Holonet Blast #50

Welcome to the 50th Holonet Blast! We have a lot of news for this auspicious occasion, so let’s jump right in.

Battlefront II fans: there’s a major update on the way that will change the progression system to linear and do away with micro-transactions on March 21.  You won’t lose any of your unlocked goods and heroes, but to earn new ones you’ll need to gain Skill Points through gameplay. Also, come April, you’ll be able to use in-game credits to purchase looks for your units. More details, and a few other changes, through the link.

There’s eight new Forces of Destiny shorts coming to Disney’s YouTube and website today at 1:00pm EDT and to Disney Channel on March 25 at 9:50pm EDT/PDT. They span from the prequel era to the sequels and feature Sabine, Ahsoka, Rose, Jyn, Rey, Leia, Luke, Maz, porgs, the emotion known as “joy,” and more. Episode titles and descriptions can be found through the link.

Folks lucky enough to be able to make it to Disneyland on May 3 will be able to attend the second Disneyland After Dark event: Star Wars Nite. It’ll be a May the Fourth kick-off event of sorts and costumes are encouraged. Tickets for the event will go on sale March 27 for Disneyland Resort Annual Passholders and March 29 for the rest of us.

Meanwhile, on a less news-ish front, you can now take a look at concept art from the cancelled Battlefront 4— as in, the game that was going to follow the Battlefront 3 that was cancelled over a decade ago. There are dark side versions of everyone and the designs are a thing to behold.

And as The Last Jedi is finally available for home-viewing, blu-rey and digital copies apparently contain music-only versions of the film in the special features.

this is barda and i love her.

In superhero news, Ava DuVernay will direct New Gods, based on the Jack Kiby-created DC comics characters of the same name. DuVernay directed this year’s film A Wrinkle in Time, becoming, in the words of the link, “the first woman of color in Hollywood to helm a live-action film with a production budget of $100 million,” as well as directing critically acclaimed Selma and 13th. Also, Big Barda of the New Gods is apparently her favorite superhero, making DuVernay a woman after my own heart. If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’m going to be over here screaming about Big Barda on the big screen.

On the Marvel side of things, a new trailer was released for Avengers: Infinity War. Hyped for the movie yet? Good, because AMC theaters is conspiring to destroy our sleep cycles with a 31-hour MCU movie marathon leading up to the film’s release. And they aren’t even showing all the MCU movies. Check out the link for a full list of which 12 films will be shown and good luck to those of you who are even thinking of attending; you are made of hardier stuff than I.

Finally, if you’re in the DC area between March 30 and April 1, Awesome Con will be hosting an exhibit of The Last Jedi props and costumes. Also, a lot of Tosche Station staff members will be at the con. I’ve lost track of how many of us are attending. I want to say six? Anyway, come say hi if you can! Tickets to Awesome Con are available here.