It’s that time of year! Lucasfilm has landed in London for Star Wars Celebration 2023, the ultimate Star Wars convention for fans across the galaxy. The convention runs April 7 through April 10.
The convention kicked off with Lucasfilm’s Studio Showcase, where Kathleen Kennedy unveiled all sorts of news and surprises about upcoming series and movies (finally, a Star Wars movie!). Here are the top things we learned at the panel.
Andor Season 2 First Look
One of the best things to come from the Disney era of Star Wars has been the limited series Andor. After the first season received critical and public success, we’ve been anticipating any type of news about what the second (and final) season will look like. Fans in the panel were treated with a first look at the upcoming season, which included footage of Mon Mothma trying to rally the Rebellion, Imperial pencil-pusher Syril Karn, and Cassian Andor rocking a new hairdo.
Showrunner Tony Gilroy was in attendance at Star Wars Celebration 2023 and revealed that production started back in November 2022. They’re expecting to wrap up by August 2023. Gilroy shared that he predicts that Season 2 will debut in August 2024. Even though we, as the audience, know where Andor will eventually lead to, it doesn’t damper our excitement for the new season. August 2024 can’t come soon enough!
Skeleton Crew Director Roster
Another new Star Wars series coming to Disney Plus is Skeleton Crew. Last year at Celebration, it was announced that Jon Watts and Chris Ford were developing a series about a group of kids from a planet who accidentally get lost in the galaxy and their subsequent journey of getting back home; this will be set after Return of the Jedi. Though last year we learned that Jude Law will be starring in the series, this year we learned who would be sitting in the director’s chair.
Skeleton Crew has assembled an exceptional group of directors — Jon Watts; Bryce Dallas Howard, who has worked on The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett; David Lowery, director of The Green Knight and Pete’s Dragon; Jake Schreier, series director behind Beef and will be directing Marvel’s upcoming Thunderbolts; Oscar-nominated director Lee Isaac Chung; and fresh off their Oscar win, the directing duo of Everything Everywhere All At Once, the Daniels. With such talent behind the camera, the hype level for the series has only increased.
Ahsoka Teaser Trailer
Fan favorite Ahsoka Tano is about to be front and center in her own series. Rosario Dawson was in attendance at Star Wars Celebration to debut the first teaser trailer for the series. In the nearly two-minute trailer, we get our first look at the return of Star Wars: Rebels characters, including Chopper, Sabine Wren, played by Natasha Liu Bordizzo, and Hera Syndulla, confirming Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s involvement with the series.
Plus, Mon Mothma was also seen briefly, as well as our first glimpse of the live-action version of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Ahsoka is set to premiere in August 2023, and depending on how well it does, Rosario Dawson teases there could even be a second season!
New Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny Trailer
June 30, 2023, marks the return of Harrison Ford as the beloved hero, Indiana Jones. As we count down the days until we get to see Indy again on the big screen, Mads Mikkelsen, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and director/co-writer James Mangold appeared at Star Wars Celebration 2023 to debut a new trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Lucasfilm also released a new poster that evokes the nostalgia for the original Indiana Jones movies. Get your felt fedoras ready — Indiana Jones is back!
New Star Wars Movies Are Coming
There hasn’t been a new Star Wars movie since The Rise of Skywalker in December 2019. While there had been announcements and planned movies, such as Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron and an untitled Taika Waititi movie, most of them had been scrapped, and the movie front of Star Wars looked bleak. Thankfully, Kathleen Kennedy was able to bring light back for the movie front with the announcement of three new movies.
Kennedy announced the upcoming Star Wars movies will explore the past, present, and future of the Jedi. Fresh off from Dial of Destiny, James Mangold was announced as the director behind the story of the Jedi’s past. Described as a biblical tale of the first Jedi, his movie will show audiences how the Jedi first wielded the power of the Force and used it as a liberating power in an era of chaos. Expanding upon Star Wars in the present, Dave Filoni was announced as the director that will bring together many of the threads of the original series from Disney Plus into a cinematic event. Filoni’s film will focus on the escalating war between the fledgling New Republic and the remnants of the Empire.
Daisy Ridley Is Back
As for the future of the Jedi, Kathleen Kennedy announced a new movie directed by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy will take place fifteen years after The Rise of Skywalker. In it, Chinoy will tell the story of rebuilding the New Jedi Order and the powers that threaten to tear it down. Fans in the panel were surprised as Daisy Ridley walked out on the Celebration Stage, confirming that she was reprising her beloved role as Rey and would star in this movie. This means that Rey has indeed picked up the mantle to rebuild the Jedi Order after the events of the Skywalker Saga. How she will try to adapt and change the Jedi Order remains a mystery, but honestly, nothing makes us happier than knowing that Rey’s story is going to continue on in this way.
What was your favorite announcement from the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase at Star Wars Celebration 2023? Let us know!