There is more Star Wars Disney Plus news (and Star Wars movie news) today than you can shake a Beskar staff at. At the Disney Investors Day event yesterday (Dec. 10), Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, rolled out a whole slew of movie and show tidbits about the future of Star Wars.
While no new trilogy or saga was announced, there's so much for Star Wars fans to anticipate that it's hard to keep track of everything. So we've compiled all the details you need to know from the big event.
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1. Ahsoka gets her own Star Wars show
Arguably the most excitement I saw online came as Disney announced that Rosario Dawson would star in Star Wars: Ahsoka, which will take place in the timeline of The Mandalorian.
A Disney Plus Original, this will be a "limited series" that's executive produced by The Mandalorian's Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau. It's also going to written by Filoni, who's getting rave reviews from fans for how The Mandalorian season 2 is finally tucking into the Star Wars universe lore.
When will the Ahsoka show come out? Much like the next Star Wars Disney Plus property we'll discuss, signs point to something coming out on Christmas 2021. Kennedy only noted that this is when "the next chapter" of the story will emerge.
Ahsoka's show will tie into the other Disney Plus original that spins out of The Mandalorian, Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic. Both shows will end in a "climactic story event."
2. Obi-Wan Kenobi brings Darth Vader back
This is going to be pretty divisive. The Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi show will not just be a chance to see more of Ewan McGregor as the Jedi Master.
It's also bringing back Hayden Christensen to portray Darth Vader, a casting call that some longtime Star Wars fans were never OK with, while some prequel movie fans (they're real, trust me), were giddy to see the news.
The Obi-Wan show will be set 10 years after the dramatic conclusion of Revenge of the Sith and will be a Disney Plus Original, so we'll see Kenobi recovering from the loss of his greatest pupil and the early days of Vader himself.
In a press release, Christiansen said, "It will be interesting to see what an amazing director like Deborah Chow has in store for us all. I’m excited to work with Ewan again. It feels good to be back.”
Disney Plus has yet to set a release date for Obi-Wan Kenobi. The six-episode limited series is scheduled to begin filming in spring 2021.
3. The Cassian Andor series is filming now
Kennedy revealed that the series began production in late November in London. We even got a sizzle reel to hype us for Star Wars: Andor, which is set to hit Disney Plus in 2022.
Disney credits director Tony Gilroy as the "creator" of Andor, which will have 12 episodes. Diego Luna is reprising the role Cassian Andor from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and will be joined by the voice of Alan Tudyk, returning as K-2SO.
The rest of the cast is top notch, including Stellan Skarsgard, Fiona Shaw and Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma.
4. R2-D2 and C-3PO are coming back
R2-D2 and C-3PO will return to screens in A Droid Story, a new Disney Plus series. They will guide "a new hero" according to the presentation.
This appears to be an animated affair, but when Lucasfilm notes "the intersection of animation and visual effects offers new opportunities to explore" it makes us wonder if it will stand out in a special way.
5. We saw a lot of The Bad Batch, the Clone Wars spin-off
The Bad Batch is a group of experimental clones introduced in The Clone Wars. Now that that series has ended, they're getting all the attention for themselves.
According to Lucasfilm, the clones "each possess a singular exceptional skill which makes them extraordinarily effective soldiers and a formidable crew," and they'll be using these traits to survive a series of mercenary missions.
Annoyingly, no release date was announced.
Bonus: Star Wars film news
The next Star Wars film is Rogue Squadron, and it's got a director: Patty Jenkins (director of the two recent Wonder Woman movies). Rogue Squadron will focus on a new crop of wannabe starfighter pilots and Jenkins expressed her excitement in this video she posted online.
pic.twitter.com/e3N00xCr5iDecember 10, 2020
Rogue Squadron is expected to hit theaters Christmas 2023.
Taika Waititi's untitled Star Wars project is currently in development, according to Kennedy. We've heard rumors and reports of the writer/director being attached to a new Star Wars property for some time. This film will likely debut in theaters first and hit Disney Plus eventually.
Kennedy described Waititi's "approach to Star Wars" as "fresh, unexpected, and…unique."
