Star Wars, Geek Culture, and Power Converters
As always, it’s not confirmed until Lucasfilm says it’s confirmed.
Chicago’s WGN TV met up with Harrison Ford yesterday and, as every media outlet seems to be doing, asked him if he’s going to be involved with Episode VII and the Sequel Trilogy. Long story short? He said nothing is finalized but he’s pretty confident it’s going to happen.
Ohhhh the Young Jedi Knight series. These were the first Star Wars books I ever read except for the Jedi Prince books and I still enjoy them over a decade later. While they are clearly written for a younger audience and get cheesy sometimes, they’re still fun reads. I try to thank Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta every time I see them at Dragon*Con for writing these books and these characters because I love them just that much. I am also 100% okay with admitting that I wanted to be best friends with Jaina Solo and Tenel Ka as a kid and I still sort of do. You’ve been warned: these posts will be a fair bit gushing accompanied by some good natured teasing.
Heirs of the Force
First things first: Tenel Ka gets the best character entrance ever. “Oh don’t mind me. I’m just going to CLIMB UP THE BACK OF THIS TEMPLE AND POP INTO THE MORNING LESSON. LIKE A BAMF.” I love her so much.
Oh! And I also love that the authors turn a trope on its head at the start of the book because Han brings flowers for Jacen (or rather his pet) and a hyperdrive for Jaina. The Solos are going to be who they want to be. Even if it does mean that Jacen has pet snakes.
This book is mostly about introducing us to our four new heroes. Obviously, we already know Jaina and Jacen Solo who continue with their grand tradition of getting kidnapped. Good job kids. At least they’ve learned from experience and don’t actually let Qorl fly off in a TIE fighter with weapons. We also get to know Tenel Ka and Lowbacca, both young relations to characters we’ve met in the past. I do think it’s a bit strange that the Solo twins don’t understand Shyriiwook since Chewbacca helped raise them but I can overlook that. Like I said, this is a set up book and I appreciate it for what it is.
Welcome back to another edition of Cosplay Monday where we try to distract you from the start of another work week with some awesome costumes. When you walk into a convention, you’re never entirely sure what costumes you’re going to see especially when you’re at a still new and small one. So imagine my surprise when I looked up from a vendor’s table at Eastern Shore Fan Con the other weekend and spotted an Admiral Daala costume! Seriously: how much do we adore seeing some Expanded Universe characters getting some costuming love?
If you’re a fan of Drew Karpyshyn’s Expanded Universe novels, you may want to sign up for a Reddit account and get your questions ready for an Ask Me Anything he’ll be conducting at /r/StarWarsEU. The announcement post is here, but all you need to know is that Karpyshyn will start answering questions around 8PM EDT.
I meant to blog this on Monday but, well, things happened.
Digital Spy sat down with Joss Whedon over the weekend to chat about, among other things, what he’d like to see in a standalone Star Wars film if he were hypothetically given the opportunity to direct one.* Long story short? He wouldn’t bring back the original characters for them and would move in a new and fresh direction.
*Could you imagine the fandom’s reaction to that?
Disney CEO Bob Iger sat down again with CNBC today to discuss the state of Disney. As these interviews seem to go, he was asked point blank about whether the Original Trilogy actors would be making a return to the new films.
But fans won’t know whether the old cast will make an appearance in the new movies. “George Lucas was quoted as saying they would, but we haven’t made an official announcement yet,” Iger said.
The takeaway from Iger in the video in the CNBC link is that there have been discussions with the actors, but everything is going to hinge on Michael Arndt’s script. Until that script is finished, no one will know for sure what the extent of the OT actors involvement with the new films will be.
Grain of salt, etc.
According to Film Buff, Billy Dee Williams has been asked to return to the Star Wars universe. As of Emerald City Comic Con a few weeks ago, Williams had not been asked to make an appearance in the new films. That may have changed right after that convention, however. Film Buff’s report indicates that Williams has been approached, but h has not a made a decision yet.
Well, friend of the site Henry R. had a chance to talk to Williams briefly at the Monster Mania convention in New Jersey this past weekend and asked him just that. He reports…
…Billy Dee said, he has been asked, but hasn’t decided if he is going to do it or not yet.
It wouldn’t surprise me if he had recently been approached by Lucasfilm, especially given that George Lucas seemed to confirm that they were in talks with Hamill, Fisher, and Ford. But, as always, it’s not official until Lucasfilm or Disney says it’s official.
The two books for today’s post probably could not have been more different if they’d tried. On the one hand, we have the Luke/Mara go on an adventure in Chiss space book and on the other hand, we have a book about a Jedi trying to take down a Hutt spice ring. The good news is that they were both fun reads. The bad news is that I don’t get to be snarky in this post.
Scourge
I must admit that I wasn’t expecting much from Scourge mostly because I hadn’t heard much buzz about it. All I knew is that it involved Hutts. I was, however, very pleasantly surprised and that is always a good thing.
Overall, this was a solid book. Personally, I always enjoy getting to see other aspects of the galaxy besides the galaxy shaking problem of the week and the Solo/Skywalker clan regardless of how much I love them. It’s nice to see a new member of Luke’s Jedi Order especially one who doesn’t fall into the stereotypical Jedi mold. Mander Zuma is an archivist who is only a warrior when he absolutely has to be. He can also be a very surprising person who doesn’t fit neatly into the a box. Plus, he gets to go through a nice arc of character growth as the story progresses. Reen Irana and Eddey Be’ray are the other two people helping investigate the death of Toro Irana, a Jedi Knight, and they both prove to be interesting characters in their own rights as is Angela Krin. Heck, even the Hutts are all very distinctive characters who don’t all fall into the Jabba category. In all honesty, I would mind reading more about these characters. I don’t love them yet but they are certainly intriguing.
The plot itself was fairly expected for this sort of novel but that’s not a bad thing because if you’re expecting a book about a drug smuggling ring then you’d probably like to get one. The story felt timeless though and that’s another good thing. Although there were clearly references to the New Jedi Order and Yavin 4 and such that tied it to the post-RotJ era, the book could have easily been tweaked and set in the Old Republic era and I rather appreciated that. Like I said above, not every plot line or story needs to be galaxy shattering to be enjoyed.
Oh! And I actually love the series of twists at the end. In retrospect, I probably should’ve figured it out a lot sooner than I did but the storyline certainly kept me guessing which in turn definitely kept me reading.
Bottom line is that I recommend it. It should probably be distributed to certain characters in certain books to reinforce the message of Don’t Do Spice.
If the rumors and reports are to be believed, The Clone Wars has aired its final episode. What was billed as merely the season five finale has, unfortunately, become the series finale. Understandably, people are upset. With the promise of a sixth season that was nearly finished with its production and the talks of a seventh on the horizon, fans, perhaps justifiably, feel as if they have just been prematurely robbed of something they love.
There’s really no way to try and completely diminish that if this is true*, it’s lousy news and incredibly disappointing for many TCW fans. There was little reason or the show to simply end in this manner, particularly if the reports that season six were almost finished are true. For Disney and Lucasfilm, it makes sense to have Star Wars on the air in some capacity until at least 2015 when the first of the sequel films hits the silver screen. For Cartoon Network, it makes sense to be able to make at least some money off of the finished season six episodes. Failing to air these episodes (if they are actually done) is an unfortunate and seemingly irrational outcome, but it wouldn’t be the first time Hollywood has behaved in a less than rational fashion.
*As my own note, I’m still not entirely convinced that this is the case. Even if The Clone Wars officially ends, I think there’s a distinct possibility it appears on another network as a re-branded show. At the very least, I just don’t see them permanently tabling all the work they’ve put into season six.
Still, as much as this may hurt if all of this proves to be true, there are some silver linings for TCW fans. To the jump.
It’s late and I’m in a rush, so I’ll be brief. The rumblings today from multiple outlets seem to be indicating that The Clone Wars has ended. This potentially means that the season five finale is, in reality, the series finale. JediNews.uk has the details:
Although not yet officially confirmed, we’re hearing from several sources tonight that The Clone Wars as a TV show\series has ended. It’s not yet clear what will happen to the unaired finished episodes, those partway through production or if they will try and tie the show up with a direct to DVD\Blu-ray movie (something that Disney are known to have done with some of their other properties).
As is my usual disclaimer, nothing is official until you hear it from Lucasfilm. For what it’s worth, a couple people with connections to Lucasfilm have talked to me today and indicated that this is indeed the end for the five-year-old animated series. Combine this with the already confirmed indefinite postponement of the 3D treatments for the prequel films and there’s perhaps a good chance that these reports have legs.
I’ve got a post slated for tomorrow morning with some more detailed thoughts. All I’ll say now is that this news, if true, is definitely less-than-ideal and a big bummer for a lot of people. That said, I think there may be some silver linings for fans. Look for that Monday morning.