year gap between seasons is a lot, but if it means we get a prestige-level exploration of Anakin’s Force Ghost and the origins of the Mortis Gods, it’s a price worth paying. The logo alone suggests this isn’t just a sequel—it’s a continued spiritual expansion of Star Wars lore that Filoni has been crafting for quite some time.

  • Divisive Star Wars Streaming Series Returns to D+ Top 10, Reigniting New Hope for Season 2

    Divisive Star Wars Streaming Series Returns to D+ Top 10, Reigniting New Hope for Season 2

    In a move that absolutely no one saw coming on the 2026 bingo card, The Acolyte is officially trending again.  Two years after its controversial debut, the High Republic Era series has unexpectedly re-entered the Disney+ Top 10 most-viewed shows, currently sitting at #9.

    This isn’t a random spike. The massive success of Maul-Shadow Lord has created a High Republic/Sith Origin hunger. Fans are reportedly bingeing the series to find connections to Maul’s lineage and the live-action debut of Darth Plagueis.

    Re-entering the Top 10 two years later is a rare feat. If the numbers hold through Star Wars Day, Lucasfilm might finally be incentivized to wrap up the Plagueis/Tenebrous threads that were left hanging. While a Season 2 renewal remains a long shot, the data might force Lucasfilm to finally address those unresolved cliffhangers in a Marvel-style Special Presentation or comic.

    Steeped and connected in the mythology of Star Wars yet independent of anything that’s come before it, The Acolyte was Disney’s boldest storytelling effort to date within the franchise as it looks to redefine itself. Series creator Leslye Headland revealed plans for a second season, including an arc that would make Yoda complicit in Vernestra Rwoh’s cover-up of the massacre at Brendok.