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Tag: Star Wars

  • ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Writer Still Hopes for a Sequel

    ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Writer Still Hopes for a Sequel

    Star Wars has grown quite a bit since its purchase by Disney. They started off with a new trilogy that further explored the aftermath of the original, tested out some unique spinoffs, and went on to establish a variety of TV series on Diseny+. At the moment, Andor has been dominating the Internet with a prequel series to Rogue One, but it’s not the only prequel entry with the protagonist’s name in the title.

    Back in 2018, we had the first prequel film that featured Alden Ehrenreich in the leading role of a younger Han Solo. Sadly, the film wasn’t quite the box office draw that many hoped it would be, but it still told an interesting story and has a set up that still hasn’t seen a payoff to this day. It seems writer Jon Kasdan agrees, as he’d love to return and tackle a sequel even after all this time.

    The reason for a Solo 2 is if there’s a great reason and certainly I’d be game if there was…there were so many great characters we were able to establish, and for me, the strongest argument for a Solo 2 is the movie was Alden’s journey to owning that mantle, and by the end of it I thought he really did, and he didn’t get the fun of getting to just inhabit it for a movie, so I’d love to see him back.

    Jon Kasdan

    Any project tackling one of the original trilogy’s main casts was going to face an upward battle. Ehrenreich‘s recasting was an inspired and fitting choice, but the controversy surrounding it led to Lucasfilm preferring to digitally de-age its actors, such as Mark Hamill reprising his role as Luke Skywalker in The Mandalorian. For now, we’ll have to wait if they might decide to tackle a sequel at some point, or at least pick up where the film left off.

    Source: YouTube via ComicBook.com

  • REVIEW: ‘Andor’ Episode 12

    REVIEW: ‘Andor’ Episode 12

    Andor writer and executive producer Tony Gilroy has a knack for creating unnerving tension in his projects. Whether in the Bourne franchise, Armageddon or his directorial debut, Michael Clayton, Gilroy’s works often resolve under incredibly stressful circumstances that leave the audience reeling while they process. The season finale of the first season of Andor, “Rix Road”, and in fact the entire first season itself, certainly fits that pattern, slowly using every tool at the creative’s disposal to simultaneously build tension within the audience and the characters nearly right until its final moments.

    On the surface, the finale is all about the convergence of nearly all of the series’ key figures on Ferrix where they hope to find Cassian returning for Maarva’s funeral. But what makes the episode carry so much weight is that it also works as a convergence of nearly all of the series’ key themes. This thematic convergence is much more impressive both in the way it is reflected by the key parties involved and also that it was possible at all, much less done so well given the scope of Andor. Has been oft-discussed, the 12-episode season was shot as “pods” of 3 episodes and each “pod” seemed to neatly tie up the themes that pervaded each of them. To have them all thunderously return here required significant planning and craftmanship by Gilroy and his team.

    Most prominent among those thematic echoes is the recurring idea that everyone has their own rebellion. That sentiment, first spoken by Vel Sartha to Cassian in “The Axe Forgets”, and the weight it rightfully carries in a galaxy where the Empire has now made it clear that there are no limits to what they’ll do to maintain “order”, come rushing back to mind during Maarva’s funeral march down Rix Road. During the holographic speech recorded before her death, Maarva powerfully reminded the people of Ferrix that they’ve been comfortably and somewhat selfishly ignoring the truth of the Empire. Calling it both a “wound that won’t heal” and a “darkness reaching like rust into everything”, Maarva uses her final moments to tell the people of Ferrix to wake up. Indeed her “last words” before B2 stops broadcasting are “Fight the Empire!”, inciting and inspiring the Rix Road revolution. Maarva Andor goes down in history as an OG Rebel by stirring the people of Ferrix to fight.

    Maarva’s words resonate with the words of another dead character who longed to see the Rebellion move ahead. Though he had a short arc in Andor, Karis Nemik’s manifesto, which Cassian read through when he first returned to Ferrix earlier in the episode, ultimately served more as a book of prophecies. Nemik’s beliefs that “the smallest acts of insurrection” advance the cause of the Rebellion, that “the Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural”, that “authority is brittle” and that “oppression is the mask of fear” are all fully realized during Maarva’s revolt. It’s ultimately the act of an Imperial officer to stop Maarva’s speech that becomes the tipping point of a largely unarmed group of mourners (there is, of course, the bomb) choosing to charge into battalions of troops. The Empire’s devastating response ends in mass casualties but with so many survivors, including those who escaped, word of what happened on Ferrix will spread and can almost certainly be counted on to become a key point on the timeline of the formation of the Rebellion.

    Though Cassian hasn’t been the primary protagonist of every episode, the finale goes a long way in bringing him to the end of a long character arc that started with him simply in search of his long-lost sister. Cassian’s transformation comes in part when he seemingly comes to the conclusion that the audience has had all along: despite believing his actions only ever impacted him, he’s right at the center of the series of events that have caused so many unintended consequences for those he loves and those he’s never met. Seemingly inspired by the memory of Clem Andor’s words that “people don’t look down to where they should…they don’t look past the rust”, which connect directly to his words to Luthen Rael during their first meeting, Cassian changes the course of his entire life. Though he has ample opportunity to escape, Cassian chooses to seek out Rael and fully commit himself to the Rebellion. Sure of his worth, Rael smirks as he takes Cassian back into the fold, but as awesome as that is for Cassian, it’s likely problematic for some of the others involved and a likely plot point for an early arc in Season 2.

    Ultimately, Episode 12 of Andor is a remarkable standalone episode depicting what will certainly come to be known as one of the inciting moments of the Rebellion and a remarkable season finale that embraces the massive totality of Season One. So often finales miss by only serving one of these purposes but Gilroy served both purposes masterfully by resisting previously established themes, stirring a sense of tension that had been building for 12 episodes while also putting at the center of the episode an event that built on that tension while providing a release that will carry over to Season 2 for the audience and the characters.

  • ‘Andor’ Finale Post-Credit Scene Explained

    ‘Andor’ Finale Post-Credit Scene Explained

    Season One of Andor concluded with a bang. A series of them actually, as the people of Ferrix stood against the Empire in what could only be described as a revolution. The revolt may go down in the books as the first open act of defiance against the Empire, but as audiences already know, the Empire isn’t going down quite yet. In fact, it’s still building to its peak level of terror. To that end, the episode came with the first post-credit tag of the series which served as a chilling reminder that the worst from the Empire is yet to come.

    Set deep in space, the tag shows a group of small droids shuffling around and installing some very familiar-looking components into a much larger assembly. As the camera pulls back, it’s revealed that the droids are putting together a layer of the Death Star’s Superlaser. Given Andor’s 5 BBY setting and the massive undertaking of assembling a station the size of the DS-1, its construction fits the timeline as well as many fan theories that have swirling about since Episode 8.

    The Superlaser’s power came from the combination of 8 separate laser beams which were converged into the one massive, planet-killing beam that made the Death Star the most terrifying weapon in the galaxy. Though no details were given, it seems as though the droids are using the components to assemble channels for the individual beams.

    Of course, the most chilling aspect of the post-credit scene is the realization that the components being installed were built by Cassian and his fellow inmates in the prison on Narkina 5. The tag adds context to so much of Andor, Rogue One and really any other projects that take place in the timeline prior to A New Hope. The prisoners at Narkina 5, a place that felt so incredibly oppressive, were working tirelessly and competitively to create the Empire’s most oppressive weapon.

    For Cassian, coming to learn that he’d build part of the Death Star could go a long way in explaining his commitment to its destruction in Rogue One, where he’s willing to give his life to ensure the plans get to the Rebels. Finally, with the Empire becoming aware of the growing threat of a Rebellion and the fact that the tag shows the importance of the parts the prisoners have been building, it provides a terrifying additional layer to the idea that the prisoners of Narkina 5 were never getting out and also that by escaping, they may have paused the project just long enough to let the Rebels catch the break they needed to ultimately destroy the Death Star!

  • REVIEW: ‘Andor’ Episode 11

    REVIEW: ‘Andor’ Episode 11

    Telling a story to which the audience already knows the ending certainly isn’t an easy task. It is, however, the task Tony Gilroy took on in Andor. Gilroy, who co-wrote the screenplay for Rogue One, which introduced Cassian Andor and followed him to his death on Scarif, found the secret formula for doing so and created a series that’s becoming increasingly integral to the history of the Star Wars universe. Episode 11, “Daughter of Ferrix”, is another stunning example of how while Andor keeps Cassian at the center of the plot, it’s not really his story at all.

    Episode 11 opens with Cassian and Melshi still working on their escape and ultimately sets Cassian on a course to return to Ferrix once he learns of Maarva’s death. Indeed the entire episode is, on the surface, about making sure anyone and everyone who has been involved in the key events of the series can come together on Ferrix in Episode 12. However, there’s no true tension surrounding Cassian’s actions. The audience knows he is meant to survive this series, though it’ll certainly be as a different man than the one that began it. The reason this episode, and the entire series, continue to grab the attention of the audience week after week is the investment by Gilroy and his writer’s room into other characters whose stories are less defined.

    While characters such as Bix and Mon Mothma have their share of tense moments in the episode, it’s Stellan Skarsgård’s Luthen Rael who, once again, finds himself at the center of the lion’s share of the best moments. Over the course of the series, Rael has gone from an unknown to unarguably one of the Rebellion’s most important figures and Episode 11 cements that status. While the Rebellion continues to exist in a less-than-perfect way, it’s clear that Rael has enough cache to put even the most radical of Rebels in his place. As such, the episode’s most intense scene involves Rael’s escape from the Empire on Segra Milo following his meeting with Saw Gerrera. It’s worth pointing out here that the escape from the tractor beam is almost certainly of the most “Star Wars” moments of the series and among one of the best-looking space sequences in recent live-action projects; it’s also worth pointing out that everything about the scene probably looks and feels the way it does because of how important of a character Rael has become not just to the series, but to the future of the galaxy.

    Ultimately, the strength of Andor (and of Rogue One) is the wealth of fascinating characters who inhabit the dark corners of the Rebellion. And so while the plot continues to revolve around Cassian and the final episode will certainly be about everyone going where he is going, Andor isn’t really Cassian’s story at all: it’s the story of the thousands of faceless, nameless people who may not have even known they were Rebels but whose otherwise insignificant lives and actions made the grand gestures of the Rebellion possible. It’s more of Rogue One in all the best ways.

  • ‘Andor’ to Air on Hulu, ABC, and More For Thanksgiving

    ‘Andor’ to Air on Hulu, ABC, and More For Thanksgiving

    Disney is giving Andor a nearly unprecedented cross-platform push. The critically acclaimed Star Wars series, which is now most of the way through its 12-episode first season, will reportedly be available to stream on Hulu over Thanksgiving weekend. The service will only carry the show’s first two episodes, which will also air on ABC, FX, and Freeform throughout the holiday week. The special broadcasts will occur on back-to-back-to-back nights, with each channel taking a turn in the spotlight. ABC will air the premiere episodes on Wednesday, FX on Thursday, and Freeform on Friday.

    While Andor, created by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story writer Tony Gilroy, has been the most critically well-received series from Lucasfilm since it began putting projects on Disney+, it’s struggled to find a sizable audience in the same way Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Mandalorian have before it. Starring Diego Luna in the title role, the series acts as a prequel to Rogue One, telling the story of Cassian Andor in the years before his fateful Rebel mission to steal the Death Star plans. It has thus far been praised for its character work and storytelling, with many fans labeling it as the best Star Wars has been in a long time. Hopefully, the decision to temporarily make the series available elsewhere, other than exclusively on Disney+, helps garner the project a larger audience before its second season arrives in the coming years.

    Source: Twitter

  • New Studio Ghibli Tweet Teases Grogu’s Unannounced ‘Star Wars’ Special

    New Studio Ghibli Tweet Teases Grogu’s Unannounced ‘Star Wars’ Special

    When Studio Ghibli shared a rather subtle clue that they are working on a project with Lucasfilm, it led to many questions about what exactly that project might end up being. They haven’t shared an official statement and neither has Disney, but a new tweet has finally surfaced offering more teases of what’s to come. This new image seemingly includes legendary director Hayao Miyazaki in the blurred background with a focus on a familiar face from modern Star Wars adaptations, Grogu.

    Just last week, there was a hint that on the 12th of November we’d get a new special focused on Grogu titled Star Wars Zen – Grogu and Dust Bunnies. The official Italien Disney+ channel accidentally leaked it but there hasn’t been an official announcement or reveal of it up until now. With the below tweet, it does seem like Ghibli is developing that special.

    https://twitter.com/JP_GHIBLI/status/1591083333844205568

    It’s certainly curious that Star Wars is getting a special created by one of the most prolific animation studios in Japan and barely promote it. Yes, the teasers have been quite great to make us wonder what exactly they are working on, but perhaps the release date was falsely included and it might not release for another week or so. Still, if they do shadow drop a Studio Ghibli-focused Grogu special on Disney+ tomorrow, we’ll definitely be excited to check it out.

    Source: Twitter

  • REVIEW: ‘Andor’ Episode 10

    REVIEW: ‘Andor’ Episode 10

    Sacrifice for the greater good has always been a central theme of Star Wars. From Obi-Wan becoming one with the Force in his duel with Vader in a New Hope, to Luke doing the same in The Last Jedi and Ben Solo giving his life for Rey in The Rise of Skywalker, sacrifice has been consistently present in the franchise. Episode 10 of Andor, “One Way Out”, continues that thematic resonance while illuminating just how circumstantial the nature of sacrifice can be. Andor isn’t about a fantastic moment where a Jedi becomes one with the Force for the good of the Rebellion; it is in large part, about much less spectacular characters losing bits of themselves by the day. And no episode of Andor hammers that point home more than “One Way Out.”

    Thought the prison break serves as the beautiful center of the episode, it’s the back alley conversation between Luthen Rael and his Imperial spy, Lonni, that stands out not only in the episode and the series, but also the franchise as arguably one of the most inspired and impassioned explanations of the true cost of the Rebellion. At this point, it’s hard not to think of Rael, a character new to fans just a couple of months ago, as one of the most integral figures in the Rebellion. Per his own words, however, his choices have damned him and he knows that he is fighting “to make sunrise” he knows he will never see. So when the galaxy celebrates its heroes at the end of A New Hope, nobody will to be grateful to Rael, nor to poor Lonni, nor to Anto Kreegyr, who Rael is so willing to sacrifice to keep things on track. While it’s ultimately heroes such as Luke, Leia, Han and Chewy who become the face of the Rebellion, Rael now must stand as its backbone. Stellan Skarsgård‘s work as Rael is among the most complex and brilliant in recent memory in a franchise that has all too often dipped into the well of bringing back familiar faces. In Rael, Tony Gilroy has created a new character that’s given more the the future of the galaxy than anyone will ever know.

    As Rael readily accepts that there’s no way off the path he’s chosen, Mon Mothma finds herself at a crossroads from where it seems there is no gentle path for her to take. Desperate for funding, the Senator finds herself in league with the gangster Davo who proves more than willing to provide her with the money she needs, but in exchange for a detestable cost: the apparent betrothal of her daughter to Davo’s son. Though Mon is quick to dismiss it, Davo doesn’t believe she’s quite as disgusted as she puts on. The series has gone to some lengths to show that Mon’s work has already come at the cost of familial relationships but Episode 10 leaves the audience to wonder just how far she’ll go to finance the Rebellion. Andor’s creatives have done fascinating work with Mon. Originally a minor character who seemed to stand out as a beacon of everything bright and shiny about the Rebellion, the series has fleshed her out and painted her in a much different light.

    Given the way the episode laid bare grim repercussions for Rael and Mothma, Cassian’s time in prison hardly seems like much of a sacrifice at all. In fact, it’s Andy Serkis‘ Kino Loy who had the most interesting journey in the prison arc. Initially a “company man”, it’s Loy who makes the episode’s most grandiose example of sacrifice, risking his life to lead the prison break with the knowledge that the “one way out” meant he would never be free. Unable to swim, Loy stands back while the other, including Cassian and Melshi, who turns up alongside his escape buddy in Rogue One, swim to freedom. The final shot of the episode, which shows Cassian and Melshi running across barren plains, is rich with symbolism. Cassian has no prospects ahead of him as he runs from his past. He has no safe haven to which he can return. The entire galaxy is after him. What comes next over the final two episodes will almost certainly remedy that and cement his place in the Rebellion, but given the job the series has done setting up the fractured nature of the fledgling alliance, it’ll be most interesting to see in which group he finds his way.

  • J.D. Dillard No Longer Set to Helm a ‘Star Wars’ Film

    J.D. Dillard No Longer Set to Helm a ‘Star Wars’ Film

    In February 2020, it was revealed that Sleight director J.D. Dillard was set to direct a Star Wars movie from screenwriter Matt Owens. At the time, it wasn’t known whether or not the project would be for the big screen or for Disney+. Details regarding the plot and characters involved were also unknown at the time. Unfortunately, it seems those eager to see a Star Wars film from Dillard will continue to wait, though, as the mysterious project is no longer moving forward.

    In an interview with The Wrap to promote his latest film, Devotion, Dillard was asked about the status of his Star Wars project. Sadly, it seems things simply didn’t work out and the project is no longer moving forward. “It was not for lack of trying.” the director said. He also made it a point of noting if he does make a space film, it’ll be an original idea.

    The outlet tried to get Dillard to comment on what a Star Wars film from him would “feel like,” to which Dillard cited a memory from his childhood.

    “My dad being an aviator, we had a bunch of flight simulators, including TIE Fighter. I’m playing this game for months. And my dad’s flying it with me. And I’m like, ‘Man, this game is just so cool.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, you know, this game comes from a series of movies.’ And I was like, ‘You’re kidding me.’ That is where I watched ‘Star Wars’ for the first time and realized the full scope of what it meant to world build because I’d been playing this pseudo-16-bit game.”

    Dillard, however, did briefly comment on the J.J. Abrams‘ Superman project with Ta-Nehisi Coates, which he was loosely tied to at some point. He called the project, “something I have never spoken about” and said that Abrams has his number “if that is ever to be a conversation.”

    News that Dillard is no longer developing a Star Wars project comes on the heels of the announcement that Shawn Levy is entering a galaxy far, far away. That project, however, will take some time to enter production as Levy still has Season 5 of Stranger Things and then Deadpool 3 to worry about first.

    Devotion, the latest film from Dillard, will hit theaters on Nov. 23rd.

    Source: The Wrap.

  • Shawn Levy to Direct a ‘Star Wars’ Film Following ‘Deadpool 3’

    Shawn Levy to Direct a ‘Star Wars’ Film Following ‘Deadpool 3’

    With Deadpool 3 and Season 5 of Stranger Things still on deck, Shawn Levy looks to have already set his next feature. Deadline has reported that Levy is in talks to helm a Star Wars movie. The outlet reports that Levy will develop the project to direct it, but no further details are available as of this time.

    Levy is the latest director to be attached to an untitled Star Wars project. Taika Waititi is developing a Star Wars film and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy recently signed on to direct a movie penned by Damon Lindeloff. Lucasfilm is also working with Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige to develop an unspecified project. With Levy tied up on the final season of Stranger Things, and then set to jump on Deadpool 3 with his Free Guy leading man Ryan Reynolds, Levy’s Star Wars project is likely still years away at best.

    Up next for the always-busy Levy is the Netflix mini-series, All The Light You Cannot See, in which he directed all four episodes. He most recently directed The Adam Project, which also starred Reynolds. Levy also helmed Free Guy with Reynolds, in which a sequel is reportedly being discussed. As of right now, no writer or release date has been announced for Levy’s Star Wars film.

    Source: Deadline.

  • Cast Confirmed for ‘Star Wars’ Series ‘The Acolyte’ 

    Cast Confirmed for ‘Star Wars’ Series ‘The Acolyte’ 

    Filming on The Acolyte has begun production and Lucasfilm has confirmed the show’s core cast. The series, which is set to star Amandla Stenberg, will focus on the final days of the High Republic era. Joining Stenberg are the previously announced Manny Jacinto (The Good Place), Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim) and Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game).

    (L-R): Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae and Director Leslye Headland on the set of Lucasfilm’s THE ACOLYTE, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    Also confirmed to star in the series are Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Rebecca Henderson (Inventing Anna), Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), Dean-Charles Chapman (1917) and Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix).

    The Acolyte is being described as a mystery-thriller that will take viewers into a “galaxy of shadowy secrets and emerging Dark side powers in the final days of the High Republic era.” The project was first announced in April 2020, with Lucasfilm finally confirming the series in December 2020. Per Lucasfilm, “A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.”

    Russian Doll‘s Leslye Headland will serve as the series director, writer, executive producer and showrunner on The Acolyte. Filming on the Disney+ series is officially underway in London.

    Source: EW.