The Korean YouTube channel Buzzbean has released the interviews they did at Star Wars Celebration Europe during the summer with the cast and crew of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. They spoke with most members of the cast, however it was their chat with Forest Whitaker that stood out as most insightful. Whitaker plays Saw Gerrera in the film, a character that first appeared in the fifth season of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Whitaker revealed at Celebration that he had gone back and watched Saw's episodes of The Clone Wars during the big Rogue One panel at Celebration, and during the interview with Buzzbean he spoke about how the character had evolved since then. Check out the video below (the Forest Whitaker interview starts at about 3:27),
Entertainment Tonight just released an interview they did with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story star Diego Luna back at Star Wars Celebration Europe. Luna, who plays Cassian Andor, spoke about the secrecy surrounding Star Wars films, Cassian's relationship with Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), and a very exciting screen test he did. Luna of when he went to do a screen test for the film at the same time that director Gareth Edwards was doing a lighting test with the new Darth Vader suit for the film. Check out the interview below,
Back in July, following the panel for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story at Star Wars Celebration Europe, members of the SWU team gathered at our booth to record a special episode of The SWU Podcast in front of a live audience. One of listeners that day, Rob Gower, shot some video of us recording the podcast. Check outthe video below, featuring myself (Dominic) and my co-hosts Chris Seekell, Ciaran Duggan (of The Clone Wars Strikes Back), and our special guest Steele Saunders (of the Steele Wars Podcast) discussing the panel, the sizzle real, the poster, and more!
Even though it doesn't hit Disney XD until September 24th, the North American premiere of Season Three of Star Wars Rebels took place this weekend at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto. This was actually the second time I had the privilege of seeing the two-part premiere episode, "Steps Into Shadow", having also seen the world premiere at Star Wars Celebration Europe back in July. Though considerably smaller than the Celebration screening, the Fan Expo screening was still a very fun event. Hosted by YouTuber Corey Vidal, it featured Star Wars Rebels trivia with prizes (one of which--an Interactive C-3PO action figure--was won by yours truly) as well as a free mini Season Three poster for everyone in attendance.
Star Wars Celebration Europe last week was full of big surprises, but sometimes it's the little things that make the most impact. A good example of this would be a certain short and furry alien that appeared in the recent behind the scenes reel for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that was revealed at the convention.
Appearing at about 2:07 in the video, the creature was an instant hit among fans with his maniacal laugh and huge blaster. Later, during day two of Celebration at the Creatures, Droids And Aliens Of Star Wars: The Force Awakens panel, the character made a surprise appearance on stage(which can be seen in this video). The panelists on stage revealed that they have affectionately referred to the alien as "Space Monkey". The name quickly stuck, but as with any Star Wars character, there is much more about him to be learned.
Today, The Star Wars Show released their post-Celebration episode which covered much of what happened in London and followed up on the craze surrounding Space Monkey. Pablo Hidalgo joined Andi and Peter to set the record straight about the character.
First off, his name is Bistan, which is a name we previously heard in some leaks from Rogue One a few months back. In addition, Hidalgo reveals that Bistan's species is Iakaru and his "specialty" is being a door gunner on board a U-Wing fighter. You can see the full episode below, which includes an interview with young Han Solo actor Alden Ehrenreich(Bistan news comes at 0:35):
See "Space Monkey" Bistan along with all the other Rebels on the big screen later this year when Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on December 16th!
At Star Wars Celebration there are so many cosplayers and fans in costume as their favorite characters you never know who might be beneath the helmet. It could the stars of the sequel trilogy, the young Han Solo, or even the director of the next Star Wars film. Last weekend, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards donned a stormtrooper costume and took to walking the floor at the ExCeL centre in London where Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016 was taking place. Edwards suited up and headed over to the "The Art of The Force Awakens" which was taking place on the Galaxy stage. Many of the concept artists on the panel had also worked Rogue One, so Edwards grabbed the mic to ask a question and have some fun with his crew. Check out the video below,
Gareth Edwards wasn't the only celebrity walking the floor in disguise at Celebration Europe. Alden Ehrenreich took a stroll around the floor in a stormtrooper mask just hours before he was unveilled as the new Han Solo. This follows in the footsteps of John Boyega and Daisy Ridley (Finn and Rey) who walked the floor at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim last April.
Just three days ago, Lucasfilm and Disney presented the Rogue One panel at Star Wars Celebration London. Celebration goers and online viewers were treated to a panel which would produce shocks, gasps and applause, as well as perplexity, bemusement and a whole lot more to contemplate over. Initially, I described the panel to the head writer of the Star Wars Underworld, Dominic Jones, as 'weird' because I struggled to grasp the degree to which I actually felt the panel was satisfying or not. I questioned myself about the extent to which the panel really meet my expectations. The answer to that question is far more complicated than I initially felt it would be.
The fundamental factor which influenced my opinion, I believe, was the high expectations I had going into this panel. Rumors had circulated that a three-minute trailer would be screened at Celebration and I went into the Rogue One panel with a feeling of similar anticipation as I did to 'The Force Awakens' panel in Anaheim last year.
The Good
Now so far in this article, I have made it sound as though I didn't enjoy the panel. That is strictly untrue. There were many elements and moments in this panel which will be positively unforgettable:
The surprise announcement of Gwendoline Christie as the host of the panel
The singing of the French national anthem, which was given in respect to those who tragically lost their lives in Nice on Thursday.
The appearance of the Rogue One cast
An official Rogue One movie poster
Ben Mendelsohn's walk onto the stage in costume and flagged by four black troopers
The Rogue One 'sizzler' Celebration reel
The exclusive showing of a short, new Rogue One teaser trailer (exclusive to Celebration goers)
Content wise I believe there was alot to feel satisfied about the panel. On that front, I felt Disney did their job well and catered to the interests of their target audience. The first half of the panel, in fact, was near on perfect and there were obvious parallels which I drew from the visceral reactions I had in the Rogue One and Episode VII panels. Regrettably however things turned a little bit for the worst from the midway point onwards.
The Bad
In the middle of what would be Celebration's 'first' screening of the behind the scenes reel, the video cut off midway. The technical fault certainly provoked an interesting reaction, first bemusement then laughter. To be fair to Gwendoline Christie, she handled the situation well and, after she was duly prompted, she continued with interviewing the different cast members who were on the panel. It brought a bit of a stutter to proceedings, but it didn't dampen the spirits of fans who were watching on the ground or online.
The second issue of note happened at the very end of the panel.Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy was made to look rather foolish on stage, when she told panel attendees that they would have to turn their phones off for the duration of this next video they were about to see: a new Rogue One trailer. Instead of this, attendees were treated to watch the Celebration 'sizzler' reel for the third time in the space of this one hour panel. Many fans initially believed that the 'sizzler' reel would be the 'exclusive' content that she was referring to and it looked for a moment like we wouldn't get to see a new trailer, which would have been incredibly disappointing.
Thankfully this wasn't the case, as Kathleen Kennedy came back out from behind the stage curtain to inform us all that we would get to see an 'exclusive' Rogue One trailer. Excitement pervaded across the theatre once again, as fans cheered and roared at the announcement made by Kennedy, which was soon followed by the visual cue of the Lucasfilm logo and the start of the trailer. The minute long trailer played and that brought a conclusion to proceedings.
The Ugly
Unfortunately I have to highlight one particular moment which was most certainly an 'ugly' and horrific blunder on the part of Lucasfilm. Gwendoline Christie interviewed Jiang Wen, who will play Baze Malbus, and managed to reveal a huge spoiler of the upcoming film. This revelation left Lucasfilm with alot of egg on their face and the fans bewildered at what they heard. Jiang made it clear at the start of the interview that English is not his first language and he tried his best to speak it. However, it was pretty clear from those who watched it on the live stream and in the stage audience that he had unveiled what Lucasfilm hoped would be a concealed spoiler. Personally, I believe this is why the Rogue One panel cannot be watched back online on the Star Wars YouTube channel, as this moment would receive a substantial amount of media coverage and accentuate the faux pas that was made. I will have to admit that this mistake was definitely not Lucasfilm's finest hour.
Conclusions
All in all, I estimate that this article has shown people that there were highs and lows to the Rogue One panel. As a Celebration attendee, I recognize that my view of the panel will starkly contrast with the perspectives of online viewers, Disney executives, media outlets and other members of the Hollywood film industry.
From my perspective, the principal flaws centered around the technical faults in the panel, but other quote on quote 'blunders' in the panel included unintentional spoiler reveals and structural issues of the panel itself. Notwithstanding these lows, one should not detract away from the almighty 'good' that came from this panel. We got to learn more about the backstories of the cast's characters, we were given a free official poster, we were able to watch some content 'exclusive' to Star Wars: Celebration and experience Ben Mendelsohn in costume, and in character, walk onto the stage (one of the more surreal moments of the panel).
There was the good, the bad and the ugly with the Rogue One. It will remain to be seen whether, on balance, we will remember this panel fondly or with disappointment and a feeling there it was rather anti-climactic.
A debate among Star Wars fans of late has been whether the A Star Wars Story films (formerly known at the Anthology films) should have a classic Star Wars opening crawl. Apparently, this is a debate that has been going on at Lucasfilm as well. A few weeks ago Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy added fuel to the fire when she confirmed this debate was happening within company walls, specifically as it relates to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story which hits theatres this December. This weekend, during Star Wars Celebration Europe in London, she was a bit more definitive in her answer.
Kennedy and director Gareth Edwards were interviewed by ET Online at the convention, check out the video below,
Kennedy said that,
“You know, we’re in the midst of talking about it, but I don’t think these films will have an opening crawl. I think that’s what we kind of telegraphed at the beginning of the event today.”
Edwards joked that since Rogue One is based on the A New Hope crawl, "if we have a crawl, it might create another movie!"
If you are still holding out hope for a crawl, while it seems unlikely at this point, there is still a chance this could change between now and December. As Edwards said, you'll have to wait and see?
Star Wars Episode VIII director took the stage at Star Wars Celebration Europe in London to give the fans in attendance (including yours truly) a tiny preview of his upcoming film. Johnson spoke mostly about the process of making the film and the emotions that come with it. He did, however, make one confirmation, ending a debate that has been going on across the internet for several months now. Ever since Lucasfilm released a video showing Johnson on location on Skellig Michael with Mark Hamill and Daisy Ridley recreating the final scene of The Force Awakens, fans have wondered if this means Episode VIII starts immediately after Episode VII. The answer, according to Johnson, is yes.
Johnson acknowledged that he was breaking a long standing Star Wars tradition by removing the time jump between movies. However, he realized early on that this was how the film had to start. Now, time to start speculating what could or should Luke's first line to Rey will be in Episode VIII and what this means for the rest of the characters.
Johnson didn't reveal much else in at the panel. He did state that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards had a cameo in Episode VIII and that he and producer Ram Bergman had cameos in Rogue One as Death Star gunners. He also showed fans a behind the scenes photo of Star Wars Rebels executive producer Dave Filoni visiting the set, saying that he visited several times.
While some fans may have hoped for more out of this panel, Johnson did also tell fans that they can expect to hear (and probably see) a lot more about his film next year at Star Wars Celebration Orlando!
Several key members of the Marvel Star Wars stage took the stage today at Star Wars Celebration Europe in London to offer a few previews of upcoming comics! Editor Jordan D. White, Darth Vader writer Kieron Gillan, and artist Phil Noto joined host David Collins on the Galaxy Stage today and shared special previews from two of their ongoing series. The audience was shown preview pages from Star Wars #21 and variant covers for the final issue of Darth Vader (#25).
The Marvel team during their panel at Celebration
Our own Rusty Zion was in attendance at the panel and tweeted the previews! Check them out below,
Star Wars #21 hits shelves on July 20th and Darth Vader #25, the final issue, hits shelves on August 30th! Big thanks to Rusty for live tweeting the panel for us! Keep follow @TheSWU on Instagram and Twitter for more updates from Celebration!
The ILMxLAB was the focus of a panel today at Star Wars Celebration Europe in London and they had big news, their first game that will be available for wide release! It was announced that the new virtual reality game would be written by David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight) and will feature Darth Vader! A short teaser (which has not made its way online yet) was also screened at the panel.
“When we looked at all the characters, places, and worlds in the Star Wars universe available to us, we asked ourselves, ‘What haven’t we seen before? Who are we curious about? Darth Vader is the perfect ambassador to usher us into the Star Wars VR universe.”
Next ILMxLAB Star Wars game will not be an experiment, it will be widely released and will be written by David S. Goyer!
In addition, it was announced that the ILMxLAB experiment Trials on Tatooine (which I had the pleasure of trying out today at Celebration, and it is fantastic, listen for my full report on an upcoming SWU Podcast) will be available for everyone on Steam. To play the game you will need a HTC Vive VR headset.
No word yet on how or when the Darth Vader game will be released. However, after playing the Trials on Tatooine today at Celebration, my excitement for this game is threw the roof! The technology that ILMxLab is working on is truly incredible and I can't wait to experience a full game that way!
Big thanks to Rusty for live tweeting the panel for us!
The Star Wars Rebels: Season Three panel recently concluded at Star Wars Celebration Europe in London and it was even more eventful than we expected! During the event Executive Producer Dave Filoni introduced a new trailer for the upcoming season, and in it we got confirmation that legendary character is returning to Star Wars canon; Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Thrawn has been a fan favorite character since he debuted in the 1991 novel Heir To The Empire, and subsequently appeared in the ensuing novels of the Thrawn trilogy, among many others. Since Thrawn began in the books, he will also be returning to the books very soon. During the panel it was also announced that a new novel, titled Star Wars: Thrawn, is on the way and it will be written by the author that first created Thrawn in Heir To The Empire. Timothy Zahn will be writing Star Wars: Thrawn, which will be the author's first canon Star Wars novel. In a special message shown at the panel, Zahn confirmed that he was writing the novel and expressed his enthusiasm about Thrawn's upcoming appearance in Rebels.
"I want to take this opportunity to thank Dave Filoni and the rest of the Rebels crew for the incredible honor they have afforded me. I'm afraid I can't reveal anything more than what you've already seen and heard. But I am very pleased with the direction they're taking Grand Admiral Thrawn."
Star Wars: Thrawn will hit book shelves April 2017!
Today during the Star Wars Publishing panel at Star Wars Celebration Europe in London, Lucasfilm publishing announced that Star Wars fiction veteran James Luceno (Star Wars: Tarkin, Star Wars: Darth Plagueis) would writing the prequel novel for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The novel, titled Star Wars: Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel, was announced back at C2E2 in April and will hit shelves in November. Today's announcement came as part of a reveal of several covers of books from the upcoming Rogue One publishing program. More information about the book is said to be coming at San Diego Comic Con.
Star Wars Celebration Europe started off with a bang on Friday with the highly anticipated Rogue One: A Star Wars Story panel. The event was full of surprises, including an appearance by the full cast and creators, a visit from the film's villain, Director Krennic, and an amazing behind the scenes sizzle reel. In addition to all of that, we got tons of news information, photos and even a clip. The SWU team, including Chris Seekell and Dominic Jones, were there in the room to report back on everything they saw and have helped us compile an extensive recap of the panel. You can check it all out below:
The panel will be hosted by Captain Phasma herself, Gwendoline Christie! #RogueOne#SWCE
It's also worth noting that even though the recorded version of the panel has yet to be added to the official Star Wars YouTube channel, Flicks and the City has shared their own highlight video from the panel. It should be know that at around 22:00 Jiang Wen drops a massive Rogue spoiler. If you don't want to know the fate of one of the characters, you had best steer clear of that portion of the video. This is your official SPOILER WARNING:
Keep it tuned here to the Star Wars Underworld for even more coverage of Star Wars Celebration Europe over the coming days!
While Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has been in the limelight a lot today at Star Wars Celebration Europe, Ahsoka Tano been getting a lot of much deserved attention as well. The "Ahsoka's Untold Tales" panel took place earlier today(you can read our recap here) and a ton of fascinating new details about the character were revealed. In addition, the panelists, which included Dave Filoni, Pablo Hidalgo, Ashley Eckstein and David Collins, unveiled the cover artwork for the upcoming novel Star Wars: Ahsoka, written by E.K. Johnston, which you can see above. The novel will explore Ahsoka's life after she left the Jedi Order in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and before she appears in Star Wars Rebels.
Star Wars: Ahsoka will be available everywhere books are sold on October 11th!
It's also worth noting that at the panel a series of Topps trading cards was revealed featuring artwork of Ahsoka, created by Dave Filoni. You can check all of those out below:
The cards are available now on the Topps Star Wars Card Trader app!
Today at Star Wars Celebration Europe in London a ton of new information, footage and photos were revealed at the panel for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Fans waited all night in line to catch a glimpse of the cast and crew on stage as they discussed the film and previewed a behind the scenes sizzle reel. In addition, during the panel Director Gareth Edwards presented the poster for the film, which was subsequently given to attendees of the panel. The amazing artwork features Rebels and Imperials battling on the beaches of the planet Scarif in the shadow of the Death Star!
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opens in theaters on December 16th!
Star Wars Celebration is coming up this weekend which makes it an incredibly exciting time to be a Star Wars fan once again. Although many have made the trip to London for the convention, a multitude of fans will be unable to make it to this Celebration. Thankfully, Lucasfilm has us all covered with The Star Wars Show LIVE. On this week's Star Wars Show hosts Andi Gutierrez and Peter Townley revealed that they will be broadcasting live from a stage in the middle of the show floor and will be bringing tons of awesome content to those watching, including celebrity interviews and much more.
In addition, they will be streaming many of the big panels happening at this Celebration. From the highly anticipated Rogue One panel on Friday, to the Star Wars Rebels: Season three panel on Saturday and the closing ceremonies on Sunday, all will be available to watch from anywhere in the world on the Star Wars YouTube channel. StarWars.com has released the full schedule for the live stream, which you can check out below:
Friday, July 15
11:00 a.m. BST / 6:00 a.m. EDT / 3:00 a.m. PDT - Star Wars Show Live! – Friday Preview
11:30 a.m. BST / 6:00 a.m. EDT / 3:00 a.m. PDT - An Hour With Mark Hamill
Even though her story on Star Wars Rebels has wrapped up (or so we're led to believe), Ahsoka Tano's presence will be felt throughout Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016. Ahsoka first debuted in 2008 in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie as Anakin Skywalker's padawan and, following six seasons of The Clone Wars and a recurring role in Season Two of Star Wars Rebels, has amassed quite the following since then. Not only will the character be the focus of a panel on Friday--featuring voice actor Ashley Eckstein, The Clone Wars and Rebels executive producer Dave Filoni, and Lucasfilm Story Group member Pablo Hidalgo--,but fans have dubbed Friday "Ahsoka Lives Day". In a joint effort coordinated by our friends at The Dorky Diva and The Wookiee Gunner, fans are encouraged to gather at The Star Wars Show stage at 12:30pm GMT in Ahsoka cosplay, attire, and/or makeup for a group photo.
The event's official description reads,
The season two finale of Star Wars Rebels left fans with a lot of questions, but one thing is certain and that is that Ahsoka Tano continues to live on in our hearts. After a successful "Ahsoka Lives Day" at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim where many fans came together to celebrate a beloved character, we are excited to announce that the tradition will continue!
Join us for a group photo with the voice of Ahsoka, Ashley Eckstein, at the Star Wars Show Stage at 12:30pm on Friday, July 15, of Star Wars Celebration Europe. We encourage you to wear your favorite Ahsoka Tano shirt, accessories, or costume.
For fans at home, please participate by sharing photos of your Ahsoka-themed outfits or costumes by using the hashtag #AhsokaLives.
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