Star Wars Celebration 2023: Here’s Everything Lucasfilm Revealed and Announced
Just like always known Comic Con and D23 Expo, Star Wars Celebration is also one of those conventions where fans are hoping to see the people that are working on the content of their favorite franchises, and those people usually come there to give fans some brand-new announcements, reveals, and surprises on what can fans expect from the franchise is the future. This year at the Star Wars Celebration event in London, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy arrived on stage alongside other filmmakers and actors to give the fans exclusive news about what to expect from Star Wars in the future. In this article, we’ll list all the news and announcements that were revealed at the convection. There’s plenty to talk about, so let’s get going!
When will Andor Season 2 premiere?
The first panel at the Star Wars Celebration this year was about the Andor series starring Diego Luna. When the series was first announced, it was announced as the prequel to the Rogue One movie in two seasons, with the ending of the second season leading directly into the events of Rogue One. The first season premiered last year in August, and it received praise from the fans. The cast and crew now revealed that Season 2 is halfway through production, and filming is expected to wrap in August this year. While it’s still too early to know the exact premiere date, Season 2 will likely premiere on Disney+ in the Summer of 2024.
When will The Acolyte series premiere?
The Acolyte series is one of the upcoming Star Wars projects that we didn’t know a lot about, apart from the fact that it’s been in development since it was announced in December 2020. What is known now is that the series will take place during the time of High Republic, so before the events of Episode I. Kennedy said on stage that she was blown away by the four episodes that have been finished so far, and Leslye Headland, who created the series, said the series was first pitched in Lucasfilm as Frozen meets Kill Bill. It’s still unknown when the series will premiere, but it was announced it will definitely be in 2024.
Who will the Squid Game star Lee Jung-Jae play in the Acolyte?
A part of the cast of The Acolyte arrived on the stage to promote the series, including The Hunger Games and The Hate U Give star Amandla Stenberg and Logan and His Dark Materials star Dafne Keen. Lee Jung-Jae, who is currently best known for his role in Netflix’s South Korean survival drama Squid Game, is now confirmed to star as an unknown Jedi master in The Acolyte, while the Finnish actor and former professional basketball player Joonas Suotamo, who took over the role of Chewbacca from the late Peter Mayhew in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, will return to the franchise, this time as a Wookie Jedi.
Jon Favreau shares love for Ahmed Best in The Mandalorian!
After The Acolyte, the next panel was dedicated to the first ever Star Wars live-action series — The Mandalorian. The creator and writer Jon Favreau shared love for Ahmed Best, who played Jar Jar Binks in the prequel trilogy, and now returned to the franchise as a Jedi Kelleran Beq. Favreau said seeing Best again in the Star Wars franchise was wonderful. This isn’t a major announcement, but we wanted to include it because it’s really nice. The attendees at the panel had a chance to see seven minutes of the next episode of The Mandalorian.
New details and directors revealed for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew!
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew was first announced at last year’s Star Wars Celebration event, and this year the cast and crew arrived to provide new details. Developed by Jon Watts, the director of the Spider-Man MCU franchise, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is currently in post-production. The series will follow o group of kids who go on an adventure throughout the galaxy. It was revealed that Watts pitched the idea to Jon Favreau while they were working together on 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. The panel also showed the director lineup for the series, which shows that Jon Watts, David Lowery, The Daniels, Jake Scherier, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Lee Isaac Chung all worked on this series as directors. The first trailer for the series was shown exclusively on the panel.
The MCU star Kerry Condon joins Star Wars: Skeleton Crew!
Irish actress Kerry Condon, who is best known as Stacey Ehrmantraut in Better Call Saul and the voice of Tony Stark’s AI FRIDAY in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and this year she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in The Banshees of Inisherin, has officially joined the cast of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. Many actors and filmmakers who previously worked in some Disney franchises, like the MCU, can easily switch to other franchises considering they already know the working environment.
The official trailer for Ahsoka has been revealed!
After Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, the next panel was for the upcoming series Ahsoka, and this one provided more news than the others. The panel revealed the first official poster, which revealed that the series is set to premiere in August 2023. Unlike other trailers shown at the event, the trailer for Ahsoka was also released online. You can check it out below:
Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s roles in Ahsoka revealed
It’s been a while since Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Mary Elizabeth Winstead have been cast in the upcoming Ahsoka series. Now, the official trailer provided the first look at Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, who first appeared in the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Now she’s also one of the original animated characters that will debut in live-action. Mary Elizabeth Winstead also plays an originally animated character who will now debut in live-action, Hera Syndulla! She is also a character that the fans know from Star Wars Rebels, and she is the captain and pilot of the freight ship the Ghost.
Genevieve O’Reilly returns as Mon Mothma in the Ahsoka series!
Genevieve O’Reilly is one of the biggest Star Wars veterans of the modern era. She played Mon Mothma in 2005’s Episode III and reprised the role on the big screen in 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Additionally, she voiced the character in Star Wars Rebels in 2017 and reprised the role in live-action last year in Andor. Now, she’s set to return again this year in the upcoming Ahsoka series.
Grand Admiral Thrawn is coming to live-action in Ahsoka!
The fans of Star Wars Rebels know who Grand Admiral Thrawn is. He’s also one of the animated characters that will switch to live-action in the upcoming Ahsoka series. We only have a quick peek at him and don’t even know who will play him in live-action. Lars Mikkelsen, who voiced the character in Rebels, claims that he was never offered to play the character in live-action
Seven official Eras of the Star Wars franchise revealed
Just like Marvel Cinematic Universe has Phases and Sagas, Star Wars has Eras. Seven Eras with their official names were revealed at the Star Wars Celebration event.
- The Old Republic
- The High Republic
- Fall of the Jedi
- Reign of the Empire
- Age of Rebellion
- The New Republic
- Rise of the First Order
Events that happened in The Mandalorian and its spin-off will culminate on the big screen!
After all the news and announcements about the Star Wars content on Disney+, it was time to finally reveal when this franchise will return to the big screen! Three new movies were announced, and one of them will be particularly interesting to the fans of The Mandalorian and its spin-off shows (The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka). Dave Filoni, who worked with Jon Favreau on all of these series, has been hired to direct an untitled movie that will culminate everything that happened in these shows. It’s unknown what the movie will be called and when it will be released, but we like the idea of culminating the so-called Mando-verse on the big screen. Many fans are eager to see Pedro Pascal’s Mandalorian and Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka on the big screen, and this might bring them exactly what they want.
James Mangold will direct a movie about the first Jedi ever!
James Mangold, who is best known for directing acclaimed movies like Logan and Ford V Ferrari, has been officially announced to direct a movie about the first Jedi that ever lived. The project is described as an epic biblical tale, but apart from the director, not much is known at this time. Mangold has also been hired to direct the upcoming Swamp Thing movie for DC, and he revealed that he’s currently working on both projects. Mangold’s next project, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, we will watch in theaters this June!
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will direct a movie set after the events of Episode IX!
Canadian journalist and filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has been hired to develop a new Star Wars movie which will take place 15 years after the events of Episode IX, and the story will follow Rey Skywalker on her quest to rebuild the Jedi Order. And speaking of Rey…
Daisy Ridley is confirmed to return as Rey Skywalker!
Daisy Ridley, who played the role of Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy between 2015 and 2019, is officially set to return in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s upcoming movie about the rebuild of the Jedi Order after the events of the Skywalker saga. This movie wasn’t announced as Episode X, so we presume it will still be an independent movie, separated from the Skywalker saga that finished with Episode IX in 2019.
