After a gap of three years, Star Wars Celebration returns. What was going to be in 2020 got delayed for obvious reasons, but now it has the ability to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Attack of the Clones. And such is the case with two panels across the first two days. Since there has been that gap, there’s also a look at some of the shows that have released during that time.
But along with the looking back is the looking ahead, and each of the headline panels will be doing just that. Along with the usual look at new projects from the books and comics, merchandising, and games. Although speaking of games, the only video game that’ll be featured on panels is Hunters – the mobile game. Very unlikely there’ll be a surprise panel for some console games.
As for those headline panels, the biggest of those is once again coming first. A look at what Lucasfilm Studios have been working on. Andor, The Mandalorian, and Obi-Wan Kenobi have been confirmed to be appearing, though with Obi-Wan releasing the next day and The Mandalorian having its own headline panel on Saturday, I don’t think they’ll have much focus – especially for an hour and a half long panel.
As such, I do think there will be other reveals coming from this. Ahsoka has recently started production, so while we won’t be seeing a trailer for it, there’s room to be getting information and concept art for it. The same goes for Lando, and the spin-off films. Rogue Squadron is set for release Christmas next year, but there’s a small chance we can get information on it.
As stated, Saturday’s headline panel is all about The Mandalorian. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni take a look back at the series along with looking ahead at what’s to come with some special guests. The Mandalorian has been a great series, so taking a look back with the people who made it happen will be lovely. And I’m hopeful this won’t spoil too much of the new season before it airs.
For Friday’s headline panel, the discussion is about the new documentary coming soon looking at ILM – Industrial Light & Magic. The company that had been set up by George Lucas to create the visual effects of Star Wars that then went on to create the visual effects of so many films – including Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Getting a preview of what this documentary will look at will be interesting, as I’m sure the full documentary will be.
For Sunday, the headline panel will be looking at Season 2 of The Bad Batch, the continuation of The Clone Wars exploring what happened after the end of the war through the eyes of the unit known as The Bad Batch. Season one ended with the destruction of the cloning facilities of Kamino, and an uncertain future lies ahead. So what can season two offer?
Having been watching through The Clone Wars and Rebels, there’s two things I’d like to see. During season two of The Clone Wars, there was the Zillo Beast. Palpatine wanted to use it to create an impenetrable armour for the clones. At the end of the two-part arc, Palpatine gave instructions to the scientist to clone the best – which was the last of its kind. Yet we never see any results of that. You could say there’s nothing to report, but there’s definitely more that could be told with this.
The second thing I’d like to see comes from Rebels. And the first season. We know what Rex has been doing since the war ended, but when the Ghost crew meet up with him, he has both Wolffe and Gregor with him. So what were Wolffe and Gregor doing immediately after the war, and how did Rex join up with them? This is something that The Bad Batch can easily answer. There’s bound to be more Rex, after all.
All of those headline panels will be on the livestream, all starting at 11:00 PT, but everything else is unknown until it happens. Those that focus on the books and comics likely won’t be on the livestream, except through interviews that happen over the course of the days. I haven’t really been following the books or comics in recent times, but I’d like to see them start to go beyond the sequel trilogy in the timeline.
The LEGO Star Wars panel should be a good one that I hope will get shown on the livestream. New LEGO sets, talk of The Skywalker Saga game, and possibly a new series or set of shorts. The Skywalker Saga being here is more than likely just being a recap of the success seen with it, but it would be nice to see if there’s anything new coming to it.
Star Wars Hunters is likely to be a good game. With a zany cast of characters – including a droid programmed to believe it’s a Jedi, it’s a third person arena combat game where strategy in the fight is key to victory. Unless you’ve overpowered the characters you’ll use in fights, in which case it’s a one-sided fight. Being free-to-play, it needs to have good gameplay, and new content to always keep it fresh. Just what the plans – and the release date – are, we’ll have to see.
Finally, no Star Wars Celebration is complete without the guest panels. On the three main stages – and so those most likely to be on the livestream – there are only two, but they are some of the best you could hope for. Ian McDiarmid has a panel on the first day. McDiarmid has such great stories to tell from his long career, and does so masterfully. Meanwhile, Anthony Daniels has a panel on Saturday, and he should be bringing the masterful comedy while telling his own stories.
Now, owing to Star Wars Celebration being in Los Angeles, I won’t be able to see most of it live. The start time for the UK is 19:00, so I’ll get the headline panels plus an hour or two more, then have to catch the rest of that day the following day. But I will be doing so. I always love watching Star Wars Celebration. I’ll have two articles talking about what happens during this four day event, so look out for the first of those that talks of my thoughts. And I hope you all enjoy the event, whether tuning in live or from Los Angeles.
Images Taken From:
Obi-Wan Kenobi Poster, featured on 5 Highlights from the Obi-Wan Kenobi Trailer article of StarWars.com
The Mandalorian Concept Art, featured on Mando Download “Chapter 9: The Marshal” article of StarWars.com
Captain Cassian Andor StarWars.com Databank
Star Wars: The Bad Batch S1.07
Star Wars: Hunters Hero Art, featured on swhunters.com
