Do you enjoy announcements about future announcements and dates? Then boy howdy will you enjoy this week’s Holonet Blast!

First and foremost, mark your calendars for August 23 – that’s when we’re most likely to see a sneak peak of The Mandalorian, airing at D23 Expo along with a discussion with Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and other special guests. One might expect a trailer or some sort of public footage coming out of that event, based on the fact that the series launches a few months later, so fingers crossed!

But before you put down that pen (you wrote this on a physical calendar, right? Do people still have those?), go ahead and circle December 5 and January 17, too – that’s when the all-new “Rise of the Resistance” attraction will open in Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, respectively. We still don’t know a ton about Rise, other than the fact that, in contrast to Smuggler’s Run which takes place primarily in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, this new experience will involve movement, VR, and more. It also places Batuuans in the heart of the action during a battle between the Resistance and the First Order. Start saving those credits now!

Finally, we got our first look at Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker‘s iconic new trooper. Rogue One had Death Troopers, The Last Jedi had Praetorian Guards, and TROS will have Sith troopers. Attendees at next week’s San Diego Comic-Con 2019 will get a full look at the armor in person in the Lucasfilm pavillion, while the rest of us can scour eBay for the exclusive merch from Funko, Hasbro, and others. No word on whether or not these troopers are, in fact, the Senate.

That’s it for this week – stay hydrated and wear sunscreen, my friends.

It’s time for a triple 1 Holonet Blast! There’s not a lot of news to report this week, being a holiday weekend and all, but don’t worry. We’re not empty handed!

First off, Daisy Ridley has been making the rounds for Ophelia and dropped some tidbits about The Rise of Skywalker. Read the articles in USA Today, in which she talks fan theories, and in Vulture, in which she talks about her hug with Carrie Fisher from the teaser trailer. Ridley also was interviewed on Good Morning America and stated she thinks fans will be satisfied and called Episode IX a brilliant end to the story. Yeah, I’m excited!

Sadly, in much less cool news, Riz Ahmed recently revealed that he had to cancel his Celebration Chicago appearance due to being detained at the airport. Ahmed spoke at a leadership summit about the issues faced by Muslims. Not only is it disappointing Ahmed wasn’t able to greet fans, but it’s also an ugly reminder of the racial profiling and discrimination that occurs in our society.

Today was the Women’s World Cup Final (Go USA!) and Walt Disney Studios dropped a teaser for the live action Mulan film, releasing next March. I’m usually not super excited about Disney’s live action versions of their cartoon films, but this one looks to be not an adaptation but rather an original take on the Mulan story. The teaser was excellent and I’m really excited to see how the film turns out.

That’s all for this week’s Holonet Blast. See y’all next week!

Welcome back to another edition of the Holonet Blast where we’ve got a wide assortment of news from around the galaxy for you.

In gaming news, if your interest has been piqued by Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the Game Director released the full demo from E3 last week. It’s 25 minutes of play that was previously only shown behind closed doors and gives you an even better idea of what to expect from the game this fall.

In book and comic news, Star Wars is going to be included in the landmark Marvel #1000 issue in August. Charles Soule and Terry Dodson have creator duties for the one page story and are just one of eighty other creator teams taking part in Marvel extravaganza. Del Rey also released an excerpt from this month’s Thrawn: Treason in which a lot of high ranking Imperials sit down for a very nice and friendly chat and are definitely all friends. If audio’s your thing, there’s a little something there for you too. (The excerpt has zero Eli Vanto though so fair warning.)

SDCC convention exclusives were also announced this week. If you’re heading to the con later this month or have a really good friend willing to brave the lines for you, check them out. Or check them out even if you’re not going and drool with envy with the rest of us.

Finally, in geek fashion news, you’ll soon be able get Star Wars  themed shoes from TOMS. The collection launches this week online and in stores and will feature designs inspired by the Original Trilogy. (On a related note, Po-Zu’s summer sale is currently going on and some of their Star Wars designs are included for pretty darn good prices so check it out.)

And that’s it for this week! For those of you in the States, have a safe holiday weekend and for the rest of you, enjoy your week!