To defeat an enemy, you must know him. You must share a novel with him and journey to the Unknown Regions. – Grand Admiral Thrawn*

*Ok, not actually, but the biggest piece of Star Wars news this week was the first excerpt released from the upcoming novel Thrawn: Alliances, by Timothy Zahn. While the excerpt doesn’t contain much in the way of plot spoilers, it does appear to confirm that the novel takes place before Thrawn’s disappearance in the tentacled grasp of the purgill in the series finale of Star Wars Rebels. Still, it certainly seems like we can all get ready for a fun journey to Batuu with our favorite Imperial villains.

A bit closer to home, we got to see some technological developments that make the galaxy far, far away feel just a bit less distant. Epic games, in collaboration with NVIDIA and ILMxLAB, released a gorgeous new short demoing their advanced CG tech – could we be seeing an “animated” Star Wars story in the future that looks true to life?

Music fans also got some exciting news this week, as Lucasfilm announced that on May the 4th (be with you), they’ll be releasing remastered versions of the soundtracks from all six original Star Wars films, including a collectible mini-poster for buyers.

Speaking of movies, departed Solo: A Star Wars Story directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller announced this week that they’ve accepted Executive Producer credit on the upcoming film in light of their contributions before “creative differences” drove them from the project. This news is definitely not awkward at all and totally won’t provoke snickering from in-the-know fans upon seeing the former directors’ names in the credits.

And finally, let’s all keep our dear Nanci in our thoughts as she may or may not be dead after being tweeted at by Master Skywalker himself.

♥️♥️♥️ you back! pic.twitter.com/syPYsrBHc1

— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) March 21, 2018

And that’s a wrap! Until next week, may the Force be with you, friends.

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.

The Last Jedi’s out today in the states for digital download, blu in two weeks. Of all the special features, my favorite one is kinda hidden, so wanted to call it out. If you buy the movie anywhere online (or the blu) you have access to a music only version of TLJ.

— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) March 13, 2018

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.

Last week saw the end of Star Wars Rebels and the promise of a new live-action show. One thing’s for sure–we’re not going to have a dearth of Star Wars material to cover anytime soon. Let’s recap on the weekly Holonet Blast!

Star Wars Rebels came to a close with a two-part, hour and a half episode on Monday. The cast and creators discussed the finale in Entertainment Weekly, as well as what’s to come in Star Wars animation. Basically: we don’t know yet! But we will eventually. io9 also had the scoop on fan favorite Legends character Gilad Pellaeon who briefly appeared (offscreen) in the finale. Good news: he’s not dead!

Star Wars TV won’t be the sole realm of animation for much longer. Prior to last week’s earnings call, the official site announced that Jon Favreau will executive produce and write a new live-action TV series. What’s it about? Where’s it set? Who’ll be in it? Who knows! Like the previously-announced film series by Rian Johnson and the Game of Thrones showrunners, we’ll find out more about the live action show eventually.

Did you enjoy Leia: Princess of Alderaan? Do you like manga? Well,  you’re in luck! Claudia Gray’s novel is due for the manga treatment that was previously given to her novel Lost Stars.  It will be released, fittingly, on May 4.

Finally, in Solo: A Star Wars Story news, we might be getting the greatest advertising tie-in known to man with Solo branded SOLO cups. Also, Denny’s meals.

Ron Howard tweeted from the first scoring session of the film, which is due for release on May 25. Composer John Powell also shared a photo on Facebook. It was previously announced that John Williams will compose an original theme for Han Solo.

That’s all for this week! Be sure to share your best Solo-themed Denny’s meal names in the comments.