Star Wars, Geek Culture, and Power Converters
We got a trailer at San Diego Comic Con and now we’ve got a new trailer and a release date for Book Two of Legend of Korra! Mark down Friday, September 13th on your calendar and get excited!
(Yes, half the staff is currently jumping around with glee.)
Sound the rumor alert again. The Latino Review is now saying that Ewan McGregor will be back for Episode VII. The assumption for the rumor is that he’ll be back as a Force Ghost since (spoiler alert) Obi-Wan died in A New Hope. The rumor also says that McGregor wants his own standalone film.
As per usual, take this rumor with a grain of salt. We already know that Ewan’s said he’d be happy to play Obi-Wan again if they ask him so it’s plausible but this is a looooong way from confirmed. However, like others, I don’t think we’d have any objections to an adaptation of Kenobi or a standalone film in general for Obi-Wan. But until it’s on StarWars.com, it’s just a rumor.
(via ClubJade)
It’s been ten years since the first Knights of the Old Republic game was released and after playing it through again recently for the first time in years? I can happily report that it still holds up awesomely. The game is just as enthralling to me now in my early 20s as it was when I was in my teens. A lot of that has to do with how distinctly Star Wars the game is despite being set thousands of years before anyone named Skywalker was of any relevance to the galaxy. Obviously it has all the superficial markings of Star Wars like the name, lightsabers and Jedi, spaceships, and such but it’s the overall feel of the epic tale that makes it so very obviously a part of the galaxy far far away.
Let’s take a look at some of what not only make this game pure Star Wars but makes it an excellent example for other stories told within the galaxy.
Note: Obviously one of the neatest things about the game is that you make your own choices through your own character and therefore the game could go any number of ways. I’m writing this piece assuming a light side Revan which is technically canon. This piece will also have a heavy bias towards playing with a female Revan which sadly isn’t canon but that’s my preferred storyline so canon can deal for the duration of this piece.
It’s a mission to save the galaxy
While it’s hardly a trope unique to the galaxy far far away, it is one of its pillars. Your character is just an ordinary person (or so you think) who, through a series of circumstances, has to go on a quest through the galaxy to find pieces of the Star Map to help win the war against the Sith. Along the way, you pick up a number of companions with whom you build friendships and you also often help others out even if they have nothing to do with your main quest. At the end of the day, you save the day by defeating the evil Sith leader and destroying the space station that was giving them the edge in battle.
Does any of this sound familiar?
Although a story doesn’t always have to have galactic ramifications to be one where good triumphs, that’s a part of what makes this game so good. The fate of the galaxy is literally in your hands. You choose whether to be a good guy or a bad guy and whether or not you’re going to save the Republic or take back the Sith Empire for yourself and rule and galaxy. Granted, the galaxy sort of falls to pieces five years later anyways but the Ebon Hawk and her crew still saved the day!
UPDATE: Turns out the title of this article is, in fact, a rumor. A Lucasfilm spokesperson told Big Shiny Robot that Kathleen Kennedy as said that “Nothing has changed” and Episode VII will still begin shooting in 2014. There was no comment on the codename.
Our friends over at Jedi News have a report up saying that a trusted source has told them that a deal has been struck to use Pinewood Studios in England for filming for the next ten years.
To quote their report:
Further to this we understand that the film has been in pre-production at Pinewood Studios for three and a half months in advance of an August 2013 shooting date. We hear they have block booked the studios for 10 years and that construction of offices and facilities on-site is underway. Also storage space is being located in the local area.
There’s also a mention in the report that Episode VII could be filming under the fake name of ‘Foodles Productions Ltd’.
As always, this is an unconfirmed rumor so take it with a grain of salt until we hear something official from Lucasfilm.
Welcome to another edition of Cosplay Monday where we try to brighten the start of your work week with some of the neat costumes we’ve seen around the internet lately. We’ve mentioned comic writer Kelly Sue DeConnick’s ‘Sexy Lamp Test‘ in the past which, in her own words is “If you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.” Well, check out this cosplayer who embraced the concept tongue-in-cheek at San Diego Comic Con last weekend.
Dave Filoni took the stage this morning at Celebration Europe to talk about the new forthcoming animated series Star Wars Rebels. Although there was no trailer since nothing’s been animated yet, the official logo for the show was revealed, as seen to the right.
He also said that the new show be very different visually from The Clone Wars and that the artistic influences of Ralph McQuarrie’s concept art will definitely be evident. Said Filoni, “We wanted to create a look for this part of Star Wars that precedes A New Hope by just a little bit.” and “We have created a set of digital brushes that replicate McQuarrie’s style…We’re going for something that’s much more an illustrative look.” They’re hoping to try and match the look of the Original Trilogy.
Most of what Filoni showed was concept art for the new show and the artwork included a brand new ship that will be central to the main character of the show- the Ghost.
You can read a liveblog of the entire panel by the official site here.
Kathleen Kennedy’s panel at Celebration Europe this morning didn’t yield much in terms of Episode VII news but she did announce that John Williams will be back to score all three Sequel Trilogy films. A video interview (as seen below) was shown to the panel audience and he clearly seems to be as thrilled to be back in the galaxy far far away however he has yet to read the script.
You can read the entire official liveblog of Kennedy’s panel over on the main site.
If you weren’t already sold on the brand new Star Wars: Legacy comic, you almost definitely will be after this issue. Legacy #5 by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman is out in stores today and draws the first story arc to a spectacular close. If you haven’t been reading the book thus far, I would definitely suggest find yourself copies of the first 5 issues or preordering the trade.
As with before, this review contains mild spoilers for the issue.
Welcome back to another edition of Cosplay Monday where we find cool costumes around the internet and share them with you to make your morning better. This week, we’re featuring a costume of a brand new character that somehow managed to take the internet by storm when she was introduced at E3 the other week. We’re talking about, of course, the Wii Fit Trainer. Check out this costume made by HayleyElise over on deviantArt. Seriously though: how cool is this?
In completely and utterly unsurprising news, this year’s Hall H panels at San Diego Comic Con were the hot spot for all the film news. Plenty of new trailers and clips were shown but here are some of the highlights or at least some of the ones that we thought were awesome and mention-worthy: