Category Archives: News

20 New Star Wars Books and Comics to Fill in Gap Between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens

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Star_Wars_logoThose of you thirsty for some information of the state of the Galaxy Far Far Away leading up to The Force Awakens are in luck. According to an exclusive report at Entertainment Weekly, there are at least twenty new Star Wars books and comics to be released later this year fleshing out the thirty-two years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, ranging all different publishers and target age demographics in a series called Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Content under that title will be released by various Disney imprints as well as at least seven outside companies and is confirmed to include adult novels, young adult novels, sticker books, and comics.

Details on most of the books involved are still under wraps and many of the books are still being worked on, but we do know some about of the upcoming material:

A few titles we can confirm are Del Rey’s Star Wars: Aftermath, which sounds like it may serve as an epilogue to the original trilogy – and perhaps a prologue to the new one. Meanwhile, Marvel Comics will put out one prequel called Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens and another preview story told from C-3PO’s perspective. For vehicle enthusiasts, Studio Fun International will print Star Wars: Ships of the Galaxy.

The report also let’s us know some of the authors involved for a series of young adult novels focusing on the characters of original trilogy, to be released by Disney-Lucasfilm Press:

Cecil Castellucci (author of Tin Star) will write Moving Target, an adventure following Princess Leia; Jason Fry, who earlier wrote Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy, will be the author of The Weapon of a Jedi, about Luke Skywalker; Claudia Gray, author of the Evernight series of fantasy books, will write a book titled Lost Stars; and Greg Rucka, a comic book scribe and writer of the Atticus Kodiak novels, will pen Smuggler’s Run, a Han Solo tale.

There will also be a new series of novels retelling the original trilogy from various perspectives, though there’s no word yet on whose points of view we’ll see.

RIP Leonard Nimoy

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It is with great sadness that we tell you the news that Leonard Nimoy, the great Spock, died earlier today from the end stages of COPD.

We can only say this: lines from Spock’s funeral from The Wrath of Khan:

We are assembled here today to pay final respects to our honored dead. And yet it should be noted, in the midst of our sorrow, this death takes place in the shadow of new life, the sunrise of a new world; a world that our beloved comrade gave his life to protect and nourish. He did not feel this sacrifice a vain or empty one, and we will not debate his profound wisdom at these proceedings. Of my friend, I can only say this: Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most… human.

MLB offers Star Wars fun and bobbleheads

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r2 bobbleheadMajor League Baseball gets into celebrating Star Wars each year with Star Wars nights at selected ballparks.  This year, Cincinnati Reds fans can get this R2-D2 bobblehead with a view level ticket for $25.  The night also features Star Wars music and firework show, character visits, and (usually) an appearance from the Ohio Garrison of the 501st.

Star Wars nights at MLB ballparks also help support the charity StandUp2Cancer.  Other teams hosting Star Wars night during the 2015 season include the Mets, Dodgers, and Cardinals.  Keep an eye on your team’s schedule to see if they’ll be hosting a similar Star Wars night (and ticket deal).

Spider-Man to Appear in Marvel Cinematic Universe While 4 Marvel Release Dates are Pushed Back

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spider-man newspaperSony and Marvel Studios have formed a Spidey-based partnership, according to Marvel’s official site:

Under the deal, the new Spider-Man will first appear in a Marvel film from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU). Sony Pictures will thereafter release the next installment of its $4 billion Spider-Man franchise, on July 28, 2017, in a film that will be co-produced by Kevin Feige and his expert team at Marvel and Amy Pascal, who oversaw the franchise launch for the studio 13 years ago. Together, they will collaborate on a new creative direction for the web slinger. Sony Pictures will continue to finance, distribute, own and have final creative control of the Spider-Man films.

Notably, the release refers to the character as “Spider-Man” rather than “Peter Parker,” with one exception:

“Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios share a love for the characters in the Spider-Man universe and have a long, successful history of working together. This new level of collaboration is the perfect way to take Peter Parker’s story into the future,” added Doug Belgrad, president, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group.

While Belgrad doesn’t explicitly state that Peter and Spidey are one-and-the-same in this case, it is implied. If they are indeed the same, it will be the second film reboot of Peter Parker as Spider-Man in less than five years and the third film version of the character in less than fifteen. I’d find a film starring Mile Morales, the current Spider-Man in Marvel’s Ultimate comics universe, to be a breath of fresh air, but if don’t get to have that, perhaps they’ll at least get more creative with Spidey’s casting this time and choose an actor who isn’t white.

In addition to the news that they and Sony will be working together on Spider-Man, Marvel has pushed back the release dates of four previously announced films, possibly to give the new Spider-Man film some space. Thor: Ragnarok, previously scheduled for July 2017, will now be released on what had previously been Black Panther‘s release date of November 3, 2017, Black Panther will now come out on Captain Marvel‘s old release date of July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel is getting Inhumans‘ previous date of November 2, 2018, and Inhumans will now be released on July 12, 2019. You can read Marvel’s full announcement on the moved release dates here.

George Lucas: Disney went their own way for Episode VII

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The Force Awakens LogoCertainly this won’t generate any sort of controversy. In an interview with Cinemablend to promote Strange Magic, Nick Rimando asked the Maker himself what details he could reveal about The Force Awakens. The answer, unsurprisingly, was nothing. As for why Lucas couldn’t say anything, well:

The ones that I sold to Disney, they came up to the decision that they didn’t really want to do those. So they made up their own. So it’s not the ones that I originally wrote [on screen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens].

There’s no doubt those two sentences are going to cause all sorts of reactions, all of which will follow the usual post-Disney sale outrage scripts from all sides. It’s important to keep in mind that story treatments often get tossed aside or are heavily modified by the time the final scripts are being put in front of cameras.

The reasoning for Disney going their own path is likely simple. It’s better to start fresh with a new braintrust in place from the beginning than to try and not fumble a handoff of someone else’s plan meant to stretch nearly a decade of development.

All Three Prequels to be Shown in 3D at Celebration–Including Revenge of the Sith

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RotS 3D logoThe latest issue of Star Wars Insider reveals that there will be 3D screenings of the entire Prequel Trilogy, as well as standard screenings of the Original Trilogy, at Celebration Anaheim. These screenings will include the long-delayed 3D premiere of Revenge of the Sith, so if you’ve been waiting to see it you will now have a chance.

(via Yakface)

Andy Serkis Answers 10 Questions About The Force Awakens

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"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" New York PremiereWhile none of the actors are able to tell us much about The Force Awakens yet, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly Andy Serkis shared a few things that he can tell us about the movie and his work on it. His answers to EW’s questions, unsurprisingly, don’t give us a lot of detail about the story or characters, but he does reveal that he plays only one character in the film and that his voice in the teaser is unaltered.

One question that he’s not able to give an answer to is whether or not his character is performance capture, which is unsurprising, given the amount of information one could likely draw from the answer.

Dark Disciple Gets a Cover And a Release Date

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Dark Disciple CoverDel Rey revealed the cover for Dark Disciple today, the forthcoming novel by Christie Golden.  The novel is based on an unused storyline from The Clone Wars and stars Asajj Ventress and Quinlan Vos.  The cover is the work of artist Matt Taylor.

Del Rey also announced the book’s official release date: July 7th, 2015.  (Keep in mind though that this could be subject to change.)

You can read their full press release here.

Cumberbatch Confirmed as Doctor Strange, We are Less Than Pleased

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ITV3 Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2012 - LondonToday Marvel confirmed that Benedict Cumberbatch of Sherlock fame will indeed be portraying Doctor Strange in the 2016 film of the same name.

And we sigh. We sigh so heavily.

I have nothing personally against Cumberbatch and find him to be a talented actor but just what proportion of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is made up of white dudes? Of the fourteen Marvel films focusing on a single hero that have been announced and/or released, only two are not about a white guy.

Two. Out of fourteen. And we had to wait six years for even that much.

A big reason so many people are so excited about the Black Panther and Captain Marvel films, besides them simply being great characters who deserve the full cinematic treatment, is because we have been waiting for years to see a film starring someone who is not a white dude. Yes, we’re finally getting a film about a character of color and a film about a woman and that is wonderful and that is progress. But Doctor Strange was an opportunity to even the scales a little more and make the MCU a little bit more diverse.

While Doctor Strange is typically portrayed as white in the comics, there is no reason why he has to be white–or even male–in an adaptation. Marvel’s previously cast actors of color as characters who were white in the comics, casting Idris Elba as Heimdall and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. This isn’t without precedent. Heck, Warner Brothers cast Jason Mamoa as the star of Aquaman a few months ago. If Aquaman can be played by a person of color, there is zero reason why Doctor Steven Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, can’t be as well.

Marvel had an opportunity to make things a little less overwhelmingly white-dude-ish, to stop focusing on just one sort of character the vast majority of the time, and Marvel didn’t take that opportunity. At this point, they’ve already built two phases of movies around films focusing on white male characters, setting up those movies and those characters as the foundation for all that comes after. I had hoped that they might try to bring a little more balance and diversity to their universe. I am disappointed.

David Prowse Reveals Dementia Diagnosis

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Darth-Vader_6bda9114In an interview given with The Mirror, David Prowse, the man inside Darth Vader’s costume, revealed that he has dementia.  He commented that he would have loved to have been a part of the films, but he worried that he would have forgotten his lines.

He does tell The Mirror that “I would have loved to have done something in it – even if it was just a cameo.”  This, I believe, confirms that Prowse will not be seen in Episode VII.

Dementia is a disease that is difficult to live with, both for the patient and for their families.  Please keep David in your thoughts and prayers.