The Walt Disney company is known for holding special events for Star Wars fans. Jedi apprentices and Wookie cosplayers come from all over the country, and even the world, to take part; this year, they celebrated the 40th anniversary of the franchise at Star Wars Celebration. A lot of people, including myself, were worried about how Disney would handle the franchise after purchasing Lucasfilm, and the past few years haven’t disappointed. They’ve put out two hugely successful movies, The Force Awakens and Rogue One, and have more on the way; they also have successful TV shows like Rebels. The top dogs at Disney are using this weekend event to unveil some of their newest content. They’ve also brought some of the most memorable faces of the Star Wars saga, like Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, and Hayden Christensen, to Orlando. Even though I wasn’t able to attend the parks this weekend; I tuned in via livestream and Twitter. Here are some of the biggest takeaways I got from the event:
1. The Last Jedi trailer
We finally got our first glimpse at the eighth installment in the franchise and it already looks to be a huge plot twist. It shows most of the main characters: Rey is training with Luke on the isolated water planet, Poe is doing his thing while dodging explosions (he’s always in a bad place at a bad time), and Finn is still under medical care after his fight with Kylo Ren. We also get a brief look at Kylo and hear Luke’s voice for the first time in the sequels. And he’s not happy. He ends the trailer with the words “It’s time for the Jedi to end.”
Woah.
It looks like Luke is pretty jaded on the concept of the Jedi, though you can’t really blame him after everything he’s gone through. Does this mean Rey won’t complete her Jedi training? Will she become something else entirely? I have a lot of questions and I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here. It’s clear it will be a lot darker than Episode VII, much like how Empire Strikes Back was darker than A New Hope.
2. Battlefront II trailer
Battlefront fans rejoice, we have our first look at the new game. While a lot of people were excited, and some disappointed, after the release of the first Battlefront game by DICE, this one seems to have made a lot of improvements. First of all, it has a single-player campaign, and takes place right after the events of Return of the Jedi with you playing as Imperial Special Forces (one of the only Star Wars games where you’ll be playing as the bad guys). They’re also finally bringing the other eras aside from the original in the game; which means clone troopers, droids, and everything from the sequels! Also they fixed a huge flaw in that we can finally play among the stars; how did you mess that up the first time? It’s literally in the title of the movies. Hopefully they decide to add Galactic Conquest (the best multiplayer mode on the PS2); don't fail me again, EA! Joking aside, I’m looking forward to this game.
3. Theme Park announcements
We’ve known Disney has been expanding its parks for a while now; adding new rides to the classic parks like Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, as well as renovating Hollywood Studios (I still call it MGM, but whatever). Disney also recently made changes to Animal Kingdom, turning part of the park into the world from James Cameron’s Avatar. Now it looks like Disney is expanding its Star Wars properties as well. We knew they had plans for a while, but Disney unveiled new concept art and it looks like it’s going to be dope. The finished product won’t be out for a while, but it’s definitely something to get excited about.
4. Tribute to Carrie Fisher
One of the most important issues that had to be addressed was the passing of one of Hollywood’s most famous figures and an integral part of the Star Wars franchise, Carrie Fisher, who passed away at the end of 2016. Star Wars put out a touching tribute at the beginning of the Celebration, and actors like Mark Hamill shared their favorite memories of her. It looks like Star Wars VIII will be her last performance, and Kathleen Kennedy, Lucasfilm CEO, announced that she will not be present in IX. Because of how well they’ve handled the franchise, I’m confident that Disney/Lucasfilm will give her the proper send-off she deserves.
There were many other panels and announcements; like the
animated miniseries documenting the female heroines of Star Wars called “Forces
of Destiny” and the trailer
for the final season of Star Wars Rebels, but I’d be here all day if I
discussed them all. This weekend event shows that Star Wars, despite being
decades old, is still vibrant and fresh, producing new and quality content. The force is strong with Star Wars fans in 2017.
