Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Star Wars

  • 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.

  • ‘Maul-Shadow Lord’ Reopens A Savage Wound

    ‘Maul-Shadow Lord’ Reopens A Savage Wound

    Since first appearing in The Phantom Menace, Maul has evolved from a silent, stalking slasher baddie into a truly archetypal tragic monster. The development of the former Sith in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels have made him not only a fan favorite baddie but also, perhaps, a Star Wars most interesting antagonist. Now headlining his own series, Maul is doing what he does best–and always–seeking revenge and showing that his past will never truly be behind him.

    The latest pair of episodes, 7 and 8, went deep into the fractured mind of Maul, revisiting the death of his brother, Savage Opress, revealing that the madness that once plagued him still has a strong hold.

    The episode features a devastating flashback to Maul’s childhood on Dathomir and a verbal confirmation that the deepest wound Palpatine ever inflicted was the murder of Savage Opress.

    In a poignant moment, Maul clarifies that his war with Palpatine isn’t just political—it’s personal. He specifically cites the events of The Clone Wars episode “The Lawless” as the moment he truly lost everything.

    By acknowledging his brother’s death, the show is grounding Maul’s hatred of the Empire in grief rather than just power-lust. This adds a layer of protective vengeance to his character; Maul isn’t just trying to kill Sidious; he’s trying to stop him from doing to others what was done to him. Unfortunately, part of the tragedy of Maul is ultimately that he used the very tools of his tormentor to try to find freedom from who he had become.

    The episodes also concludes with a cliffhanger tease for the live-action return of Paul Bettany’s Dryden Vos, setting up the final transition into the Solo era. It looks like the final two episodes of the season, set to stream on Star Wars Day, will depict Maul’s takeover of Crimson Dawn and, just maybe, give fans a lightsaber duel that they’ve been waiting for…

  • Lucasfilm Rumored to Be Bringing a Heavy Hitter to the Next Season of Its ‘Tales’ Anthology

    Lucasfilm Rumored to Be Bringing a Heavy Hitter to the Next Season of Its ‘Tales’ Anthology

    The prime Luke Skywalker drought might finally be coming to an end, and we won’t need a de-aged deepfake to see it. According to a budding but credible leaker, @FivesWalker on X, Lucasfilm is reportedly bringing the legendary Jedi Master to the animated realm for the next installment of the Tales anthology series.

    While the first season focused on Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku, and the follow-ups explored the Empire and the Underworld, the next set of shorts is reportedly circling back to the Jedi—specifically the new hope who rebuilt the Order.

    @FivesWalker gained significant traction earlier this year by correctly leaking plot beats and the darker tone of Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, the animated hit that is currently wrapping up its run on Disney+.

    While @FivesWalker clarified that they are assuming the title is Tales of the Jedi (it could easily be Tales of the New Republic or Tales of the Academy), the focus on Luke opens up a massive era of untapped potential:

    • A Post-Endor Quest: We could finally see Luke’s search for Jedi artifacts and hidden temples–like the one on Pillio–in the Clone Wars animation style.
    • The Master & Apprentice: After his cameos in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, fans are desperate to see more of Luke’s early training days with Grogu or even the first days of a young Ben Solo.
    • The Return of Mark Hamill?: While nothing is confirmed, animation allows for a much more seamless return for Mark Hamill’s voice than live-action de-aging does for his physical presence.

    Traditionally, Lucasfilm drops these Tales seasons on Star Wars Day. A May 4th, 2025 release date for Tales of the Underworld was not revealed until April 2nd of last year but if these new Tales episodes are coming in 2026, the studio would need to release some information soon, especially if these shorts might serve as a narrative bridge to the upcoming Mandalorian & Grogu movie, establishing Luke’s role in the galaxy before the Imperial Remnant war reaches its peak.

    If Tales of the Jedi can do for Luke Skywalker what it did for Count Dooku—providing deep, emotional context to his eventual disillusionment—it could be the most important piece of Star Wars media since Rebels, moving beyond the cameo era and into the Jedi Master era.

  • CinemaCon 2026: New ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Trailer Brings The Scale Back To Star Wars

    CinemaCon 2026: New ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Trailer Brings The Scale Back To Star Wars

    Since The Rise of Skywalker took its bow in 2019, the galaxy far, far away has lived almost exclusively on our television screens. And while The Mandalorian essentially built Disney+, since the film was announced, there’s always been that nagging question: can these characters carry a $200 million theatrical tentpole?

    After seeing the new footage Disney just screened at CinemaCon, I think Jon Favreau is trying to answer that with a resounding yes.

    The new trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu—which looks like it’ll be the final big push before the May 22nd release—is all about scale. If the previous teasers focused on the heart and the “bond” between Din Djarin and his apprentice, this one is about the war that’s coming to their doorstep.

    The biggest takeaway from the footage isn’t just seeing Din Djarin back in the cockpit of a modified N-1. It’s the scope of the world around him. We saw a sequence involving a New Republic fleet—properly realized with a budget that makes the Season 3 finale look like a fan film.

    Disney and Lucasfilm are facing a skeptical box office. The tracking is currently hovering around a $70M-$80M opening, which is solid, but they want Top Gun: Maverick numbers. By showing this level of cinematic polish, they’re trying to shed the “TV movie” stigma.

  • Review: ‘Maul-Shadow Lord’ Is the Best Maul

    Review: ‘Maul-Shadow Lord’ Is the Best Maul

    “Tell me…is he the chosen one? He will avenge us.”

    -The final words of Maul

    In the closing moments of a life of immense pain, betrayal, madness and loss, Maul’s final words secure his evolution from a silent, stalking slasher baddie into a truly archetypal tragic monster. Sleepy Sheev Palpatine identified Maul and his rage at a young age and saw in him the opportunity to shape him into a living weapon, a tool to destroy the Jedi. Shaped by Palpatine’s cruelty, Maul’s story is one not of success but of stolen potential, systemic abuse, and a total inability to escape his own nature. After being discarded by his former master, the tragedy of Maul took shape as he used the very tools of his tormentor to try to find freedom from who he had become. And in his final moments, dying in the arms of his great enemy, Maul realized that he had lived and died in the service of a cause that never gave him anything and took everything.

    Saved from a disappointing abandonment after his apparent death in The Phantom Menace, Maul became an almost Shakespearean villain under the curation of Dave Filoni. Taken from a scrap heap–both in his fictional reality and in Lucasfilm’s meeting rooms–his appearances in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, where voice actor Sam Witwer gave him new life, excavated the depths of the former Sith lord and found an emotional core that was defined mostly by a broken nature and deep desire for vengeance. When we meet Maul again in his standalone series, Maul-Shadow Lord, his pathos is unchanged: he remains a lost child seeking revenge against all who have wronged him yet years away from the catharsis he would eventually find in his death at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

    You may have forgotten me, but I will never forget you! You cannot imagine the depths I would go to to stay alive, fueled by my singular hatred for you!

    -Maul
    Maul (voiced by Sam Witwer) in Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd. © 2026 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

    Styled as a neo-noir crime drama, Maul-Shadow Lord Season 1 begins to spin the tale of a new age of Maul, which, while still centered on his quest for vengeance, finds the most interesting villain in the galaxy far, far away monologuing on the nature of good and evil while continuing to battle the paranoia thought left behind. Meant to make good on George Lucas’ original wishes to see Maul become the godfather of crime, the series–which has already been renewed for a second season–gives the character another chance to succeed even though we all know he’s destined to fail. Driven by his quest to reclaim his Shadow Collective and by visions of an apprentice who can help him destroy the Sith, Maul gets to be exactly who we want him to be while allowing for some deep dives into the nature of the Force, right and wrong and all the rest of the things that have allowed Star Wars to endure for 50 years…and he might just be headed for the showdown fans have always wanted.

    Set on Janix–which probably feels a bit less like a character than the creators had hoped–Shadow Lord allows Maul to continue carve out his own unique space as an agent of the Force and, in some ways, allow him to work on his sale’s pitch that he will eventually use on Ezra Bridger. Though the first eight episodes of the season Maul, with the help of his crew, has his sights set on those who betrayed their allegiance to him and making Jedi Padawan Devon Izara his apprentice–and it seems as though it is somehow the will of the Force to continue to put the two on convergent paths. Joining their story is savvy cop Brander Larsen, Devon’s Master Eeko-Dio Daki (who, like Maul, is a survivor) and weasly gangster Looti Vario. And in his way: the Empire and the Inquisitorious, represented by Marrok and Eleventh Brother.

    (L-R): Devon Izara (voiced by Gideon Adlon) and Maul (voiced by Sam Witwer) in Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: MAUL – SHADOW LORD, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Lucasfilm. © 2026 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

    Your passions give you strength and through strength you gain power. You have seen it, you feel it. You must break your chains.

    -Maul

    At times, Shadow Lord feels like an Elmore Leonard novel brought to life in a stylish animated splendor that the Dickens of Detroit would have loved both for its exploration of moral ambiguity and sensationalized action. It is, in the most incredible ways, a worthy successor to the journey undertaken by Maul in The Clone Wars, and an undeniably necessary chapter that bridges the gap not only to Solo but, more urgently and apparently, Rebels.

    Sam Witwer‘s exquisite voice work drips with pulpy evil layered with subtextual anquish, making Maul-Shadow Lord not only best Maul to date but also continuing to establush Maul, the discarded son, as perhaps a true cornerstone character in the galaxy. Most interestingly, Maul’s evolution seems to have brought him aroud to an equal but opposite view of the Force as that held by Qui-Gon Jinn. One could make the argument that if the two met now, they might have a nice conversation over a cup of tea. Instead, Maul killed Jinn which was the first of many incidents that lead Anakin Skywalker to the side of Palpatine. From the scrap heap to leading what is sure to become the next truly great animated Star Wars series. If only his mom and brother could see him now.