As we move through December, Lucasfilm continues to give us more to get excited about before The Rise of Skywalker. Let’s see what’s going on in the news this week!

EA has some news about Battlefront II–on the 5th, they put out the Celebration Edition of the game, which will give folks an easy way to get all of the updates from the last two years in one place:

The short version is this: The Celebration Edition will deliver instant access to every Hero Appearance, Trooper Appearance, Emote, Voice Line and Victory Pose available in Star Wars Battlefront II that can be unlocked with Credits or Crystals, including new content coming in December with our The Rise of Skywalker Update. Simply head on over to the collection menu and they’ll be ready and waiting.

Want to play as Anakin in his General Skywalker Attire? Go ahead. Feel like playing as Boushh Leia? The choice is yours.

What you get

• Base game with all past and future free updates

• 150+ Appearances, including 6 Legendary Appearances

• 100+ Emotes

• 90+ Victory Poses

• Make sure to click through to see the rest of the news around this release (including what’s not included in this edition). Speaking of updates, the Rise of Skywalker update is coming December 17th, with the “new [tropical] planet” that debuted in the latest trailer for TRoS dropping into the planetary rotation December 20th (when we find out what the planet’s actually called after we see TRoS). Again, click through for the full story, but they’re also already looking into 2020, where we’ll see additional sequel trilogy content, including BB-8 and BB-9E being added as heroes.

Moving onto a different type of game–we’ve got a game show coming to Disney+ in 2020! Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge “will test young contestants’ abilities in the core Jedi principles of strength, knowledge, and bravery as they face thrilling and fun obstacles in an attempt to achieve the rank of Jedi Knight” and be hosted by none other than Ahmed Best. Star Wars is for kids, and we’re excited to see a new generation of fans continue to fall in love with this franchise through different media.

Another way to tell the story–Disney hasn’t forgotten about their original bread and butter–resorts. Walt Disney World just announced its 2021 “immersive vacation” Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. Think of a cruise-style itinerary, but you’re the hero of your own adventure. There will even be immersive transport to bring you between Galactic Starcruiser and Galaxy’s Edge. We can’t wait to hear more.

To round out this week, head over to Vanity Fair and check out their Star Wars: Episode IX  Week. Check here for Chapter 1 on Finn’s backstory and how it will play into Episode IX, and continue through for stories on the Rey-Kylo connection, Lando, and much more.

11 more days till TROS!!!

It’s that time of year–Star Wars movie promo season! J.J. Abrams and members of The Rise of Skywalker cast have been making the rounds on TV and in print. Of note: the runtime; John Boyega confessing it was his script that got swiped and put on Ebay; Daisy Ridley preferring Baby Yoda to porgs; and TRoS’s first word (at). There’s also a bunch of new TV spots over on YouTube, including Palpatine being menacing over Duel of the Fates, Leia holding the legacy lightsaber, and Poe back in an x-wing. There’s also a tear-jerking saga featurette reminiscent of the one that was shown during Celebration but including some new footage. And in sad yet heartwarming news, a fan in hospice was able to see TRoS early with his young son.

Baby Yoda–I mean, The Mandalorian–has become the top streaming show in the United States, knocking off Stranger Things. Four episodes of the show have been released on Disney+, and Baby Yoda has produced excellent memes in each of them. The latest? Baby Yoda drinking tea. Perfection.

Del Rey revealed the cover for Timothy Zahn’s newest book, Thrawn Ascendancy: Book One: Chaos Rising. Released on May 5, 2020, it’s set before Thrawn joining the Empire and takes place in the Unknown Regions, or what the Chiss call “The Chaos.” That’s not foreboding at all.

That’s not the only book coming out on May 5, however. The latest episode of the Star Wars Show announced that E.K. Johnston has written a prequel to Queen’s Shadow. Queen’s Peril will take place during the time of The Phantom Menace and feature the original handmaidens.

That’s it for this week. I leave you with John Boyega writing a Victorian inspired letter to Oscar Isaac.

Did you know that Disney+ has launched in the United States? No? Okay then you’ve definitely been living under a rock. We’re now three episodes into The Mandalorian and everything is Baby Yoda and nothing hurts. (Okay one thing hurts but we’ll talk about that in the staff writer round table at the end of the season.) Anyways! We’ve got a new Star Wars movie rapidly approaching which means we have news!

The Rise of Skywalker novelization has an official cover now! It’s pulled from one of the posters and features Rey and Kylo Ren battling it out. In other writing related Episode IX news, both Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly will received writing credit alongside J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio. This is due to WGA rules so don’t read too much into it.

Entertainment Weekly continues to be one of the go to places for Star Wars interview despite staff changes and had plenty for those of us eagerly anticipating The Rise of Skywalker this week. They’ve got a full interview/article about the film and debuted a bunch of new pictures. Let us all pause and take a moment to appreciate the beauty that is Finn’s new pants and also Poe’s ‘google earth, always taking photos’ pose.

In other news, John Williams is apparently done with his composing work for The Rise of Skywalker but he and the rest of the Galaxy’s Edge team have been nominated for a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition which is super cool!

And finally, in non-Episode IX related news, VIZ’s manga adaptation of The Legend of Luke Skywalker starts in January.

And that’s it for this week! For those of you in the US, enjoy your turkey dinners and always save plenty of room for pie!