Today we're recapping DAY 1 of Celebration Japan 2025!
Star Wars Celebration Japan featured several key reveals, headlined by the announcement of Shawn Levy's new film, Star Wars: Starfighter, starring Ryan Gosling, which begins production this fall for a Memorial Day 2027 release. 1 Attendees also got a first look at The Mandalorian and Grogu, set for a May 2026 theatrical debut. 2 Lucasfilm Animation announced Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord, with Sam Witwer returning. 3 Further announcements included new publishing initiatives (manga, novels, High Republic conclusion), Hasbro figure reveals like Dash Rendar, a LEGO K-2SO set, upcoming game content including a Star Wars Outlaws story pack and a Monopoly GO! collaboration, a new season of Young Jedi Adventures, a trailer for the Star Wars: Beyond Victory mixed reality playset, and the availability of Light & Magic Season 2 on Disney+. News coming through Star Wars Launch Pad as well!
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https://www.youtube.com/@SWLaunchPad
https://open.spotify.com/show/1v0naAAJZMW0nig3OkFToJ?si=8014aef1647f4da5 Found on any platform in the galaxy!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to Star Wars Escape Pod, and another episode of Lightspeed kicking off
(00:28):
the weekend of Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025. This is your news and headlines in under
15 minutes, although because it is Star Wars Celebration weekend, we might actually run
a bit longer on this one. And going forward through the weekend, we're going to be doing
these every day, so that you don't need to watch the stream, which lasts about seven
(00:49):
or eight hours a day. The news headlines are out and about. This is your quick express
way to get everything condensed into a little podcast form. Also, before we get things started,
I also want to mention, we're also going to be putting out Star Wars Launchpad episodes
regarding a lot of this news as well. So stay tuned for those. And if you haven't subscribed
(01:10):
to the experimental AI show that we've been doing, go find Star Wars Launchpad on Spotify
and other places where you find your podcasts. Unfortunately, it is not available on PodBeam.
But it's only because they actually, well, at least I don't think it's available on PodBeam.
But if you find it on there, that's great. It's just we're hosted with a different platform
(01:30):
now. So at least for Launchpad. So look in all the other places for that. Find it on
GoodPods. That's a great place to find podcasts these days. And of course, if you do YouTube
music, a great way to tune into podcasts on that platform as well. So let's get things
started with a bang. Star Wars Celebration Live is available to stream on YouTube on
(01:52):
the official YouTube channels. And things got kicked off with The Chosen One. Hayden
Christensen returned to Star Wars Celebration this year, and everyone wished him a happy
birthday. He had some Star Wars cake, which was fantastic. A couple of new Star Wars films
got reaffirmed by Luke's film. James Mangold, Charmaine, Hobat, Chinoy, and Taika Waititi.
(02:16):
And a new trilogy by Simon Kinberg are also ongoing in development. But the big star of
the show, the big reveal was Ryan Gosling. And Sean Levy came out to announce the upcoming
Star Wars Starfighter movie, which is going to be making its debut on Memorial Day in
(02:36):
two years. Film has started production this year in the fall. So I guess it will start
in production. And recently, Sean Levy, who had directed Deadpool and the Wolverine, he
came out on stage during the Mandalorian and Grogu panel today to do the announcement.
Kathleen Kennedy was there as well with Dave Filoni on stage to confirm his project for
(02:59):
the live audience and several other films, of course, which we mentioned already. The
film Starfighter is set approximately five years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker,
and Ryan Gosling will play a brand new character teased by the actor's appearance on stage. So
yeah, Memorial Day 2027, Star Wars Starfighter, you can look forward to that. That was the big,
(03:23):
the big, big news this weekend. All right, next up, the Mandalorian and Grogu shared a first
look at the beloved duo and a brand new character. And of course, Sigourney Weaver will be joining
the cast as well, who will be playing a character that I believe hires the Mandalorian and Grogu
(03:44):
for some reason or another. And Pedro Pascal joined everybody on stage to talk about that.
He came out on the live stage as well. And it was it was cool to see him talk about it. It's
cool seeing all these celebrities come out on stage because, you know, you get you get a real
close look at their relationship to the project they're working on. And it's always great. I mean,
(04:08):
Ryan Gosling talked about having Star Wars bedsheets as a kid, and they showed a picture
of his bedsheets. So I mean, it's awesome. You know, it's like, where do you get content like
that? Right. I mean, very cool to see. So yeah, always great to hear Pedro talk about his work
as the Mandalorian. And Mandalorian Grogu will be coming to theaters next year, May 22nd. So
(04:30):
that puts it in line one year before Starfighter, both coming out in May. One year, I guess,
for Mandalorian Grogu, two years for Starfighter. And then three years away, we'll probably get
one of the many other projects that they're currently working on with those other creators
like James Mangold or Charmaine or Taika Waititi or Simon Kinberg. One of those will be next up.
(04:55):
And I think they're just hoping that one of those is ready in time for next year to
kind of start talking about it and building the hype so that they can begin marketing on those
particular projects and plan what they're doing ahead. But yeah, in other words, great to hear
more updates on the Mandalorian Grogu. Some footage was shown to audiences in person there,
(05:16):
and you can find this footage on Twitter or X or Blue Sky or whatever. People in the convention
center were able to sneak some footage on their phone. They do have like a no phones permitted
recording kind of policy going on for people who do show up in person. But I always think that's
kind of it's kind of a shame. I guess they do want to make it special for people who do go to
(05:37):
the conventions in person, but it really leaves everyone at home kind of in the dark about things
that people might be talking about on Reddit or online. So, you know, I advise you go and look
that up. I mean, go and look up the sequence that they showed. There's a link floating around
about a sequence Mandalorian breaking into some imperial ship or something like that and
(05:59):
just, you know, just being the most awesome tank that he really is. And it's always great to see
that. So, yeah, go and find that footage. It was it was great to see. And I believe that there was
some footage of Sigourney Weaver, but I couldn't find that. Maybe that's just a rumor, but there
was definitely footage out there and I have seen it or at least some of it. So that was very cool
(06:19):
as well. Grogu joined his friends on stage and the loudest cheers of the day could be heard in
that audience. And so, you know, very, very much of the I guess for the first time almost ever,
a puppet will be starring in a Star Wars movie in the way that he is. I mean, yes, there is CG
versions of Grogu out there, but I mean, realistically, like it is the majority of
(06:43):
the time he is a puppet and it's just mind blowing to see the name of a puppet, I guess,
on the the header of a Star Wars movie. So, you know, you never know what's going to be coming
down the pipe. And that's really cool. So a set photo revealed Dave Filoni grinning as he sits
in the pilot seat of the AT-AT. And there's a quote here from Favreau. Look at Dave, look at
(07:08):
what he does at work. And he gets paid for that, by the way. So there are cracking jokes about that.
They make so they have so much fun making these making these movies. And, you know, I hope John
and Dave have a plan to keep going with other projects together after Mandalorian and Grogu
is out. So, you know, I guess, you know, Ahsoka aside, of course, Favreau is not involved with
(07:28):
that, I don't believe. But, you know, here's hoping, here's hoping that we get more from
the two of them because they make a great duo. All right, next up on the list, phase three of
the High Republic and all the Lucasfilm publishing news from Celebration Japan has been updated here.
So first off, High Republic Adventures, Dark Horse, the Battle of Eriadu is going to be coming out.
(07:52):
You can look forward to that from the award winning writer Alyssa Wong, who wrote Doctor
Aphra. So she's coming into the High Republic doing some stuff. The one shot plays a key role
in the battle to come. We have the finale book that we've all been waiting for from Charles
Soule capping off the High Republic. If you don't remember, Charles Soule was the guy who kicked off
(08:13):
the High Republic with the novel The Light of the Jedi. So he is the guy to close it up. And
the phase three conclusion will be this novel that he's written called Trials of the Jedi.
And I can't believe it's been four years since this whole High Republic initiative sort of began
and is now closing. And it's been quite the chapter for Star Wars in general to be
(08:38):
making stories in this time period and something different, something unique, something new for the
canon. And yeah, it's very, very neat to see it, I guess, coming all to a close. The last piece of
phase three puzzles can be found in the High Republic Fear of the Jedi comic book series.
Cavan Scott returns for the final arc of that with this explosive miniseries, concluding with
(09:00):
a special finale one shot issue called The Beacon. The Acolyte is being revisited in a novel by Tessa
Gratton called The Acolyte, The Crystal Crown, and that's going to be coming out July 29th this year.
The brand new tale is set before the events of the series, which includes Master Soule still
(09:21):
kicking around at that point, as well as Jackie and Yord. So the novel basically features all of
the characters that a lot of us would have missed in a season two or three of The Acolyte if it were
to continue. And seeing as this book has been released after The Acolyte and it is a prequel
to The Acolyte, I imagine maybe, maybe some loose ends could be tied up preemptively before the show
(09:45):
sets in chronologically. So we can hope for big things from The Crystal Crown.
All right. And another thing, Andor, the art of books, if any of you are big fans of those square
art of Star Wars books, they're doing one for Andor, which is the complete series,
both season one and two, and that's going to be fully available in March 2026. So that's coming
(10:10):
out next year. And this is another book by Phil Sawstack. So, yeah, gorgeous art book. Any big
Andor fans are going to probably really love rifling through that book. I don't know if any
of you know, but ILM is celebrating 50 years of innovation this year, 50 years of the company,
(10:32):
not too long after the Lucasfilm 50th anniversary that happened just a few years ago. So there's a
special anniversary book chronicling the decades long journey of the legendary visual effects
house in this retrospective style thing from concept to execution. There's favorite movie
(10:53):
moments brought to life in this book coming out November 4th, 2025. This book looks very nice.
It looks like it's got a sort of gold foiled edge pages with a logo on the front. It's like this red
burgundy fabric over the cover. I imagine this book is probably going to run around 150 or more
dollars. That's just my guess based on what I've seen in that space. But this is definitely for
(11:21):
the collectors out there who are very much behind the scenes, sort of aficionados. This book has
Ian Fale's name on the cover. So I imagine this is the guy who probably put it together,
collecting all these documented behind the scenes images and concept arts and
I guess renderings of 3D models, just anything that you would imagine there to be. And I mean,
(11:46):
ILM has done so much. They've done prop making, they've done miniature building, they've done so
much stuff. And this is going to hit all the past 50 years. They've got their brand new logo slapped
on the front of this book, the new one that's out there floating around, which is a light bulb with
the gear and the star kind of circling in orbit. So that's going to be cool to get and look through.
(12:08):
All right, next up is Dark Horse's Hyperspace Stories series. This is a four issue comic by
Ethan Sachs, who wrote the Star Wars Bounty Hunters series, arrives just in time for the
10 year anniversary of The Force Awakens. So I can't believe it's been 10 years already, but
we got a little look at the upcoming sort of Poe Dameron Hyperspace Stories
(12:33):
story. And that's going to be neat, I guess. I actually surprisingly enjoyed the Poe Dameron
comic book series a lot. I think I got halfway through it, if I remember correctly. I don't
know if I finished the whole thing or not. I'm going to have to take a look at my reading records
and see. But I do remember liking that a lot, even though I'm not, I don't know, most people
(12:54):
know I'm not the biggest fan of the sequels, but the characters in those movies are, you know,
they can be fleshed out really well in some of this literature. And Poe Dameron is one of those
characters. So definitely check those out, I guess, when it comes out. And for those of you who
do like Poe Dameron and forgot that it was a thing, look up those Poe Dameron comics from Marvel,
(13:15):
because those are really great. All right, next series is Legacy of Vader. So traditionally,
anytime a new Star Wars comic series comes out from Marvel, they also sideline it with a Darth
Vader comic book series. They began this years ago with Charles Soule's Darth Vader comic series,
sidelining the Star Wars series that takes place between episode four and five. Fantastic series.
(13:38):
They also prequeled it up with a Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith series that takes place
after episode three. And more recently with their initiative between episode five and six,
they've been doing two series in their one follow up series to Star Wars called Star Wars
between episode five and six. And they sidelined that with another Darth Vader series between
(13:59):
episode five and six as well. Well, now they're moving into the post Return of the Jedi space
with a new Star Wars series taking place after the Battle of Endor and following up to the Battle of
Jakku and continuing after that. So there's obviously no Vader around in this time. And I
guess the only thing that they thought was appropriate to do was maybe they can follow up
(14:21):
Vader with a Legacy of Vader series. So it stars Kylo Ren years later and flashes back very
frequently to the past. And it's about him on this journey, rediscovering or discovering who
his grandfather was as a Sith Lord and his obsession with pursuing that as a career, I guess.
(14:44):
A new Knight of Ren is going to be introduced by the name of Tava Ren. So she's wielding a
red lightsaber of her own. So this could be very interesting stuff. Of course, you know,
she or he or whatever it is doesn't show up until later. But yeah, they're masked and red
flowing hair. And I don't know, maybe it's Mara Jade. Who knows? Right. All right. So yeah, Kylo
(15:08):
Ren seeks to finish what his grandfather started. And this series takes place between the events of
Episode 8 and 9. And very cool to see. Tava is an Order 66 survivor. And that's very interesting.
So I guess we'll see. I guess she's an ex-Jedi who's gone dark. Dark Jedi in the canon. That's
(15:30):
exciting. All right. They revealed a bit more about the upcoming Star Wars Jedi Knight series.
I believe the first issue is already released for this series. But this is going to feature
so many different individual mini chapters or mini storylines of different Jedi. They showcased
covers of Celeron Beck, who is Ahmed Best, the actor who played Jar Jar Binks. They're bringing
(15:52):
Celeron Beck in for an eight issue Marvel series. So that's really cool. They're also doing, I mean,
a variety of other Jedi in some of the covers that they released. I've actually got a screenshot of
them here. There's so many of these things. Let me see. There's one with Yoda on the cover. There's
one with Qui-Gon. There's one with Adi Gallia. I mean, there's going to be a lot
(16:17):
going on in this series. And I feel like this could be an ongoing series of
short mini series, if that makes sense. They've got ones for Mace Windu. They've got ones for
Yoda. They've got ones for Obi-Wan and Dooku and so many other characters. So this could be
very interesting. If any of you haven't checked it out yet, definitely go and take a look.
(16:39):
One more thing is The Art of Mandalorian, Volume 1 and Volume 2. I believe, I think those are out
or maybe they're coming out. The Acolyte is getting a visual guide and also The Wayseeker,
an Acolyte novel, that's coming out as well. I think details have been revealed about those
things, so I'm not going to dwell on those. But just a side mention, those are a thing as well.
(17:04):
We had a first look at a special art book release of Star Wars A New Hope manga. So that's going to
be interesting for any of you who are really into manga. You can read the classic story
in a art book treatment in 2026, next year. Thrawn is getting a manga retelling. This is
(17:26):
the story that has already had a, well, it's a novel first and foremost. And I believe it was
also adapted by Marvel in a miniseries. And now it's getting a manga retelling. And if you really
like the comic book series for Thrawn, then you probably will enjoy the manga a lot. I imagine
(17:47):
the manga will be a little more faithful and probably, I guess, more extensive and longer than
the Marvel series lasted, which compressed an entire novel into four issues long. They've done
that for Thrawn and Thrawn Alliances, the sequel. So if you like that story and you only like
(18:07):
reading comic books, you can read more of the same story and further into detail with this manga
retelling. So yeah, that's pretty exciting stuff. And it's done by Man Seng. All right, Jedi Fallen
Order will be joining the manga adaption lineup. So it looks like they're really going ham on these
manga adaptions. Cal Kestis and the Stinger Mantis crew get a retelling of their own. I'm really
(18:33):
curious about this because, of course, adapting a video game narrative into the pages of a manga,
I guess, it's interesting to see what they'll keep as true canon and what events of the game
they're going to leave out. Of course, when you have the controls as a player to do what you want
in the pace and the order of events that you want, it really does kind of mix things up in
(18:58):
your head a little bit more than maybe the order that's intended to be. So it will be interesting
how they place the events in, I guess, in the book. Get a peek inside Path of the Lightsaber,
which is an illustrated and written manga series by Kenny Ruas. This is, well, heroes and villains
(19:19):
from a tale set in the sequel trilogy era with ties all the way back to the High Republic. So
it's kind of interesting as to what this is. I don't really know what this is exactly, but
I guess it's going to feature a lot of new characters. It's a manga, so it's going to be
pretty wild with its style and such. But it looks, sounds like it's going to be telling stories from
(19:42):
across the galaxy in manga format. We can't forget Adam Christopher's Master of Evil novel. Now,
this is something we talked about in the last episode of Star Wars Escape Pod, where, you know,
we had some announcements pre-celebration. But this is a book that will, it's been confirmed,
will sideline and be told in between the gaps of the Darth Vader Dark Lord of the Sith comic book
(20:06):
series by Charles Soule. And the author, Adam Christopher, has done, well, he's done his
research. He made an entire visual timeline as to where Darth Vader was in this comic book series
that his novel could fit in like a jigsaw puzzle. So that's really, really cool to hear because I
know we had our critiques about the Inquisitor Rise of the Red Blade novel adapting the comic
(20:29):
book moments from that series into its novel and then kind of doing its own thing with it.
And, you know, sometimes, sometimes when they do that, it kind of models things up a little bit.
So I'm looking forward to reading this book because I know that Adam probably did an amazing
job adapting his novel around the events of that comic book series. So you can take a look at the
(20:49):
Sinister Story that comes out November 11th this year. Doug Chang, The Star Wars Legacy. It's,
if any of you know about the Ralph McQuarrie art books out there, they're releasing a Ralph,
I guess, a Doug Chang box set. This covers his time during the prequels. It's a two-volume,
800-page deluxe slipcase edition. This will probably run about $350, $400, something around
(21:14):
there is my guess. They haven't released prices yet, but Doug Chang, very famous from the art
department. He was actually at Celebration as a guest this weekend as well. And he is still at ILM
and working in the art department with ILM and Luke's Film on The Mandalorian and Skeleton Crew
and so many other things. So we get to take a look at some of his art in the older projects.
(21:39):
I don't know exactly how much of Star Wars it's going to cover, whether it's going to be
Phantom Menace all the way through to The Mandalorian or beyond, or maybe just the prequels.
But this is a lot of Doug Chang in here, as well as probably other bits and bobs from the art
department, maybe. But it's going to be really cool to take a look at that, I guess, if anyone
(21:59):
picks that up. This is published by Abrams, by the way. All right. I Find Your Lack of Faith
of Candy Disturbing. This is a Star Wars Halloween kids book from the artist Jeffrey
Brown, who did all those Darth Vader and son and daughter books. So, you know, just a little fun
thing. There is an Art of Acolyte book coming out as well. For any fans of those art books,
(22:23):
again, those square ones, you get an Acolyte one coming out October 7th, 2025 this year.
So that's very cool. Get an inside look at all the all the things, all the props, all the
concept art, all the costumes, everything, everything there is. Oh, sorry, that's Acolyte,
the visual guide. I'm mixing the two up. So there is an art book. There's also Acolyte,
(22:45):
the visual guide. And that comes out June 17th this year or June 5th in the UK.
All right. Next up, Star Wars, the blueprints. We're getting a whole new updated Star Wars
blueprints book. They did one of these before and now they've updated it all the way through
episode nine. This is from Pablo Hidalgo and J.W. Rinsler. These are blueprints for set pieces,
(23:08):
for props, for costumes. I mean, I guess mostly structural things. They've got so much in here
when it comes to blueprints for just sets and everything like that. I mean, it's pretty nuts.
It's pretty nuts. I mean, technically, theoretically, if you bought this book,
you could make this entire set all over again. I mean, these are the blueprints from the from the
(23:29):
set. So that's pretty neat. So it's updated with all the latest and greatest. And this will be
available on October 7th, 2025 or October 2nd in the UK. All right. And finally, Women of the
Galaxy celebrate Andor's Bix Kalina and Dedra Miro and more. Newly updated edition of that book
that already has been released a while ago. It's called Women of the Galaxy, celebrates new
(23:54):
characters, including the characters from Andor, the Bad Batch, Mandalorian, High Republic, Ahsoka
and more. So that comes out April 29th this year. I believe that is everything. If there's a few
more things I missed, I will go over that in a bit. Light and Magic season two was unveiled at
(24:14):
Star Wars Celebration Japan. That is available on Disney Plus right now. They had an entire panel
dedicated just to this show. There was so much going on with Light and Magic. I mean, this is
a pretty special show when it comes to a behind the scenes look at the renowned company. And they
had John Noel Ahmed best present. Doug Cheng was there and a few others. The panel was hosted by
(24:40):
Sam Witwer. And tonight, I mean, right now you can stream season two on Disney Plus. There's
new footage of George Lucas in there. There's footage of Ron Howard, James Cameron, so many
directors and creators that have used the company. And the director of this series is none other than
Joe Johnston, who directed Jurassic Park 3 and a few other things. So that's very cool as well.
(25:06):
They also greeted the audience of the panel in person. Well, not in person, but on a video
that they played back for the audience. So that was very cool. Season two picks up in the mid 90s
after ILM's work on Jurassic Park, which ushered in massive changes in the VFX industry and the
art form. So it's going to cover the prequels, Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean,
(25:32):
the later Jurassic Park movies, and more. So that's going to be very, very cool to see.
And, you know, also very appropriate that season two comes out to celebrate the 50th anniversary
of the company. So that's great. So big congratulations to the company and everyone
working over there. Big respect to all of you. And, you know, especially for those of you who
(25:57):
have been with that company for as long as you have been, like 20, 30 years. Just wow. I mean,
that's awesome. All right. A new animated series is coming out called Star Wars Mall Shadow Lord,
The Former Sith Returns. For the 20th anniversary of Luke's film animation panel that they had at
(26:18):
Star Wars Celebration, Sam Witwer took the stage to reveal his return to the galaxy as the star of
the next animated series. And this is a series that will follow up the events of the Clone Wars
as Maul tries to get a grip of things in the changing galaxy under the rule of the Empire
and his old Sith Master, Darth Sidious. So we're going to be looking forward to that show, which
(26:43):
debuts on Disney Plus next year in 2026. Fans attending the panel in person got an early look
at the series, new animation style with an in-room only sizzle reel that they played. You can find
the Lucasfilm 20th anniversary video on their YouTube channel. And I believe the very last shot
of that sizzle reel does feature footage from that sizzle reel of the new show. The logo is floating
(27:08):
around out there and there's rumors that Darth Talon could make an appearance in this series as
they adapt unused ideas of George Lucas as well. And we all know that Dave Filoni is such a big fan
of doing that to respect and honor George Lucas. So I've got a little clip here from the event
that I just had to share with all of you.
(27:33):
But through all walks of life, people found some kind of common energy in the clones.
And, you know, no more so than when George said, we're going to make this Bad Batch group and
they're going to be very different. And we didn't know what people would think of that. And one of
the reasons why we did the Bad Batch, too, was that George, that was one of the ideas that he
had had when we were still working together, was let's do a Bad Batch spinoff and continue
(27:57):
with the clones that way. And so, you know, I loved working with George and I always try to
honor that, what he wanted. It's important to me.
Give it up for George Lucas.
Just such a touching testimony from Dave Filoni there at that event. And that was really special
(28:21):
to hear. So I just had to share that with all of you. Very cool. Very cool stuff. And looking
forward to it. I know everyone's got to be looking forward to that series and Sam Witwer knows his
stuff. So, you know, that's going to be very, very exciting. Young Jedi Adventures Season 3
comes out on Disney Plus this fall. I actually thought that this show was canceled, but maybe
(28:41):
I'm mistaken. It could be the last season. I'm not entirely sure, but it sounds like it will be
this year in the fall that Season 3 makes its debut. They also did say something about the
Star Wars Kids YouTube channel. Now it's going to be playing a lot of content free on their
YouTube channel. So you can catch the Clone Wars movie, the Clone Wars TV show and so many other
(29:06):
things happening, streaming constantly 24-7 on Star Wars Kids, which is going to be accessible
for free to anybody on YouTube. So that's really cool. Star Wars Celebration attendees, welcome to
NUBS to the Celebration live stage, which was really funny to hear crickets in the audience
as nobody recognized or knew what this guy was. And I had a good laugh at that, but they tried to
(29:32):
get the crowd amped up about NUBS and kind of failed, but it was funny. And they brought him
out to make an announcement about this kids section at the convention that was happening
and NUBS is going to be there, you know, getting, doing signatures and giving out hugs and whatnot.
(29:54):
So I guess that's cool. For any kids who are big fans of Young Jedi Adventures,
Season 3 comes out for you this fall. Beyond Victory, a mixed reality play set from ILM
zooms into Star Wars Celebration, which is a mixed reality game that ILMxLABS has done.
This is the fifth one that they've made now. If you don't count the other experiments they've done,
(30:19):
paid for experiences, that is, they've done three Vader Immortal chapters, which have all been
fantastic. They also did a RPG style first person game that you can play through called Tales from
the Galaxy's Edge. That was a bit of a lengthier game to get through, and that was awesome.
So this one is called Beyond Victory and it is a pod race style game set around the time of Solo,
(30:43):
a Star Wars story. It features an electrifying story and a variety of unique modes for the
player to enjoy. It's currently in development for Quest headsets and fans in Tokyo are among
the first to experience it at Star Wars Celebration. You can preview the game there.
So that's very cool. Attendees find themselves in the boots of young Volo Bolas, a pod racer
(31:05):
desperate to make a name for themselves. Luda, Sebalba's business partner, has a proposition for
Volo and they're eager to accept. But do they really know what they're getting into? So there's
a bit of a sizzle reel trailer for all the meta VR experiences that ILMxLABS has done so far,
and it's kind of cool. You're in control of a pod racer as it zips through canyons and races past
(31:29):
obstacles in a pod race track. Luda and Sebalba are in your ear offering tips, suggestions,
and occasional insults. You'll get a crash course in pod racing unlike any other, and the experience
will offer three distinct modes for fans to enjoy. Adventure, Arcade, and Placeit. So Adventure is
(31:50):
using a combination of virtual and mixed reality storylines that follow Volo as an aspiring pod
racer who gets flipped upside down under the mentorship of the infamous Sebalba. Arcade mode
experiences the thrill of pod racing in a mixed reality on a virtual holotable that brings players
right into the heart of the action like never before. So it's a bit like playing Mario Kart
(32:11):
in 3D in mixed reality in your living room on your coffee room table kind of thing. It's interesting.
And the Placeit version transforms the physical world around you and create your very own
incredible Star Wars moments in mixed reality with a collection of unlockable
virtual action figures and vehicles. So you can test this out only as celebration. And if you go
(32:33):
to the booth that you can try this out, I believe they're giving away comic books which is a one-shot
story called Star Wars Beyond Victory. And I believe that story is a prequel which is set
before the events of the game. And it says that it's available only as a giveaway at the ILM Meta
(32:54):
booth during Celebration Japan. So you can get a first look at this cover. You can find the cover
online and it's written by Ethan Sachs with interior illustrations by Will Slinney, Steve
Cummings, and Shogo Oki. So that's really cool as well. I imagine those are going to go for
a pretty hot price once the celebration is over unless they do decide to sell it in comic book
(33:18):
stores. So for any of you who are over there listening to us, shoot us an email and let us
know if you get your hands on a copy because if you mail one in to us, that'd be super cool of you.
All right, that's Beyond Victory. And any of you who don't have a VR headset out there,
the time is coming in which there's a lot more out there to experience VR in such a great way.
(33:45):
There's already five experiences out there or four experiences out there and soon to be five.
So definitely consider picking one up at some point. Really cool stuff.
A wicked new 20th anniversary Lucasfilm animation poster was released out there to the internet.
So you can find that as well. Very, very cool stuff. Ashley Eckstein revealed a collaboration
(34:08):
between Star Wars and I think it was Monopoly Go, which is an app that you can play Monopoly.
And there's going to be a Star Wars-ified edition. So that's kind of cool. They had
reveals from Hasbro's panel, Black Series Nightsister Marin is getting a figure as well
as Cal Kestis and the leader of the Stinger crew. Han Solo as well, classic figure. Chewbacca
(34:37):
as well as Dash Rendar. So shout out to our buddy out there who loves Dash Rendar. Phil,
this is for you. So legends of fans rejoice as Dash Rendar gets a Black Series figure.
Now I think this is the six inch, but I could be wrong. This could be three and three quarter.
(34:59):
They've got so many more coming our way. Cobb, Vanth, Tusken Ridder on a Bantha,
Moff Gideon in Dark Trooper armor. They've got a rocket launcher Stormtrooper.
They've got another version of Marin, I think. They've got crosshair. They've got so much stuff.
So those are all the ones that I've got a little picture of. You can find more details on StarWars.com.
(35:24):
All right. Star Wars Celebration Japan, the anime and manga pavilion celebrates the collaboration.
There was a pavilion at Star Wars Celebration that had a big sort of display of art from
everything from, I guess, Star Wars Visions characters and shorts to some of the ongoing
(35:45):
manga projects that they have in store for fans. And there was a number of things that actually,
there was actually a Star Wars Visions booth there, which they had some of the original
maquettes and dolls and set pieces that they used to film some of the toys for those shorts.
If anyone's familiar with Claymation, they had some of those characters there as well.
(36:07):
And they had full recreated some of the props from some of those projects to see in life-size
form. So that's really cool that people were able to experience that. And you can read more about
the anime and manga pavilion on StarWars.com. All right. There's nothing vague and unconvincing
about the all new K-2SO security droid Lego set that they announced at Star Wars Celebration.
(36:31):
This goes alongside some of the previous announcements that they've made, which we
talked about in the last episode, which are the May 4th releases. So check out our previous Star
Wars Escape pod episode for those details, because I won't get into that. But they did release the
announcement of K-2SO coming as a giant buildable character. And alongside that, you get a plaque
(36:53):
because it is technically, I guess, a UCS figure or a plaqued figure, whatever you want to call
that collection. And it does come with a minifigure of K-2SO as well, which is one of the few sets
that you can get a minifigure of K-2SO these days. Star Wars Outlaws A Pirate's Fortune is
dropping on May 15th. This is the second DLC package that they have released, and it does
(37:15):
feature Hondo Onaka. There is a preview and a video that you can play on YouTube, which
dives into the story of that. I'm not going to play it right now just because we're way over time.
But this is suggested for purchase at retail price of $15. So if anyone did get their value
out of Star Wars Outlaws, that DLC will be coming soon. The deluxe owners also received
(37:40):
the Naboo Nobility and Desert Nomad cosmetic packs, as well as the Ultimate buyers as well.
So that's very neat. They've also, the fan at Ubisoft, I mean, there's fans at Ubisoft of Star
Wars Skeleton Crew, and they threw in some little bits and bobs from that show as cosmetics as well,
which after downloading, installing the updates, you will get those as a delivery crate
(38:04):
on the Trailblazer. So if any of you haven't played Star Wars Outlaws,
you know, time to check it out. They did also announce as well that it will be coming to Switch
2 later this year in September, I think it was. That's Star Wars Outlaws, that is. So if any of
you are buying that very overpriced console, then you can look forward to a overpriced game.
(38:30):
All right. Let's see. One more thing here, I believe. Is that it? No, that is it. The last
things to note were just some very special appearances on the Celebration Live stage.
Linwin Brennan from the ILM Lux film, Vanessa Marshall. They had multiple Japanese anime
(38:53):
creators come out on stage as well. They had Janet Lewin from ILM come out to talk about
50 Years at the Company. The Lux film animation panel did reveal a sequence from the Unmade
Boba Fett and Cad Bane Clone Wars arc. So you can find that footage floating around on the internet
(39:13):
as well. And that was just it was a chase scene that Anakin is chasing down Boba Fett and Boba
Fett is in his green armor at this point. This is the arc that we've talked about many times in the
past, but they just showed more footage of that arc at the convention because they have a tradition
of doing that now at Star Wars Celebration. So that was cool to see as well. They had Ahmed
(39:37):
Best out on stage with Rob Coleman. Rob Coleman's an animation legend from ILM who worked on the
prequels. Ahmed Best, of course, as you know, Jar Jar Binks and Keller and Beck and pioneer of
motion capture as well. So big respect for those guys. They had Jon Favreau and Sigourney Weaver
come out. Pedro Pascal and Dave Filoni, Ryan Gosling, Sean Levy, Hayden Christensen, and my
(40:04):
goodness, so many more. So I believe that's everything that comes to mind. Oh, and Sam
Whitwer, of course, naturally. All right. That's everything that comes to mind. Day one concluded
with the Wilbro Hood Group coming out on stage, slinging their ice cream buckets and ready for
their their run on day two, I believe, which comes out on YouTube as a live stream to watch
(40:28):
at 6 p.m. PST, one hour earlier than yesterday's live stream. So you can tune in day two.
Right. Well, I guess right now, very, very soon on on the YouTube stream. So stay tuned for that
and stay tuned for our day two recap and day three recap over the weekend. So lots coming at you.
(40:50):
We're also going to follow up next week with a just a sit down, a roundtable kind of discussion
of all these headlines and just I mean, not absolutely everything. We're going to pick the
best of the highlights and things, the big things to talk about. But we're going to get a sit down
going when this weekend is over and really just kind of get into the nitty gritty of the details
and talk about what we what we think about these things. So these are all the headlines for you.
(41:14):
Day one. That is all. May the force be with you guys. We'll see you in the next one.
Star Wars Escape Pod signing off.
Welcome back to Star Wars Escape Pod, and another episode of Lightspeed kicking off
(00:28):
the weekend of Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025. This is your news and headlines in under
15 minutes, although because it is Star Wars Celebration weekend, we might actually run
a bit longer on this one. And going forward through the weekend, we're going to be doing
these every day, so that you don't need to watch the stream, which lasts about seven
(00:49):
or eight hours a day. The news headlines are out and about. This is your quick express
way to get everything condensed into a little podcast form. Also, before we get things started,
I also want to mention, we're also going to be putting out Star Wars Launchpad episodes
regarding a lot of this news as well. So stay tuned for those. And if you haven't subscribed
(01:10):
to the experimental AI show that we've been doing, go find Star Wars Launchpad on Spotify
and other places where you find your podcasts. Unfortunately, it is not available on PodBeam.
But it's only because they actually, well, at least I don't think it's available on PodBeam.
But if you find it on there, that's great. It's just we're hosted with a different platform
(01:30):
now. So at least for Launchpad. So look in all the other places for that. Find it on
GoodPods. That's a great place to find podcasts these days. And of course, if you do YouTube
music, a great way to tune into podcasts on that platform as well. So let's get things
started with a bang. Star Wars Celebration Live is available to stream on YouTube on
(01:52):
the official YouTube channels. And things got kicked off with The Chosen One. Hayden
Christensen returned to Star Wars Celebration this year, and everyone wished him a happy
birthday. He had some Star Wars cake, which was fantastic. A couple of new Star Wars films
got reaffirmed by Luke's film. James Mangold, Charmaine, Hobat, Chinoy, and Taika Waititi.
(02:16):
And a new trilogy by Simon Kinberg are also ongoing in development. But the big star of
the show, the big reveal was Ryan Gosling. And Sean Levy came out to announce the upcoming
Star Wars Starfighter movie, which is going to be making its debut on Memorial Day in
(02:36):
two years. Film has started production this year in the fall. So I guess it will start
in production. And recently, Sean Levy, who had directed Deadpool and the Wolverine, he
came out on stage during the Mandalorian and Grogu panel today to do the announcement.
Kathleen Kennedy was there as well with Dave Filoni on stage to confirm his project for
(02:59):
the live audience and several other films, of course, which we mentioned already. The
film Starfighter is set approximately five years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker,
and Ryan Gosling will play a brand new character teased by the actor's appearance on stage. So
yeah, Memorial Day 2027, Star Wars Starfighter, you can look forward to that. That was the big,
(03:23):
the big, big news this weekend. All right, next up, the Mandalorian and Grogu shared a first
look at the beloved duo and a brand new character. And of course, Sigourney Weaver will be joining
the cast as well, who will be playing a character that I believe hires the Mandalorian and Grogu
(03:44):
for some reason or another. And Pedro Pascal joined everybody on stage to talk about that.
He came out on the live stage as well. And it was it was cool to see him talk about it. It's
cool seeing all these celebrities come out on stage because, you know, you get you get a real
close look at their relationship to the project they're working on. And it's always great. I mean,
(04:08):
Ryan Gosling talked about having Star Wars bedsheets as a kid, and they showed a picture
of his bedsheets. So I mean, it's awesome. You know, it's like, where do you get content like
that? Right. I mean, very cool to see. So yeah, always great to hear Pedro talk about his work
as the Mandalorian. And Mandalorian Grogu will be coming to theaters next year, May 22nd. So
(04:30):
that puts it in line one year before Starfighter, both coming out in May. One year, I guess,
for Mandalorian Grogu, two years for Starfighter. And then three years away, we'll probably get
one of the many other projects that they're currently working on with those other creators
like James Mangold or Charmaine or Taika Waititi or Simon Kinberg. One of those will be next up.
(04:55):
And I think they're just hoping that one of those is ready in time for next year to
kind of start talking about it and building the hype so that they can begin marketing on those
particular projects and plan what they're doing ahead. But yeah, in other words, great to hear
more updates on the Mandalorian Grogu. Some footage was shown to audiences in person there,
(05:16):
and you can find this footage on Twitter or X or Blue Sky or whatever. People in the convention
center were able to sneak some footage on their phone. They do have like a no phones permitted
recording kind of policy going on for people who do show up in person. But I always think that's
kind of it's kind of a shame. I guess they do want to make it special for people who do go to
(05:37):
the conventions in person, but it really leaves everyone at home kind of in the dark about things
that people might be talking about on Reddit or online. So, you know, I advise you go and look
that up. I mean, go and look up the sequence that they showed. There's a link floating around
about a sequence Mandalorian breaking into some imperial ship or something like that and
(05:59):
just, you know, just being the most awesome tank that he really is. And it's always great to see
that. So, yeah, go and find that footage. It was it was great to see. And I believe that there was
some footage of Sigourney Weaver, but I couldn't find that. Maybe that's just a rumor, but there
was definitely footage out there and I have seen it or at least some of it. So that was very cool
(06:19):
as well. Grogu joined his friends on stage and the loudest cheers of the day could be heard in
that audience. And so, you know, very, very much of the I guess for the first time almost ever,
a puppet will be starring in a Star Wars movie in the way that he is. I mean, yes, there is CG
versions of Grogu out there, but I mean, realistically, like it is the majority of
(06:43):
the time he is a puppet and it's just mind blowing to see the name of a puppet, I guess,
on the the header of a Star Wars movie. So, you know, you never know what's going to be coming
down the pipe. And that's really cool. So a set photo revealed Dave Filoni grinning as he sits
in the pilot seat of the AT-AT. And there's a quote here from Favreau. Look at Dave, look at
(07:08):
what he does at work. And he gets paid for that, by the way. So there are cracking jokes about that.
They make so they have so much fun making these making these movies. And, you know, I hope John
and Dave have a plan to keep going with other projects together after Mandalorian and Grogu
is out. So, you know, I guess, you know, Ahsoka aside, of course, Favreau is not involved with
(07:28):
that, I don't believe. But, you know, here's hoping, here's hoping that we get more from
the two of them because they make a great duo. All right, next up on the list, phase three of
the High Republic and all the Lucasfilm publishing news from Celebration Japan has been updated here.
So first off, High Republic Adventures, Dark Horse, the Battle of Eriadu is going to be coming out.
(07:52):
You can look forward to that from the award winning writer Alyssa Wong, who wrote Doctor
Aphra. So she's coming into the High Republic doing some stuff. The one shot plays a key role
in the battle to come. We have the finale book that we've all been waiting for from Charles
Soule capping off the High Republic. If you don't remember, Charles Soule was the guy who kicked off
(08:13):
the High Republic with the novel The Light of the Jedi. So he is the guy to close it up. And
the phase three conclusion will be this novel that he's written called Trials of the Jedi.
And I can't believe it's been four years since this whole High Republic initiative sort of began
and is now closing. And it's been quite the chapter for Star Wars in general to be
(08:38):
making stories in this time period and something different, something unique, something new for the
canon. And yeah, it's very, very neat to see it, I guess, coming all to a close. The last piece of
phase three puzzles can be found in the High Republic Fear of the Jedi comic book series.
Cavan Scott returns for the final arc of that with this explosive miniseries, concluding with
(09:00):
a special finale one shot issue called The Beacon. The Acolyte is being revisited in a novel by Tessa
Gratton called The Acolyte, The Crystal Crown, and that's going to be coming out July 29th this year.
The brand new tale is set before the events of the series, which includes Master Soule still
(09:21):
kicking around at that point, as well as Jackie and Yord. So the novel basically features all of
the characters that a lot of us would have missed in a season two or three of The Acolyte if it were
to continue. And seeing as this book has been released after The Acolyte and it is a prequel
to The Acolyte, I imagine maybe, maybe some loose ends could be tied up preemptively before the show
(09:45):
sets in chronologically. So we can hope for big things from The Crystal Crown.
All right. And another thing, Andor, the art of books, if any of you are big fans of those square
art of Star Wars books, they're doing one for Andor, which is the complete series,
both season one and two, and that's going to be fully available in March 2026. So that's coming
(10:10):
out next year. And this is another book by Phil Sawstack. So, yeah, gorgeous art book. Any big
Andor fans are going to probably really love rifling through that book. I don't know if any
of you know, but ILM is celebrating 50 years of innovation this year, 50 years of the company,
(10:32):
not too long after the Lucasfilm 50th anniversary that happened just a few years ago. So there's a
special anniversary book chronicling the decades long journey of the legendary visual effects
house in this retrospective style thing from concept to execution. There's favorite movie
(10:53):
moments brought to life in this book coming out November 4th, 2025. This book looks very nice.
It looks like it's got a sort of gold foiled edge pages with a logo on the front. It's like this red
burgundy fabric over the cover. I imagine this book is probably going to run around 150 or more
dollars. That's just my guess based on what I've seen in that space. But this is definitely for
(11:21):
the collectors out there who are very much behind the scenes, sort of aficionados. This book has
Ian Fale's name on the cover. So I imagine this is the guy who probably put it together,
collecting all these documented behind the scenes images and concept arts and
I guess renderings of 3D models, just anything that you would imagine there to be. And I mean,
(11:46):
ILM has done so much. They've done prop making, they've done miniature building, they've done so
much stuff. And this is going to hit all the past 50 years. They've got their brand new logo slapped
on the front of this book, the new one that's out there floating around, which is a light bulb with
the gear and the star kind of circling in orbit. So that's going to be cool to get and look through.
(12:08):
All right, next up is Dark Horse's Hyperspace Stories series. This is a four issue comic by
Ethan Sachs, who wrote the Star Wars Bounty Hunters series, arrives just in time for the
10 year anniversary of The Force Awakens. So I can't believe it's been 10 years already, but
we got a little look at the upcoming sort of Poe Dameron Hyperspace Stories
(12:33):
story. And that's going to be neat, I guess. I actually surprisingly enjoyed the Poe Dameron
comic book series a lot. I think I got halfway through it, if I remember correctly. I don't
know if I finished the whole thing or not. I'm going to have to take a look at my reading records
and see. But I do remember liking that a lot, even though I'm not, I don't know, most people
(12:54):
know I'm not the biggest fan of the sequels, but the characters in those movies are, you know,
they can be fleshed out really well in some of this literature. And Poe Dameron is one of those
characters. So definitely check those out, I guess, when it comes out. And for those of you who
do like Poe Dameron and forgot that it was a thing, look up those Poe Dameron comics from Marvel,
(13:15):
because those are really great. All right, next series is Legacy of Vader. So traditionally,
anytime a new Star Wars comic series comes out from Marvel, they also sideline it with a Darth
Vader comic book series. They began this years ago with Charles Soule's Darth Vader comic series,
sidelining the Star Wars series that takes place between episode four and five. Fantastic series.
(13:38):
They also prequeled it up with a Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith series that takes place
after episode three. And more recently with their initiative between episode five and six,
they've been doing two series in their one follow up series to Star Wars called Star Wars
between episode five and six. And they sidelined that with another Darth Vader series between
(13:59):
episode five and six as well. Well, now they're moving into the post Return of the Jedi space
with a new Star Wars series taking place after the Battle of Endor and following up to the Battle of
Jakku and continuing after that. So there's obviously no Vader around in this time. And I
guess the only thing that they thought was appropriate to do was maybe they can follow up
(14:21):
Vader with a Legacy of Vader series. So it stars Kylo Ren years later and flashes back very
frequently to the past. And it's about him on this journey, rediscovering or discovering who
his grandfather was as a Sith Lord and his obsession with pursuing that as a career, I guess.
(14:44):
A new Knight of Ren is going to be introduced by the name of Tava Ren. So she's wielding a
red lightsaber of her own. So this could be very interesting stuff. Of course, you know,
she or he or whatever it is doesn't show up until later. But yeah, they're masked and red
flowing hair. And I don't know, maybe it's Mara Jade. Who knows? Right. All right. So yeah, Kylo
(15:08):
Ren seeks to finish what his grandfather started. And this series takes place between the events of
Episode 8 and 9. And very cool to see. Tava is an Order 66 survivor. And that's very interesting.
So I guess we'll see. I guess she's an ex-Jedi who's gone dark. Dark Jedi in the canon. That's
(15:30):
exciting. All right. They revealed a bit more about the upcoming Star Wars Jedi Knight series.
I believe the first issue is already released for this series. But this is going to feature
so many different individual mini chapters or mini storylines of different Jedi. They showcased
covers of Celeron Beck, who is Ahmed Best, the actor who played Jar Jar Binks. They're bringing
(15:52):
Celeron Beck in for an eight issue Marvel series. So that's really cool. They're also doing, I mean,
a variety of other Jedi in some of the covers that they released. I've actually got a screenshot of
them here. There's so many of these things. Let me see. There's one with Yoda on the cover. There's
one with Qui-Gon. There's one with Adi Gallia. I mean, there's going to be a lot
(16:17):
going on in this series. And I feel like this could be an ongoing series of
short mini series, if that makes sense. They've got ones for Mace Windu. They've got ones for
Yoda. They've got ones for Obi-Wan and Dooku and so many other characters. So this could be
very interesting. If any of you haven't checked it out yet, definitely go and take a look.
(16:39):
One more thing is The Art of Mandalorian, Volume 1 and Volume 2. I believe, I think those are out
or maybe they're coming out. The Acolyte is getting a visual guide and also The Wayseeker,
an Acolyte novel, that's coming out as well. I think details have been revealed about those
things, so I'm not going to dwell on those. But just a side mention, those are a thing as well.
(17:04):
We had a first look at a special art book release of Star Wars A New Hope manga. So that's going to
be interesting for any of you who are really into manga. You can read the classic story
in a art book treatment in 2026, next year. Thrawn is getting a manga retelling. This is
(17:26):
the story that has already had a, well, it's a novel first and foremost. And I believe it was
also adapted by Marvel in a miniseries. And now it's getting a manga retelling. And if you really
like the comic book series for Thrawn, then you probably will enjoy the manga a lot. I imagine
(17:47):
the manga will be a little more faithful and probably, I guess, more extensive and longer than
the Marvel series lasted, which compressed an entire novel into four issues long. They've done
that for Thrawn and Thrawn Alliances, the sequel. So if you like that story and you only like
(18:07):
reading comic books, you can read more of the same story and further into detail with this manga
retelling. So yeah, that's pretty exciting stuff. And it's done by Man Seng. All right, Jedi Fallen
Order will be joining the manga adaption lineup. So it looks like they're really going ham on these
manga adaptions. Cal Kestis and the Stinger Mantis crew get a retelling of their own. I'm really
(18:33):
curious about this because, of course, adapting a video game narrative into the pages of a manga,
I guess, it's interesting to see what they'll keep as true canon and what events of the game
they're going to leave out. Of course, when you have the controls as a player to do what you want
in the pace and the order of events that you want, it really does kind of mix things up in
(18:58):
your head a little bit more than maybe the order that's intended to be. So it will be interesting
how they place the events in, I guess, in the book. Get a peek inside Path of the Lightsaber,
which is an illustrated and written manga series by Kenny Ruas. This is, well, heroes and villains
(19:19):
from a tale set in the sequel trilogy era with ties all the way back to the High Republic. So
it's kind of interesting as to what this is. I don't really know what this is exactly, but
I guess it's going to feature a lot of new characters. It's a manga, so it's going to be
pretty wild with its style and such. But it looks, sounds like it's going to be telling stories from
(19:42):
across the galaxy in manga format. We can't forget Adam Christopher's Master of Evil novel. Now,
this is something we talked about in the last episode of Star Wars Escape Pod, where, you know,
we had some announcements pre-celebration. But this is a book that will, it's been confirmed,
will sideline and be told in between the gaps of the Darth Vader Dark Lord of the Sith comic book
(20:06):
series by Charles Soule. And the author, Adam Christopher, has done, well, he's done his
research. He made an entire visual timeline as to where Darth Vader was in this comic book series
that his novel could fit in like a jigsaw puzzle. So that's really, really cool to hear because I
know we had our critiques about the Inquisitor Rise of the Red Blade novel adapting the comic
(20:29):
book moments from that series into its novel and then kind of doing its own thing with it.
And, you know, sometimes, sometimes when they do that, it kind of models things up a little bit.
So I'm looking forward to reading this book because I know that Adam probably did an amazing
job adapting his novel around the events of that comic book series. So you can take a look at the
(20:49):
Sinister Story that comes out November 11th this year. Doug Chang, The Star Wars Legacy. It's,
if any of you know about the Ralph McQuarrie art books out there, they're releasing a Ralph,
I guess, a Doug Chang box set. This covers his time during the prequels. It's a two-volume,
800-page deluxe slipcase edition. This will probably run about $350, $400, something around
(21:14):
there is my guess. They haven't released prices yet, but Doug Chang, very famous from the art
department. He was actually at Celebration as a guest this weekend as well. And he is still at ILM
and working in the art department with ILM and Luke's Film on The Mandalorian and Skeleton Crew
and so many other things. So we get to take a look at some of his art in the older projects.
(21:39):
I don't know exactly how much of Star Wars it's going to cover, whether it's going to be
Phantom Menace all the way through to The Mandalorian or beyond, or maybe just the prequels.
But this is a lot of Doug Chang in here, as well as probably other bits and bobs from the art
department, maybe. But it's going to be really cool to take a look at that, I guess, if anyone
(21:59):
picks that up. This is published by Abrams, by the way. All right. I Find Your Lack of Faith
of Candy Disturbing. This is a Star Wars Halloween kids book from the artist Jeffrey
Brown, who did all those Darth Vader and son and daughter books. So, you know, just a little fun
thing. There is an Art of Acolyte book coming out as well. For any fans of those art books,
(22:23):
again, those square ones, you get an Acolyte one coming out October 7th, 2025 this year.
So that's very cool. Get an inside look at all the all the things, all the props, all the
concept art, all the costumes, everything, everything there is. Oh, sorry, that's Acolyte,
the visual guide. I'm mixing the two up. So there is an art book. There's also Acolyte,
(22:45):
the visual guide. And that comes out June 17th this year or June 5th in the UK.
All right. Next up, Star Wars, the blueprints. We're getting a whole new updated Star Wars
blueprints book. They did one of these before and now they've updated it all the way through
episode nine. This is from Pablo Hidalgo and J.W. Rinsler. These are blueprints for set pieces,
(23:08):
for props, for costumes. I mean, I guess mostly structural things. They've got so much in here
when it comes to blueprints for just sets and everything like that. I mean, it's pretty nuts.
It's pretty nuts. I mean, technically, theoretically, if you bought this book,
you could make this entire set all over again. I mean, these are the blueprints from the from the
(23:29):
set. So that's pretty neat. So it's updated with all the latest and greatest. And this will be
available on October 7th, 2025 or October 2nd in the UK. All right. And finally, Women of the
Galaxy celebrate Andor's Bix Kalina and Dedra Miro and more. Newly updated edition of that book
that already has been released a while ago. It's called Women of the Galaxy, celebrates new
(23:54):
characters, including the characters from Andor, the Bad Batch, Mandalorian, High Republic, Ahsoka
and more. So that comes out April 29th this year. I believe that is everything. If there's a few
more things I missed, I will go over that in a bit. Light and Magic season two was unveiled at
(24:14):
Star Wars Celebration Japan. That is available on Disney Plus right now. They had an entire panel
dedicated just to this show. There was so much going on with Light and Magic. I mean, this is
a pretty special show when it comes to a behind the scenes look at the renowned company. And they
had John Noel Ahmed best present. Doug Cheng was there and a few others. The panel was hosted by
(24:40):
Sam Witwer. And tonight, I mean, right now you can stream season two on Disney Plus. There's
new footage of George Lucas in there. There's footage of Ron Howard, James Cameron, so many
directors and creators that have used the company. And the director of this series is none other than
Joe Johnston, who directed Jurassic Park 3 and a few other things. So that's very cool as well.
(25:06):
They also greeted the audience of the panel in person. Well, not in person, but on a video
that they played back for the audience. So that was very cool. Season two picks up in the mid 90s
after ILM's work on Jurassic Park, which ushered in massive changes in the VFX industry and the
art form. So it's going to cover the prequels, Dead Man's Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean,
(25:32):
the later Jurassic Park movies, and more. So that's going to be very, very cool to see.
And, you know, also very appropriate that season two comes out to celebrate the 50th anniversary
of the company. So that's great. So big congratulations to the company and everyone
working over there. Big respect to all of you. And, you know, especially for those of you who
(25:57):
have been with that company for as long as you have been, like 20, 30 years. Just wow. I mean,
that's awesome. All right. A new animated series is coming out called Star Wars Mall Shadow Lord,
The Former Sith Returns. For the 20th anniversary of Luke's film animation panel that they had at
(26:18):
Star Wars Celebration, Sam Witwer took the stage to reveal his return to the galaxy as the star of
the next animated series. And this is a series that will follow up the events of the Clone Wars
as Maul tries to get a grip of things in the changing galaxy under the rule of the Empire
and his old Sith Master, Darth Sidious. So we're going to be looking forward to that show, which
(26:43):
debuts on Disney Plus next year in 2026. Fans attending the panel in person got an early look
at the series, new animation style with an in-room only sizzle reel that they played. You can find
the Lucasfilm 20th anniversary video on their YouTube channel. And I believe the very last shot
of that sizzle reel does feature footage from that sizzle reel of the new show. The logo is floating
(27:08):
around out there and there's rumors that Darth Talon could make an appearance in this series as
they adapt unused ideas of George Lucas as well. And we all know that Dave Filoni is such a big fan
of doing that to respect and honor George Lucas. So I've got a little clip here from the event
that I just had to share with all of you.
(27:33):
But through all walks of life, people found some kind of common energy in the clones.
And, you know, no more so than when George said, we're going to make this Bad Batch group and
they're going to be very different. And we didn't know what people would think of that. And one of
the reasons why we did the Bad Batch, too, was that George, that was one of the ideas that he
had had when we were still working together, was let's do a Bad Batch spinoff and continue
(27:57):
with the clones that way. And so, you know, I loved working with George and I always try to
honor that, what he wanted. It's important to me.
Give it up for George Lucas.
Just such a touching testimony from Dave Filoni there at that event. And that was really special
(28:21):
to hear. So I just had to share that with all of you. Very cool. Very cool stuff. And looking
forward to it. I know everyone's got to be looking forward to that series and Sam Witwer knows his
stuff. So, you know, that's going to be very, very exciting. Young Jedi Adventures Season 3
comes out on Disney Plus this fall. I actually thought that this show was canceled, but maybe
(28:41):
I'm mistaken. It could be the last season. I'm not entirely sure, but it sounds like it will be
this year in the fall that Season 3 makes its debut. They also did say something about the
Star Wars Kids YouTube channel. Now it's going to be playing a lot of content free on their
YouTube channel. So you can catch the Clone Wars movie, the Clone Wars TV show and so many other
(29:06):
things happening, streaming constantly 24-7 on Star Wars Kids, which is going to be accessible
for free to anybody on YouTube. So that's really cool. Star Wars Celebration attendees, welcome to
NUBS to the Celebration live stage, which was really funny to hear crickets in the audience
as nobody recognized or knew what this guy was. And I had a good laugh at that, but they tried to
(29:32):
get the crowd amped up about NUBS and kind of failed, but it was funny. And they brought him
out to make an announcement about this kids section at the convention that was happening
and NUBS is going to be there, you know, getting, doing signatures and giving out hugs and whatnot.
(29:54):
So I guess that's cool. For any kids who are big fans of Young Jedi Adventures,
Season 3 comes out for you this fall. Beyond Victory, a mixed reality play set from ILM
zooms into Star Wars Celebration, which is a mixed reality game that ILMxLABS has done.
This is the fifth one that they've made now. If you don't count the other experiments they've done,
(30:19):
paid for experiences, that is, they've done three Vader Immortal chapters, which have all been
fantastic. They also did a RPG style first person game that you can play through called Tales from
the Galaxy's Edge. That was a bit of a lengthier game to get through, and that was awesome.
So this one is called Beyond Victory and it is a pod race style game set around the time of Solo,
(30:43):
a Star Wars story. It features an electrifying story and a variety of unique modes for the
player to enjoy. It's currently in development for Quest headsets and fans in Tokyo are among
the first to experience it at Star Wars Celebration. You can preview the game there.
So that's very cool. Attendees find themselves in the boots of young Volo Bolas, a pod racer
(31:05):
desperate to make a name for themselves. Luda, Sebalba's business partner, has a proposition for
Volo and they're eager to accept. But do they really know what they're getting into? So there's
a bit of a sizzle reel trailer for all the meta VR experiences that ILMxLABS has done so far,
and it's kind of cool. You're in control of a pod racer as it zips through canyons and races past
(31:29):
obstacles in a pod race track. Luda and Sebalba are in your ear offering tips, suggestions,
and occasional insults. You'll get a crash course in pod racing unlike any other, and the experience
will offer three distinct modes for fans to enjoy. Adventure, Arcade, and Placeit. So Adventure is
(31:50):
using a combination of virtual and mixed reality storylines that follow Volo as an aspiring pod
racer who gets flipped upside down under the mentorship of the infamous Sebalba. Arcade mode
experiences the thrill of pod racing in a mixed reality on a virtual holotable that brings players
right into the heart of the action like never before. So it's a bit like playing Mario Kart
(32:11):
in 3D in mixed reality in your living room on your coffee room table kind of thing. It's interesting.
And the Placeit version transforms the physical world around you and create your very own
incredible Star Wars moments in mixed reality with a collection of unlockable
virtual action figures and vehicles. So you can test this out only as celebration. And if you go
(32:33):
to the booth that you can try this out, I believe they're giving away comic books which is a one-shot
story called Star Wars Beyond Victory. And I believe that story is a prequel which is set
before the events of the game. And it says that it's available only as a giveaway at the ILM Meta
(32:54):
booth during Celebration Japan. So you can get a first look at this cover. You can find the cover
online and it's written by Ethan Sachs with interior illustrations by Will Slinney, Steve
Cummings, and Shogo Oki. So that's really cool as well. I imagine those are going to go for
a pretty hot price once the celebration is over unless they do decide to sell it in comic book
(33:18):
stores. So for any of you who are over there listening to us, shoot us an email and let us
know if you get your hands on a copy because if you mail one in to us, that'd be super cool of you.
All right, that's Beyond Victory. And any of you who don't have a VR headset out there,
the time is coming in which there's a lot more out there to experience VR in such a great way.
(33:45):
There's already five experiences out there or four experiences out there and soon to be five.
So definitely consider picking one up at some point. Really cool stuff.
A wicked new 20th anniversary Lucasfilm animation poster was released out there to the internet.
So you can find that as well. Very, very cool stuff. Ashley Eckstein revealed a collaboration
(34:08):
between Star Wars and I think it was Monopoly Go, which is an app that you can play Monopoly.
And there's going to be a Star Wars-ified edition. So that's kind of cool. They had
reveals from Hasbro's panel, Black Series Nightsister Marin is getting a figure as well
as Cal Kestis and the leader of the Stinger crew. Han Solo as well, classic figure. Chewbacca
(34:37):
as well as Dash Rendar. So shout out to our buddy out there who loves Dash Rendar. Phil,
this is for you. So legends of fans rejoice as Dash Rendar gets a Black Series figure.
Now I think this is the six inch, but I could be wrong. This could be three and three quarter.
(34:59):
They've got so many more coming our way. Cobb, Vanth, Tusken Ridder on a Bantha,
Moff Gideon in Dark Trooper armor. They've got a rocket launcher Stormtrooper.
They've got another version of Marin, I think. They've got crosshair. They've got so much stuff.
So those are all the ones that I've got a little picture of. You can find more details on StarWars.com.
(35:24):
All right. Star Wars Celebration Japan, the anime and manga pavilion celebrates the collaboration.
There was a pavilion at Star Wars Celebration that had a big sort of display of art from
everything from, I guess, Star Wars Visions characters and shorts to some of the ongoing
(35:45):
manga projects that they have in store for fans. And there was a number of things that actually,
there was actually a Star Wars Visions booth there, which they had some of the original
maquettes and dolls and set pieces that they used to film some of the toys for those shorts.
If anyone's familiar with Claymation, they had some of those characters there as well.
(36:07):
And they had full recreated some of the props from some of those projects to see in life-size
form. So that's really cool that people were able to experience that. And you can read more about
the anime and manga pavilion on StarWars.com. All right. There's nothing vague and unconvincing
about the all new K-2SO security droid Lego set that they announced at Star Wars Celebration.
(36:31):
This goes alongside some of the previous announcements that they've made, which we
talked about in the last episode, which are the May 4th releases. So check out our previous Star
Wars Escape pod episode for those details, because I won't get into that. But they did release the
announcement of K-2SO coming as a giant buildable character. And alongside that, you get a plaque
(36:53):
because it is technically, I guess, a UCS figure or a plaqued figure, whatever you want to call
that collection. And it does come with a minifigure of K-2SO as well, which is one of the few sets
that you can get a minifigure of K-2SO these days. Star Wars Outlaws A Pirate's Fortune is
dropping on May 15th. This is the second DLC package that they have released, and it does
(37:15):
feature Hondo Onaka. There is a preview and a video that you can play on YouTube, which
dives into the story of that. I'm not going to play it right now just because we're way over time.
But this is suggested for purchase at retail price of $15. So if anyone did get their value
out of Star Wars Outlaws, that DLC will be coming soon. The deluxe owners also received
(37:40):
the Naboo Nobility and Desert Nomad cosmetic packs, as well as the Ultimate buyers as well.
So that's very neat. They've also, the fan at Ubisoft, I mean, there's fans at Ubisoft of Star
Wars Skeleton Crew, and they threw in some little bits and bobs from that show as cosmetics as well,
which after downloading, installing the updates, you will get those as a delivery crate
(38:04):
on the Trailblazer. So if any of you haven't played Star Wars Outlaws,
you know, time to check it out. They did also announce as well that it will be coming to Switch
2 later this year in September, I think it was. That's Star Wars Outlaws, that is. So if any of
you are buying that very overpriced console, then you can look forward to a overpriced game.
(38:30):
All right. Let's see. One more thing here, I believe. Is that it? No, that is it. The last
things to note were just some very special appearances on the Celebration Live stage.
Linwin Brennan from the ILM Lux film, Vanessa Marshall. They had multiple Japanese anime
(38:53):
creators come out on stage as well. They had Janet Lewin from ILM come out to talk about
50 Years at the Company. The Lux film animation panel did reveal a sequence from the Unmade
Boba Fett and Cad Bane Clone Wars arc. So you can find that footage floating around on the internet
(39:13):
as well. And that was just it was a chase scene that Anakin is chasing down Boba Fett and Boba
Fett is in his green armor at this point. This is the arc that we've talked about many times in the
past, but they just showed more footage of that arc at the convention because they have a tradition
of doing that now at Star Wars Celebration. So that was cool to see as well. They had Ahmed
(39:37):
Best out on stage with Rob Coleman. Rob Coleman's an animation legend from ILM who worked on the
prequels. Ahmed Best, of course, as you know, Jar Jar Binks and Keller and Beck and pioneer of
motion capture as well. So big respect for those guys. They had Jon Favreau and Sigourney Weaver
come out. Pedro Pascal and Dave Filoni, Ryan Gosling, Sean Levy, Hayden Christensen, and my
(40:04):
goodness, so many more. So I believe that's everything that comes to mind. Oh, and Sam
Whitwer, of course, naturally. All right. That's everything that comes to mind. Day one concluded
with the Wilbro Hood Group coming out on stage, slinging their ice cream buckets and ready for
their their run on day two, I believe, which comes out on YouTube as a live stream to watch
(40:28):
at 6 p.m. PST, one hour earlier than yesterday's live stream. So you can tune in day two.
Right. Well, I guess right now, very, very soon on on the YouTube stream. So stay tuned for that
and stay tuned for our day two recap and day three recap over the weekend. So lots coming at you.
(40:50):
We're also going to follow up next week with a just a sit down, a roundtable kind of discussion
of all these headlines and just I mean, not absolutely everything. We're going to pick the
best of the highlights and things, the big things to talk about. But we're going to get a sit down
going when this weekend is over and really just kind of get into the nitty gritty of the details
and talk about what we what we think about these things. So these are all the headlines for you.
(41:14):
Day one. That is all. May the force be with you guys. We'll see you in the next one.
Star Wars Escape Pod signing off.
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