Despite the pandemic in the last couple of years, the Star Wars fans can’t complain about the lack of content. After the release of Episode IX and the first season of The Mandalorian in 2019, several more adaptations have appeared so far. The successful first eight chapters of the TV show were quickly followed by another season in the last quarter of 2020. However, this is history, and today we would like to look into the future and see what awaits us in the coming months and years. Here is a quick spoiler, too – we will mention the return of The Mandalorian saga!
Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, released in 2019, was the end of the ennealogy started in 1977 with Episode IV – A New Hope. The movie was appreciated by the audience but with a touch of disappointment at the end of an era. Although a quick follow-up was not expected, three years later, “a new hope” is rising. Several producers announced their will to continue the saga and create single-movie sequels or even a trilogy. Rian Johnson announced the bold plan, but it was canceled, just like David Benioff and D.B. Weiss’ co-production proposal.
However, fans can expect a new cinema adaptation at the end of 2022 or 2023, along with another at least two movies – in 2025 and 2027, according to Disney’s announcement. Most probably, they will be produced by Kevin Feige, Taika Waititi, and a co-production by Matt Owens and J.D. Dillard. Their projects are still TBD, and there’s a big chance to be canceled like the ones we mentioned before. One thing is for sure, with the help and supervision of Lucasfilm, fans will enjoy new movies in the next couple of years and beyond.
Star Wars-based TV shows have been a huge success, becoming an expected alternative to movies. For a long time, fans of the production hoped for more detailed development of the stories of some of the most interesting characters left out of the main storyline. One of them is Din Djarin, screened for the first time in 2019 in the Mandalorian series. Another season was released in 2020, and a third one is scheduled for late 2022.
The Star Wars: The Bad Batch and The Book of Boba Fett from 2021 were also huge successes! Both will have second seasons in 2022 or 2023. The second of them was eagerly awaited and surprised everyone with the relatively small number of episodes – only 7. For comparison, The Bad Batch came with 16 and was applauded by the critics. Anyway, the return of Din Djarin, Boba Fett, and the animated Bad Batch are worth your breath, but they are nothing compared to the new TV shows!
In 2020, Lucasfilm announced that at least 16 new cinema movies and TV series would be released in the upcoming years. One of them is already in pre-production – Star Wars: Ahsoka. The mini-series will have at least six episodes and will meet the fans with one of the most popular secondary female characters. However, many supporters of the franchise probably expect a deeper passion for the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV show. The series’ premiere is planned for May 27, 2022! Each of the six episodes will be directed by Deborah Chow. She has a good Star Wars experience standing behind Chapter 3 and Chapter 7 of The Mandalorian first season. All that sounds quite exciting, but Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka are only the most recently anticipated new series.
Star Wars: Andor is also about to happen in 2022, starring Diego Luna. It’s a prequel to the Rogue One film, and fans can expect 12 episodes. On the flip side, another possibly high-ranking production, Rangers of the New Republic, has been canceled, according to Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm. Although she announced that the production was “scrapped for good” in November 2021, many Star Wars enthusiasts still hope for its resurrection. If you prefer animated adaptations, then you should be pleased by the fact that Star Wars: A Droid Story is still on the table. It’s still unknown how long the R2D2 and C3PO series will be and when we can expect the show’s release.
Last but not least, Lucasfilm and Dysney+ have announced three more TV shows that are currently in development. The Acolyte first season was filmed in February 2022 and will most probably have eight episodes. The event series Lando is also expected this or next year, just like Rogue Squadron, which has to be launched in 2023 and directed by Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman movies). There isn’t much information for either The Acolyte, Lando, or Rogue Squadron, but one thing is for sure, 2022 and 2023 will be heavily packed with exciting Star Wars new series, sequels, and cinema films.
The Star Wars franchise has been inspiring generations of directors, producers, actors, and fans of the saga. The prequel and sequel trilogies have even larger success than the original Episodes IV, V, and VI. Some people believe that the series has crossed an important line, and the franchise has lost some of its charm. Still, this is the only way to breathe life into some neglected characters and continue to develop the Star Wars world!
Hey, guess what. Turns out that publishing a travel guide on our very public blog which explicitly lists the exact location of our secret rebel base was a terrible idea. Can you imagine? What were the odds? I had absolutely no idea none of this would ever happen. It’s just a complete and utter shock to me, I swear. Anyway, so, uh… That goes without saying, but the Empire is kinda sorta coming to kill each and every single one of us. I’d advise you to run, but doing so might be pretty pointless, so instead the best you can do is panic, scream, cry and hug your spouse (or droid – I’m not judging) goodbye. I, personally, am planning on employing one of the few practical skills I learned from my rock farming days on Dantooine and shall be building myself an Empire-proof rock shelter for one, so—
Wait. This just in. Don’t panic. It’s all going to be fine because our pilots are way more qualified than their clowns! Sure, they may have graduated the Imperial Academy with honors, and they may have spent years learning how to fly while most of us are just farmers and construction workers, but we’ve got something that they’ll never have! And I’ll tell you what it is as soon as I can come up with something convincing—Ships! We’ve got awesome ships at our disposal, and I’m not just saying that because Mon Mothma is staring at me so intently she’d make a Rancor cry. No, we’ve definitely got the best ships ever! As a matter of fact, why don’t we just go through the best of the best right now, just to put our minds at ease?
“Wait a minute,” you might be thinking to yourself, “aren’t the T-47s those slow, completely harmless hovering ships with the magnetic cables that we use to transport cargo around Echo Base?” And of course not, don’t be ridiculous! Those were the T-47 Carrier models, while these are the T-47 Airspeeder model. You see how the Airspeeders have two turrets welded to their front? Totally different, and according to our own regulations submitted and approved by Mon Mothma, totally classifies as a starfighter even though it can barely fight and can’t actually leave the planet’s atmosphere. I mean, who needs actual spaceships piloted by trained professionals when you can have a bunch of transport vehicles with turrets on them manned by farmers? If the Emperor isn’t shaking in his boots, he should.
Don’t worry, we’ve got a couple of actual starships here! Actual, honest-to-Force starships, believe it or not! The Y-Wings are among the very first generation of “-Wing” starfighters, and despite the fact that they’re older than old (were they around during the Old Republic? I would’ve double-checked that if the Empire hadn’t burned or corrected all history books), they’ve also got the most firepower out of any starship we’ve currently got, which is why they’re pretty great for doing stuff like bomb runs on Imperial Star Destroyers. The problem is that by the time the Y-Wings get anywhere near the bombing area most of them will be long gone. Don’t forget that they’re pretty old and rusty, so while they’ve got plenty of firepower, speed isn’t exactly their forte… But who needs speed when you’ve got the best pilots in the Galaxy? I do, but Mon Mothma was very insistent I add that line. In other news, Imperial ships have been jumping through hyperspace and appearing over Hoth, so you guys might want to hurry up to your ships. Speaking of!
Come on, how can the X-Wing NOT be number one? It’s the signature starship of the Rebel Alliance, and the one that Luke Skywalker used to blow up the Death Star and save us all from certain doom! And even if you ignore the fact that Skywalker, the overhyped Bantha fodder, only succeeded because his best friend came to his aid, causing one of Darth Vader’s co-pilots to panic and knock him off-balance, it’s undeniable that the X-Wings are still objectively fantastic. They’re fast, have a healthy amount of firepower, and true, their shields get torn through pretty much immediately, but at least they’re better than the flying death boxes the Empire calls TIE Fighters! Out of all the heaps of junks we use in our fight, the X-Wings are the least junky – save me one of these for the evacuation! And speaking of evacuation! And speaking of evacuation, I do believe that the roof has just collapsed, so that’s where I’ll be taking my leave. If you don’t hear from me again, know that I’ll always be sulking in the big rock farm in the sky.
Let me be perfectly, completely, absolutely and utterly honest to the point of pain here – nobody joined the Rebellion to freeze their ass off on an ice planet for months at a time. Not a single person. NO ONE. If someone tells you “Yeah, man, Echo Base is literally the best,” punch them in their species’ respective reproductive organs, because they’re utter liars. I can tell you, as a rock farmer from Dantooine, there was nothing more I wanted than to be a Rebel pilot or soldier touring the Galaxy, going on missions and just having crazy adventures. Like those Fulcrum agents that do stuff like espionage and interrogations while sipping on Sullustan gin and chatting up a beautiful lady! But nope, instead I’m stuck here, cleaning bathrooms and writing a blog. Hooray.
As if to pour salt in the wound, a few days ago Mon Mothma came up to me and said “Hey Larek, morale has been a little low, so why don’t you post this on your blog?” And she gives me this huge, sprawling, impressively done travel guide done by some guy calling himself Casino Reviews (that’s an odd name, I think it’s Dathomirian). I mean, seriously? How is showing the people all of the cool places where they CAN’T go supposed to boost morale?! And… Is that Echo Base listed under Hoth? Are you absolutely sure it’s a good idea to give away our super secret ultra hidden hideout in a leaflet like that? Well, alright, you’re the boss, just don’t be surprised if the Empire comes knocking one of these days.
(via www.casinoreviews.co.uk)
Our Rebel Alliance really isn’t as big as most people think it is, and that’s intentional. An organization like ours lives and dies on its reputation, so the more fierce and powerful we appear in the eyes of the population, the more likely others are to join us and/or donate funds and technology that we can put to good use. Nobody would want to risk their life for us if they knew how few of us there really are! Still, the fact that there’s not that many Rebels means that we all know each other! Take, for example, the crew of the Ghost, who are all good friends of mine, and by that I of course mean that Sabine once looked at me and Zeb threatened to tear my arms off. So that was fun. Still, even if I don’t know them very well personally, I’m quite familiar with the Ghost crew’s exploits – both before and during the Battle of Scarif, where the Death Star plans were stolen by the rebels known as Rogue One, which ultimately allowed that Dirk Starkiller guy to blow it up. Oh, yes, the Ghost crew were actually quite involved in that massive space battle, believe it or not! Here’s how!
Look at the bottom side of this image, taken from one of our cruisers – it’s the Ghost, right there in the flesh… Err, metal, I mean. Isn’t it truly beautiful in person? I really wanted to touch it once, but remember earlier when Zeb threatened to tear my arms off? Yeah, that was when. I can’t fault him, though, he’s just being a little overprotective for Hera’s sake! And speaking of her…
Hera Syndulla is the name of the Ghost’s captain, as I’m sure you know by now, but Syndulla is also the name of her father. Apparently, people in a family have the same family name, imagine that! Well, on Yavin IV, right before the Battle of Scarif, General Syndulla gets called by the dispatcher! I never got which of the two the dispatcher meant, but my own personal theory is that it’s both, and whoever it was that called them just got lazy. Looking straight at you, Baxter, you scruffy looking nerf herder!
About five years ago, the crew of the Ghost actually assisted princess Leia with delivering three Hammerhead Corvette starships to the Rebel fleet, which are put to good use from that point on. During the Battle of Scarif, you may remember that one of these very ships was used to make two Star Destroyers crash into each other, in a moment that made every single Rebel at Yavin IV instantaneously pee their pants from the sheer awesomeness. I should know, I was on janitor duty that day.
Like any good starbound team, the crew of the Ghost have their own astromech droid, in the form of the mildly psychopathic Chopper, whom I am extremely pleased to have never met. We came unbelievably close, though – here he is, on the left, passing by! And there’s me, waaaay to the right, with the vacuum cleaner! Can you see me? Funny to think that the closest I ever got to danger in a battle that killed dozens of my comrades was when I was in the same room with an astromech droid…
Greetings, fellow Rebel fighters! It is I, Larek Dao, proud foot soldier of the Rebel Alliance and the guy you’re stuck with while you’re chilling here on Echo Base! Ha, get it? Chilling? Because we’re on a planet made up entirely of ice and snow? Okay, comedy’s not exactly my strong suit, but can you blame me? I grew up on a rock farm on Dantooine, so I didn’t exactly have a lot of time to work on my impeccable sense of humor. “Oh, you mean like a quarry, or a mine?” I hear you asking. No. A rock farm. We literally grew rocks. My job literally involved watching rocks grow and then picking them up when they were big enough before shipping them off to the Empire, and if that sounds worse than watching paint dry, then congratulations, you have a healthy, functioning mind! With that in mind, can you really blame me for running away from Dantooine on a stolen cargo ship and joining the Rebel Alliance?
I was promised combat, adventure, close shaves with the enemy, thrilling space battles, maybe, just maybe, a date with Princess Leia. But alas, the combat and adventure never happened, I’ve never seen an enemy in my entire life, I was never taught how to fly a spaceship, and the Princess keeps making out with that guy who blew up the Death Star, the one that kinda looks like her a little bit. I’ve got no idea what this is all about, but needless to say, when Admiral Ackbar called me and several new recruits to his office, I was ecstatic! “Finally,” I thought to myself, “some space adventures!” Instead he simply said something along the lines of “Felan will be cleaning the toilets, Larbec will be clearing the Tauntaun stables, and Dao will be managing the blog. Dismissed!” What a ripoff! More than once I asked him to reconsider and send me off to fight on the front lines, but he kept repeating that “It’s a wrap” and his decisions were final. So here I am, blogging about Rebel stuff and dishing out anti-Imperial propaganda. On the bright side, at least it’s more exciting than stone farming!