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Star Wars Celebration 2017: the latest news from Orlando

Star Wars Celebration has begun in Orlando, Florida! The year’s biggest Star Wars convention is underway, and you can expect developments for Battlefront II, Star Wars Rebels, and of course, The Last Jedi. Stay tuned below to keep up with the biggest updates from this year's show.

  • Bryan Bishop

    Apr 17, 2017

    Bryan Bishop

    Carrie Fisher was the real star of Star Wars Celebration

    Photo by Bryan Bishop / The Verge

    The focal point of this year’s Star Wars Celebration was ostensibly the future of the franchise, but one name stood out above all the trailers, video game reveals, and theme-park news: Carrie Fisher. The event was the first Star Wars convention since she died last year at age 60, and day after day, collaborators and castmates took the opportunity to pay tribute to her. And somehow, somewhere in the process, an event dedicated to promoting one of the most valuable entertainment properties in the world became something different — an opportunity for fans to say goodbye.

    I recognize that’s a suspect statement. Emotion is a tricky thing at events like these; whether it’s the Hall H madness of Comic-Con, or the built-in love at something like Celebration, we’re talking about an audience of people who are already primed to be affected by every single moment that comes their way. Presenting at Celebration isn’t just preaching to the converted; it’s preaching to an audience that’s actually incentivized to be moved, particularly after they’ve shelled out hundreds of dollars, or traveled thousands of miles, to attend.

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  • Apr 17, 2017

    Andrew Liptak and Bryan Bishop

    The 13 things we learned from this year’s Star Wars Celebration

    Photo by Bryan Bishop / The Verge

    Star Wars Celebration has wrapped up in Orlando, Florida, and it’s been a fun four days immersed in everything Star Wars. We’ve learned a lot about the next couple of years of the franchise: we got our first looks at The Last Jedi and Battlefront II, learned the fate of Star Wars Rebels, and heard a bit about Disney’s ambitious plans for its Star Wars-themed parks.

    Here are some of the biggest things that happened.

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  • Bryan Bishop

    Apr 16, 2017

    Bryan Bishop

    Watch the creation of Disney’s ambitious and immersive Star Wars land

    Two years ago Disney announced that it was planning on adding massive Star Wars-themed expansions to its parks in California and Florida, and today at Star Wars Celebration it revealed some new details — including a behind-the-scenes look at the design and construction of the parks.

    The panel itself kicked off with a brief bit of news: that Disney’s Star Tours attraction was going to be receiving a Last Jedi-themed update later this year. The new addition will give visitors the chance to visit the mineral world of Crait, with Anthony Daniels getting ready to record new material for the sequence in the months ahead. (In case the name Crait doesn’t sound familiar, it’s the strange new planet featured in the Last Jedi trailer — the one where ships scraping its surface leave behind billowing red trails.)

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  • Apr 15, 2017

    Andrew Liptak

    The Battlefront II tie-in novel is Lucasfilm’s incredible creative strategy in action

    Lucasfilm / Del Rey

    While we got the first trailer for Battlefront II today at Star Wars Celebration, EA Games dropped another bit of news: Christie Golden’s previously announced novel Inferno Squad is a tie-in for the game.

    In the trailer, we see the Imperial special forces unit Inferno Squadron in action, taking on the Rebellion after the destruction of the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi, but Golden’s novel will take place years before the game.

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  • Bryan Bishop

    Apr 15, 2017

    Bryan Bishop

    Star Wars: Battlefront II makes the Imperials the good guys

    When Star Wars: Battlefront was released two years ago, it received a lot of praise for the way in which it faithfully re-created props, vehicles, and worlds from the original film trilogy, but it took a hit when it came to the lack of a single-player campaign. With the sequel, EA hopes to change that, and this morning it offered a glimpse at what players can expect when Battlefront II arrives on November 17th. The single-player mode certainly looks like it will be heavy on narrative and world-building, but more importantly, it’s embracing a perspective that’s never really been tackled in the film series before: the point of view of the Empire.

    A team-up between EA DICE, Motive Studios, and Criterion Games, Battlefront II will let players take on the role of Iden, member of the elite Inferno Squadron, who Motive game director Mark Thompson described as a “TIE Fighter [pilot] / commando hybrid” with an array of special skills and leadership abilities. The narrative itself kicks off in the final moments of Return of the Jedi, when Iden — having just taken down some Rebels on the forest moon of Endor — looks up in disbelief as the second Death Star is blown to pieces. At that point she decides to avenge her fallen Emperor, with the game’s ensuing story serving to fill in the gaps between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, which took place some 30 years later.

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  • Bryan Bishop

    Apr 15, 2017

    Bryan Bishop

    Star Wars: Battlefront II’s official trailer is all about the single-player campaign

    Earlier this week a teaser trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront II leaked online, but here at Star Wars Celebration EA has revealed the real thing — and it includes quite a bit more than the leaked version. The centerpiece of the trailer is the single-player campaign, which focuses on an elite TIE Fighter pilot who is spurred to vengeance against the Rebellion after she sees the second Death Star blown to smithereens while on the forest moon of Endor.

    It appears to be a darker take on the Star Wars mythos, putting the Empire in the heroic role most traditionally occupied by the Jedi or characters like Han Solo and Princess Leia. But the trailer also teases the expanded multiplayer version of the game, with Darth Maul, Rey, and Kylo Ren all making brief appearances, representing a scope of playable characters and worlds that the 2015 Battlefront never even attempted. There also appears to be a greater emphasis on space battle, something that was fun in the last installment, but never received much attention other than some DLC content and the VR expansion pack for the PlayStation VR. Star Wars: Battlefront II is expected to be released later this year.

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  • Apr 15, 2017

    Andrew Liptak

    Star Wars Rebels is ending with its fourth season

    Star Wars Rebels
    Lucasfilm / Walt Disney

    During the Star Wars Rebels panel at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando Florida, show creator Dave Filoni announced that the show would be coming to an end at the end of the upcoming fourth season.

    During the panel, Filoni revealed that the show would come to an end at the end of the coming season. “Seeing the evolution of this family, [and] these kids, and watching them get older, as a creator of a story I think of these things. I think about where we are going, and what the characters need to go through,” he said. “This is where I have to tell you that Season 4 is the final season of Star Wars Rebels.”

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  • Apr 14, 2017

    Andrew Liptak

    Contrary to reports, Carrie Fisher will not appear in Star Wars: Episode IX

    Lucasfilm / Walt Disney

    After widespread reports last weekend that Carrie Fisher’s family gave Lucasfilm the go-ahead for the late actress to appear in 2019’s Episode IX, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has told ABC News that Fisher will not be part of the film.

    “Sadly, Carrie will not be in [Episode 9],'” Kennedy said, “But we will see a lot of Carrie in [The Last Jedi].'” She said Fisher’s brother, Todd, likely mixed up the films when he spoke last weekend. “We finished everything in [The Last Jedi],” Kennedy explained, “and Carrie is absolutely phenomenal in the movie.”

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  • Chaim Gartenberg

    Apr 14, 2017

    Chaim Gartenberg

    One of fantasy’s biggest authors comes to Star Wars

    Lucasfilm

    Before The Force Awakens hit theaters, Lucasfilm prepared fans with a steady drip of books and comics under the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens banner, telling some of the stories of events between Episodes VI and VII. During Star Wars Celebration Del Rey announced that it would be running a similar campaign to lead up to The Last Jedi with a series of “Journey to Star Wars: The Last Jedi” titles.

    An impressive group of authors will be writing the books. Most notably, Ken Liu, a Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Award-winning author who’s considered one of the biggest up and coming names in genre fiction, will write The Legends of Luke Skywalker. (He’s also writing a story in the upcoming Certain Point of View anthology) Other authors include Claudia Gray (who previously wrote the Star Wars novels Lost Stars and Bloodline), who is penning a novel about Leia Organa and Delilah S. Dawson, who will write a novel about the mysterious Captain Phasma. Phasma will also be the focus of a 5-issue comic miniseries later this year from Marvel Comics.

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  • Chaim Gartenberg

    Apr 14, 2017

    Chaim Gartenberg

    The best part of The Last Jedi trailer is that we have no idea what’s going on

    The first long-awaited teaser for Star Wars: The Last Jedi is here. But while this tantalizing two minutes of footage has finally given fans the first glimpse of the upcoming sequel, it’s as deliberately vague as the various teasers for The Force Awakens were. Yes, the cinematography is beautiful. The flashes of Rey’s training are intriguing, and the few brief seconds of space battles are thrilling, but there’s almost no context for anything that happens in it.

    The Star Wars franchise as a whole seems to have undergone a dramatic shift in its most recent incarnation. It’s become one of the film industry’s most secretive franchises, a move that especially stands out in today’s spoiler-hungry culture. And I think the reasoning for that secrecy is simple: for the first time in more than 30 years, Star Wars fans know it’s worth being excited, but still don’t know what’s coming next.

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  • Apr 14, 2017

    Andrew Liptak

    Breaking down The Last Jedi trailer scene by scene

    Image: Lucasfilm

    The first trailer for The Last Jedi has arrived, and it looks pretty amazing. There’s a lot going on in it: Rey training with Luke! Space battles! Kylo Ren looking pissed! It’s enough to give us a taste of the next Star Wars film, but doesn’t reveal more than is necessary.

    The trailer opens with what at first looks like a star field, but quickly reveals itself to be rocks on Ahch-To, the planet where Rey found Luke living by himself. It’s a neat visual trick.

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  • Bryan Bishop

    Apr 14, 2017

    Bryan Bishop

    7 things we learned from today’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi panel

    Lucasfilm / Walt Disney Studios

    We’re just 8 months away from the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but Disney and Lucasfilm had released absolutely nothing about the upcoming film — until today. During the highlight panel of Star Wars Celebration, writer-director Rian Johnson, producer Kathleen Kennedy, and a selection of the film’s cast took the stage to discuss what is in store for audiences in the continuing adventure of Luke Skywalker and Rey... well, Rey Somebody.

    There was a lot to discuss — including the new trailer — and we’ve put together the most essential moments and revelations from today’s panel. If you’re looking for your Last Jedi Cliff’s Notes, you’ve come to the right place.

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  • Apr 14, 2017

    Andrew Liptak

    Here’s the teaser poster for The Last Jedi

    Lucasfilm

    Back in January, we learned the title of Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, and got a spiffy, retro-looking poster to boot. Now, at Star Wars Celebration, we’ve got a new poster to go along with it.

    The stark image of a lightsaber shooting up into the sky also bears a certain resemblance to the original teaser poster for Return of the Jedi.

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  • Apr 14, 2017

    Andrew Liptak

    Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s first trailer is here

    Our first look at The Last Jedi has arrived. Today at Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm debuted the trailer for for the long-awaited sequel to The Force Awakens.

    There’s a lot to take in from this brief teaser. Much of the action is set on Ahch-To, the planet that Rey discovered Luke on at the end of the previous film, and it appears that she’s spending some time there training. At the end, Luke has a foreboding message: “It’s time for the Jedi to end.”

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  • Apr 14, 2017

    Andrew Liptak

    How to watch this year’s Star Wars Celebration online

    This week, Star Wars fans from around the world are descending upon Orlando, Florida, for this year’s Star Wars Celebration, the official convention for the franchise. The event kicks off today and runs through Sunday, April 16th. There is quite a bit to look forward to: there will be news from The Last Jedi, season 4 of Rebels, and Battlefront II.

    If you can’t make it to Florida, Lucasfilm has you covered. The studio is teaming up with Verizon to stream over 30 hours of content online through The Star Wars Show, featuring panels, celebrity guests, interviews, and quite a bit more.

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  • Apr 13, 2017

    Andrew Liptak

    Star Wars’ creators pay tribute to the fans and Carrie Fisher

    Lucasfilm

    Earlier today, the annual Star Wars Celebration fan gathering kicked off with a huge panel called 40 Years of Star Wars. Moderated by Star Wars film series regular Warwick Davis, the event came with plenty of surprises: George Lucas showed up to talk about the origins of the franchise and reframe his legacy with the series, while Harrison Ford dropped in to joke about sneaking in on his own plane. But the real focus of the panel was to appreciate the fans, reminisce about the films’ productions, and pay tribute to Carrie Fisher, who died in December 2016.

    The panel kicked off with a short video highlighting the moviegoers who lined up for Star Wars’ original 1977 release, cosplayers who dress up as characters, and fans who pass the films and franchise down to their children. “The love of the fans makes it a worthwhile job,” C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels said in one of the video’s interview clips. In another the late Carrie Fisher explained, “It’s about family, that’s what’s so powerful about it. They’re showing the films to their children and their grandchildren, they’re sharing something that moved them as a child. That does heal people, when you can have that thing in common.”

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  • Chaim Gartenberg

    Apr 13, 2017

    Chaim Gartenberg

    Watch the touching tribute to Carrie Fisher screened at Star Wars Celebration

    Lucasfilm closed out the 40 Years of Star Wars panel at Star Wars Celebration with a touching tribute to Carrie Fisher, recognizing her iconic role as Princess Leia throughout the franchise.

    Fisher, who passed away last December, has been an integral part of Star Wars from its inception, and the video serves as a brief but moving look back at both her work as Leia Organa, and her tremendous presence off-camera. The tribute also includes appearances from various cast and crew members from the original trilogy and the new films, many of whom highlighted how Fisher’s character has been an inspiration both for their own roles in the films as well as for millions of fans.

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  • Rich McCormick

    Apr 13, 2017

    Rich McCormick

    New Star Wars action figures address #wheresrey controversy

    After receiving criticism for sidelining female characters in its The Force Awakens toy ranges, Disney is focusing on the women of the Star Wars galaxy ahead of the release of Episode VIII. The company announced Star Wars Forces of Destiny last night — an initiative that will see it releasing a series of animated shorts, books, and toys that feature characters like Rey, Leia, and Rogue One’s Jyn Erso.

    The new toys are being made by Hasbro, and are called “adventure figures” — described as a cross between an action figure and a traditional doll. In addition to characters from the movies, the company’s also making models of Sabine Wren and Ahsoka Tano, both of whom currently appear in TV show Star Wars: Rebels, as well as 11-inch versions of BB-8, R2-D2, and Chewbacca.

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  • Rich McCormick

    Apr 12, 2017

    Rich McCormick

    Leaked Star Wars: Battlefront II trailer teases space combat and single-player campaign

    The Star Wars: Battlefront II trailer has jumped out of hyperspace a little earlier than expected. Originally intended to be shown for the first time at this weekend’s Star Wars Celebration, a leaked version of the trailer instead arrived online this evening, showing the kind of combat we can expect from EA’s next Star Wars shooter.

    Namely, multiplayer battles on land, in the air, and in space. Clips of in-engine footage show Tauntauns running through the legs of AT-ATs, TIE Fighters screaming across lakes, and X-Wings dodging capital ship fire. The trailer promises that the action will take place across all Star Wars eras, and features appearances from older characters like Yoda and Darth Maul, as well as newbies Rey and Kylo Ren.

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