Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Tales

  • 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.

  • What to Expect from Lucasfilm at D23

    What to Expect from Lucasfilm at D23

    It’s been 16 months since Lucasfilm last gave a major update on their upcoming Star Wars slate but that’s all about to change when the studio takes part in D23’s Disney Entertainment Showcase. Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy will get a portion of the two-hour panel to share the latest news on Star Wars streaming and theatrical slates. Before she takes the stage, let’s look at what she might bring with her.

    Disney Entertainment Showcase (Friday-7 PM PDT/10 PM EDT)

    At least the next two Star Wars releases for Lucasfilm will be streaming series but there’s plenty going on with the theatrical slate as well. Expect a little bit of news about the schedule for both…and probably a surprise or two.

    Skeleton Crew

    (L-R): Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law), KB (Kyriana Kratter), Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), and Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) in Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: SKELETON CREW, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Matt Kennedy. ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    With a large display on the convention floor causing some buzz during D23’s media preview night, Skeleton Crew will be front and center in Kennedy’s presentation. Expect Jude Law and the young leads to either be present or have some pre-recorded footage and for a teaser trailer for the series to be shown and then released online. Skeleton Crew hits D+ on December 3rd and after the very muted response to The Acolyte, Lucasfilm needs to start building some momentum behind Jon Watts‘ Goonies-esque space adventure.

    Andor, Season 2

    Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in Lucasfilm’s ANDOR, exclusively on Disney+. ©2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

    Once on track to stream in 2024, the second season of Andor fell victim to the Hollywood work stoppages of 2023 and was moved off of Disney’s 2024 slate. Production on the series has wrapped, however, and given that some footage was shown to the crowd in attendance at Star Wars Celebration 2023, it’s likely Kennedy will have something a little more official to show at D23. Additionally, since Season 2 of Andor is likely the next Star Wars streaming series on the schedule, a release date isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.

    Streaming Series in Development

    Despite Bob Iger‘s mandate to reduce content, Lucasfilm is still going to churn out Star Wars content on Disney Plus and right now, very little is known about what’s next. Dave Filoni has been hard at work on the scripts for Season 2 of Ahsoka but he also has a film on his plate which means another season of the Rosario Dawson-led New Republic era series may not be quite ready to go. Announcing the studio’s next live-action series, even if only by naming it might generate some buzz. It’s possible, maybe even likely, that a third installment of the studio’s Tales series might be announced but there’s still a large hole in their animated slate now that The Bad Batch has completed its three-season mission. On that note, an announcement about the studio’s next big animated series seems possible.

    Theatrical Slate

    Production on Jon Favreau‘s The Mandalorian & Grogu kicks off soon which means an update on the project is about the surest thing on this list next to the Skeleton Crew teaser. Some concept art, a title treatment and some cast announcements would generate plenty of excitement both in person and online. Kennedy could also provide updates on the studio’s other three upcoming films. Title treatments for any or all of them would be great and with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy‘s New Jedi Order era film looking like it’s on track for a December 18, 2026 release, cameras could actually roll before the end of the year if not early next year. Updates on anything beyond that (Filoni’s New Republic era crossover film or James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi era film) would be a surprise for sure but a welcome one.

  • Star Wars Characters We’d Like to See in the Next Installment of Lucasfilm’s ‘Tales’ Anthology

    Star Wars Characters We’d Like to See in the Next Installment of Lucasfilm’s ‘Tales’ Anthology

    As part of the annual Star Wars Day celebration, the second installment in Lucafilm’s Tales anthology, Tales of the Empire, debuted on Disney Plus on May 4th. Like the first installment, 2022’s Tales of the Jedi, Tales of the Empire was well received by critics and fans, with former Jedi Barriss Offee’s three-episode arc stealing the spotlight. Dave Filoni, who has created both seasons of the anthology, has made it clear he’s having a lot of fun with these animated shorts which means a third season of Tales has a good chance of coming together. While we await official confirmation from Lucasfilm, we put together a list of characters who might be worth exploring further.

    Tales of the Jedi: Plo Koon and Baylan Skoll

    Obviously, there’s a story there. We’re in a wait-and-see pattern [about the rest of Skoll’s story] at this point.

    Dave Filoni on Baylan Skoll’s future in Star Wars media

    In the first two seasons of Tales, the two key figures of the series have been juxtaposed against one another, helping to shine a brighter spotlight on some central themes. Should Lucasfilm be interested in producing a true sequel to Tales of the Jedi, two characters who could make the cut are Jedi Master Plo Koon and former Jedi Baylan Skoll. It’s fairly well-known that Koon is a favorite of Filoni’s and while his age is undefined in canon, he lived quite a long time and helped the Jedi Council navigate many major crises before being killed following Order 66 being given. If Koon were chosen, Skoll, who was played by the late Ray Stevenson in Ahsoka, would be a fascinating character against which to juxtapose him. Disillusioned with the Order, Skoll lost his faith before Order 66 and after surviving the Jedi purge, moved on in search of power. Given the very divergent paths the characters took, there’s plenty of fertile storytelling ground to craft some intriguing 3-episode series.

    Tales of the Sith: Asajj Ventress and Darth Maul

    Though the two have had plenty of screen time already, the best parts of the stories of Asajj Ventress and Darth Maul may have yet to be told. The excitement around the return of Ventress in Season 3 of The Bad Batch should be all Filoni needs to give the audience a three-episode arc focused on the Nightsister who has truly walked one of the most interesting and complicated paths of any character in the Star Wars universe. The series could pull from the novel Dark Disciple to fill in the gaps between The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch and give a glimpse of what the former Jedi padawan is up to following her brief appearance in The Bad Batch. As for Maul, given his cameo in Solo: A Star Wars Story, the studio clearly had plans to tell more of his story on screen. If Maul’s arc were to flesh out the “Son of Dathomir” story that was never used in The Clone Wars and follow up on his Solo appearance, fans would eat it up.

    Tales of the Bounty Hunters: Embo and Bossk

    From Cad Bane to Zuckuss and everyone in between, bounty hunters have been a staple of Star Wars storytelling since A New Hope. It seems like a near certainty that Filoni–who has given plenty of screen time to Bane, Boba Fett, Fennec Shand and other hunters–will eventually get around to putting the focus on a pair of the galaxy’s most dangerous hunters. One solid bet to make the cut if such a Tales series does go into development is Embo. Voiced by Filoni in The Clone Wars, Embo lived a long and interesting life that lasted beyond the time of The New Republic. Another favorite of Filoni’s from his time on The Clone Wars, Bossk was revered as one of the galaxy’s finest bounty hunters and, like Embo, survived well into the New Republic era.

    Of course, dozens upon dozens of other characters may deserve the spotlight of the animated shorts more than these characters; however, given previous rumors that some future seasons of the Tales anthology may focus on Sith and bounty hunters and the uncertainty of how to move forward with Skoll’s story in live-action, these are some characters that merit some consideration.

    Tales of the Empire is now streaming on Disney Plus.