Good morning and we hope you all enjoyed the Puppy Bowl yesterday! Actually, that makes me wonder… what’s the Star Wars equivalent of the Puppy Bowl? The Lothcat Bowl? Regardless… I’d watch it.

Speaking of sporting events, LEGO Star Wars is celebrating their 20th anniversary with five new vehicle sets including Anakin Skywalker’s podracer! That set also includes a minifig of Padmé in her peasant disguise and yes I need it.

Celebration guest announcements continue with yet another batch of actors including Ashley Eckstein (who I thought had already been announced before this, whoops), John Ratzenberger (Brian is thrilled!), and Katy Karwheel (who did the physical performance for Rio). You can read the entire list here.

In awesome news, our favorite rogue archaeologist’s comic book was nominated for an Outstanding Comic Book GLAAD award. Congratulations to everyone involved with Doctor Aphra. 

Finally, Lucasfilm announced, to much hype, their Galaxy’s Edge books and comics that will allow everyone to step into Batuu. In addition to the previously announced comic series coming in April, fans can look forward to a novel from Del Rey and by Delilah S. Dawson titled Black Spire that appears to star Vi Moradi, a YA novel by Zoraida Córdova titled A Crash of Fate, and Star Wars: Myths and Fables by George Mann which is exactly what it sounds like. You can check out the entire line at the link above but needless to say, we are hyped! Being able to walk into this park with this extra knowledge is going to be (as a certain boy on Tatooine would say) so wizard!

And that’s it for this week!

Hello again and welcome to our weekly romp through the news from the Galaxy Far, Far Away. Make sure your dejarik tables are in their upright and locked position and that your crash webbing is securely fastened, because here we go!

Marvel takes us to Black Spire Outpost

I’m excited to report that those of us who don’t like lines or crowds will still have a chance to see Batuu’s Black Spire Outpost this year. Whether or not you plan on visiting Galaxy’s Edge at Disney parks this year, Marvel is giving us a chance to look around the notorious hive of scum and villainy from the comfort of home this April. The Galaxy’s Edge comic miniseries is being written by Ethan Sacks with art by Will Sliney and is available for pre-order at your favorite local comic store.

Solo nabs Oscar nod

Congratulations to the team from Solo: A Star Wars Story! The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this week that the film is nominated for an Oscar in the category of Outstanding Visual Effects.

It’s a Celebration!

A Star Wars Celebration, that is! The hits just keep on coming this week as Lucasfilm and ReedPop continue to make announcements about the upcoming convention in Chicago. This week’s biggest news is wookiee-sized; Actor Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca) will be making his first appearance at a Star Wars Celebration and I could not be happier about this development. Additionally this week, actors Sam Witwer (Maul), Greg Grunberg (Snap Wexley), Greg Proops (Garma, Jak Sivrak), Paul Kasey (Admiral Raddus, Ello Asty), Ian McElhinney (General Dodonna (Rogue One)), Orli Shoshan (Shaak Ti) along with puppeteer Dace Chapman have been added to the star-studded lineup.

Key poster art for the show also debuted this week along with a list of the featured exhibitors in Artist Alley. Limited tickets are still available– I hope to see all of you there!

That’s all for this week. Thanks again for joining us for the news in under 12 parsecs. As always, send Star Wars news tips to Tosche Station and send wookiee hugs to @MandaTheGinger