Star Wars fans are eating well today (Friday, May 27). Not only is there a brand-new TV show set in that galaxy far, far away available to stream, but there were plenty of exciting announcements made on day 1 of Star Wars Celebration, which took place in California on Thursday, May 26.
With Obi-Wan Kenobi‘s standalone series arriving on Disney Plus, you’re likely re-immersing yourself in the world of Star Wars after some time away. Well, once you’re done checking out its two-episode premiere, plus reading our in-depth chat with Obi-Wan’s showrunner-director and main cast, you’ll want to catch up on the latest news to come out of Star Wars Celebration.
And there’s a lot to get up to speed with. Below, we’ll run you through every announcement, trailer, and other interesting pieces of news that were revealed during day 1 of Star Wars Celebration. That includes updates on The Mandalorian season 3, Andor, and other upcoming Star Wars projects that are at various stages of development.
So, what are you waiting for? Strap into your Millennium Falcon (we know you have one), engage your hyperdrive, and let’s travel at light speed towards everything that was announced.
Let’s kick things off with Star Wars’ most popular series of recent times. Yes, The Mandalorian season 3’s release is drawing ever closer – and we finally know when it’ll be with us.
As announced on the official Star Wars Twitter account (opens in new tab), the hit Disney Plus show will return to our screens in February 2023. That’s further away than what Giancarlo Esposito, who plays Moff Gideon in the series, recently told fans. Still, it’s pleasing to know that the countdown is truly on for the show’s return.
Star Wars Celebration attendees weren’t just treated to that announcement, though. Audiences were also given their first look at The Mandalorian’s next instalment, with a sizzle reel giving us a tease of what’s to come.
According to those in attendance, there were plenty of stunning shots and visuals to take in, but it’s the hints at where season 3’s plot will go that was most intriguing.
The footage showed Mando meeting with The Armorer again, who told him that “redemption is no longer possible” after the latter found out that the former had removed his helmet (on multiple occasions) in previous seasons. Meanwhile, Mando tells Grogu that the duo are bound for Mandalore – the home world of all Mandalorians – so he can be forgiven for his transgressions.
Other blink and you’ll miss it scenes involved Mando and Grogu reuniting with Greef Karga, who seems to have settled into a new (and well-paying, based on his attire) profession, and a tense, verbal showdown with Bo-Katan, another Mandalorian warrior who fans will remember from the show’s second season and animated series The Clone Wars. There were also plenty of action-packed moments to take in, before Bo-Katan ominously tells Grogu “Did you think your dad was the only Mandalorian?”. Color us excited.
Andor season 1 gets a teaser trailer and release date reveal
Andor, the Star Wars prequel series starring Diego Luna’s rebellion hero from Rogue One, will officially launch on Disney Plus on August 31.
The series, which will receive a two-episode premiere (opens in new tab) on that date, is set five years before Luna teams up with Felicity Jones’ Jyn Erso to steal the Death Star plans in order to aid the rebellion’s fight against the Galactic Empire. Expect it to be a gritty, street-level affair in much the same away as Rogue One was.
And that seems to be the case, judging by the show’s first teaser, which accompanied its release date announcement. You can watch the first footage from the upcoming series above, which is also the first Star Wars TV series that doesn’t utilize Industrial Light and Magic’s StageCraft (aka The Volume) technology. Instead, the show was set in real locations to retain that hardy, criminal underworld style that Rogue One is known for.
Andor season 1 will consist of 12 episodes, though it’s unclear if the series will receive dual-episodic releases over the course of six weeks or get weekly releases after its premiere date. Oh, and why do we say that this is the show’s first season? Because a second instalment – also comprising 12 episodes – is already in development and will begin shooting in November, according to Variety (opens in new tab).
Skeleton Crew, a Star Wars series starring Jude Law, announced
Now this was a pleasant surprise. Skeleton Crew, a new Star Wars TV series, is coming to Disney Plus sometime in 2023 – and it’ll star none other than Marvel movie and Fantastic Beasts actor Jude Law. Talk about nailing down a role in three of the biggest franchises of all-time.
Little is known about Skeleton Crew, but we do have some information on its, well, backstage crew and what the show will entail.
Skeleton Crew is the official name of the series developed by Jon Watts (Spider-Man’s MCU trilogy), and Christopher Ford (Chaos Walking) which previously had the working title Grammar Rodeo (a fun nod to one of The Simpsons‘ many, many episodes). Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are also on board as executive producers alongside Watts, which isn’t surprising, given how that duo have single-handedly (or should that be dual-handedly?) developed Star Wars’ burgeoning output of TV-specific content.
According to Filoni, Skeleton Crew is an “upcoming live-action series stars kids but is as much for kids as The Clone Wars”. Expect it to contain some mature concepts and themes that may not be suitable for kids of a certain age, then.
Per IGN (opens in new tab), Skeleton Crew’s story will follow “a group of 10-year-old kids from a small planet who get lost in that galaxy far, far away and must try to find their way home”. The series is also set after Return of the Jedi, aka Star Wars Episode VI, so it’ll be placed on the main Star Wars timeline alongside The Mandalorian and Ahsoka Tano’s forthcoming live-action show. The Hollywood Reporter (opens in new tab) also claims that filming will begin this summer and that Skeleton Crew will have the feel of a 1980s Amblin Entertainment production, such as The Goonies or E.T.
Indiana Jones 5 first image revealed
In 2023, Harrison Ford returns as the legendary #IndianaJones. Check out this first look of the new James Mangold-directed film. pic.twitter.com/ALs82tsmXwMay 26, 2022
Okay, these next two announcements are not Star Wars-centric. But, considering that Lucasfilm was the company that originally brought them to the big screen, it makes sense that they’d be covered in some capacity during Star Wars Celebration.
The first of that duo is Indiana Jones 5. We already knew that the next instalment in the iconic Harrison Ford-starring action-adventure film series was coming in June 2023. However, this is the first teaser we’ve received about the James Mangold-directed flick – even if it is just an image.
The still, which you can see in the tweet above, shows Ford’s Jones crossing a rickety old bridge – presumably in a cave looking for treasure – as the warm, yellow glow of sunlight appears through a crack in the cave’s roof. Sure, it doesn’t give anything away, but it’s a fan-pleasing image that’ll whet your appetite ahead of the movie’s release.
Fleabag‘s Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fantastic Beasts’ Mads Mikkelsen, Logan’s Boyd Holbrook, and Uncharted‘s Antonio Banderas among the supporting cast. Mangold also serves as co-writer alongside Jez Butterworth and John-Henry Butterworth (Flag Day, Edge of Tomorrow), with Indiana Jones’ legendary director Steven Spielberg and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy among the film’s executive producers.
First trailer for Willow TV sequel unveiled
Arriving nearly 35 years after the cult favorite 1988 dark fantasy film, a Willow TV series will be released on Disney Plus on November 30.
The show, which is set 20 years after the events of the original movie, will see Warwick Davis (Rogue One, Harry Potter) reprise his role as the Nelwyn dwarven wizard known as Willow Ufgood, who joins Ruby Cruz’s Princess Kit (and a band of other warriors) on a journey to rescue Kit’s twin brother from an as-yet-revealed villain.
As the teaser trailer (which you can watch above) shows, the TV series looks to have retained the whimsical, dramatic, and ominous tones and style from the Willow flick. Fans of that late 80s movie, then, are sure to be counting down the days until the live-action show makes its grand debut on Disney’s streaming service.
Ron Howard, who directed the original film, is on board as an executive producer alongside Kathleen Kennedy, Jonathan Kasdan, and Bryan Glazer among others. The eight-episode series has been developed by Kasdan (Dawson’s Creek, Solo: A Star Wars story) and Wendy Mericle (Arrow).