Star Wars Weekends Guests Announced!

Posted on April 3, 2015 by Nanci

In all the excitement for Celebration, it’s easy to overlook that other event that happens every May and June at Walt Disney World — Star Wars Weekends! The event will take place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from May 15-June 14 at (soon to be renamed) Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Earlier this afternoon the Disney Parks blog and The Official Site announced the Star Wars celebrities appearing this year, including the first appearances of two very special guests, Ian McDiarmid and Frank Oz!

Weekend I (May 15 – 17)

Ian McDiarmid: Senator/Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Amy Allen: Aayla Secura (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)
Tiya Sircar: Sabine Wren (Star Wars Rebels)

Weekend II (May 22 – 24)

Warwick Davis: Wald, Wicket W. Warrick (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Silas Carson: Ki-Adi-Mundi, Nute Gunray (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones;Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)
Vanessa Marshall: Hera Syndulla (Star Wars Rebels)

Weekend III (May 29 – 31)

Warwick Davis: Wald, Wicket W. Warrick (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Daniel Logan: Boba Fett (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones)
Steve Blum: Zeb Orrelios (Star Wars Rebels)

Weekend IV (June 5 – 7)

Ray Park: Darth Maul (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)
Jeremy Bulloch: Boba Fett (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Ashley Eckstein: Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars: The Clone Wars; Star Wars Rebels)

Weekend V (June 12 – 14)

Frank Oz: Yoda (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi; Star Wars Rebels)
Ray Park: Darth Maul (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)
Peter Mayhew: Chewbacca (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith; Star Wars: A New Hope; Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
Taylor Gray: Ezra Bridger (Star Wars Rebels)

James Arnold Taylor will be hosting the event, with Ashley Eckstein on hand to host the Padawan Mind Challenge (in addition to her Weekend IV guest appearance).

Also of note this year: a new complex of shops for Darth’s Maul on Streets of America and a new inside location for celebrity autographs just off Commissary Lane.

In addition to celebrity appearances in “Stars of the Saga” and “Star Wars: Rebels”, Ray Park and Warwick Davis will be appearing in their own one-man shows. No work yet if Ian McDiarmid and Frank Oz will be appearing as part of “Stars of the Saga” or a separate interview like last year’s “Conversation with Mark Hamill”.

Who’s excited? I’m excited!

Tosche Station Radio #108: Celebration Pre-Funk

Posted on April 1, 2015 by admin

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Dunc and James from Club Jade join the hosts to discuss all things Celebration on this week’s Tosche Station Radio!

Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight What’s New on the Blog. Bria reviewed Kanan #1. We announced A Celebration of You, your chance to take part in a podcast recording and share your story at Celebration.

In Deak’s Dirt, Is there a Battlefront novel in the pipeline? (via clubjade). Is the Celebration opening panel going to be broadcast worldwide? (via clubjade). Gareth Edwards and Josh Trank are going to be at Celebration. But that’s stupid you shouldn’t go to it. Instead you should come to our recording instead! Starwars.com posted some Celebration shirts, Her Universe teases a Cloud City dress

Biggs’ Bullshit asks if a Lords of the Sith character feature in Rogue One? (via clubjade). Via Deadline: Ben Mendolsohn up for a role in Rogue One?

This week in Camie’s Concerns, James and Dunc help us break down Celebration and offer tips on what to bring, what to do, and what to see.

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of Majestic Giraffe Productions. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

Tosche Station Radio #107: Fridges in Temples

Posted on March 26, 2015 by admin

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Brian and Nanci get literary on this week’s Tosche Station Radio!

Kicking off the shows, the hosts highlight What’s New on the Blog. Bria reviewed Princess Leia #2. Bria reviewed Darth Vader #3. She also outlined a new approach to recommending the Expanded Universe.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci’s been busy with writing a new book. The hosts went to Cloak and Blaster (a fun Central Florida geek themed pub), and Brian bought some new audio gear for Celebration.

Deak’s Dirt starts with news that The X-Files has reopened! Meanwhile in Star Wars, there’s a new blurb for Dark Disciple. Star Wars Celebration schedule has been posted. Rumors that a Star Wars live action show will be shooting at Pinewood in between movies.

What’s in Biggs’ Bull#&$*? Well, In the stupid department, Lucasfilm can’t market Rogue One until Rogue Nation comes out. Musically, John Williams will be recording the Episode VII score in LA

Camie’s Concerns is all about the Expanded Universe and Star Wars literature. We look at what’s already been released, what’s coming up, what we liked, and what we think could use some improvement.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

Tosche Station Radio #106: Wild Mass Guessing II – The Guessening

Posted on March 18, 2015 by admin

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Rogue One and Journey to the Force Awakens? Mike Cooper joins us for WILD MASS GUESSING!

Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight What’s New on the Blog. Bria reviewed Star Wars #3. Brian wrote about Separating the Art from the Artist and why he’s worried about Lords of the Sith. Nanci explained the big problem with Heir to the Jedi. We’ll be discussing these topics in depth next week along with a sort of State of the EU.

Deak’s Dirt starts with comics news this week. Stuart Immonen will be the new artist on Star Wars starting with #8. Meanwhile on the lit side of things, Journey to The Force Awakens announced. In additional Marvel comics news, the cover of Shattered Empire #1 by Phil Noto was shown off. Finally, we got official confirmation that Aftermath will be written by Chuck Wendig.

Over in Biggs Bull$^%*, Rian Johnson officially confirmed for Episode VIII and the release date is set for May 26, 2017. Rogue One announced as the first standalone movie, will be released in December 2016. Directed by Gareth Edwards, written by Chris Weitz, and starring Felicity Jones. Alexandre Desplat will do the score. Stackpole had a blog post on the subject. Meanwhile, Andrew Liptak posted a history of Rogue Squadron at B&N

There’s so much news this week, we’re just continuing it in Camie’s Concerns! Mike Cooper from Eleven Thirty Eight joins us to break things down and engage in wild mass guessing (our favorite passtime).

You can see Mike’s work here at Eleven-ThirtyEight and follow the blog here on Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

Rian Johnson officially confirmed for Episode VIII, first standalone to be Rogue One

Posted on March 12, 2015 by admin

Pretty much the whole world has known for a while that Episode VIII’s director would be Rian Johnson, but Bob Iger and Disney made it official today.

Iger confirmed that Rian Johnson will write and direct Star Wars: Episode VIII. The film, which continues the saga after the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is set for release on May 26, 2017 — forty years and a day after the release of Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977.

Of note is Star Wars returning to a traditional May release window. Looks like we’ll only be doing one holiday Star Wars episodic release. Believe it or not, though, this wasn’t the biggest announcement in this press release. We finally have the name of the first standalone film: Rogue One.

Rogue One is the title for the first film in a unique series of big-screen adventures that explores the characters and events beyond the core Star Wars saga. Rogue One will be directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters, Godzilla) and written by Oscar nominee Chris Weitz (Cinderella, About a Boy, Antz). The first actress cast is Felicity Jones, who garnered an Academy Award nomination and critical acclaim for her performance in The Theory of Everything.

Be still my heart! I mean, we don’t really know what the film is about, but it’s hard to see that title and not think Rogue Squadron and military science fiction. And, hey, there’s a lot of great written material to draw inspiration from.

20 New Star Wars Books and Comics to Fill in Gap Between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Shoshana

Those of you thirsty for some information of the state of the Galaxy Far Far Away leading up to The Force Awakens are in luck. According to an exclusive report at Entertainment Weekly, there are at least twenty new Star Wars books and comics to be released later this year fleshing out the thirty-two years between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, ranging all different publishers and target age demographics in a series called Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Content under that title will be released by various Disney imprints as well as at least seven outside companies and is confirmed to include adult novels, young adult novels, sticker books, and comics.

Details on most of the books involved are still under wraps and many of the books are still being worked on, but we do know some about of the upcoming material:

A few titles we can confirm are Del Rey’s Star Wars: Aftermath, which sounds like it may serve as an epilogue to the original trilogy – and perhaps a prologue to the new one. Meanwhile, Marvel Comics will put out one prequel called Star Wars: Journey to the Force Awakens and another preview story told from C-3PO’s perspective. For vehicle enthusiasts, Studio Fun International will print Star Wars: Ships of the Galaxy.

The report also let’s us know some of the authors involved for a series of young adult novels focusing on the characters of original trilogy, to be released by Disney-Lucasfilm Press:

Cecil Castellucci (author of Tin Star) will write Moving Target, an adventure following Princess Leia; Jason Fry, who earlier wrote Darth Maul: Shadow Conspiracy, will be the author of The Weapon of a Jedi, about Luke Skywalker; Claudia Gray, author of the Evernight series of fantasy books, will write a book titled Lost Stars; and Greg Rucka, a comic book scribe and writer of the Atticus Kodiak novels, will pen Smuggler’s Run, a Han Solo tale.

There will also be a new series of novels retelling the original trilogy from various perspectives, though there’s no word yet on whose points of view we’ll see.

RIP Leonard Nimoy

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Emily

It is with great sadness that we tell you the news that Leonard Nimoy, the great Spock, died earlier today from the end stages of COPD.

We can only say this: lines from Spock’s funeral from The Wrath of Khan:

We are assembled here today to pay final respects to our honored dead. And yet it should be noted, in the midst of our sorrow, this death takes place in the shadow of new life, the sunrise of a new world; a world that our beloved comrade gave his life to protect and nourish. He did not feel this sacrifice a vain or empty one, and we will not debate his profound wisdom at these proceedings. Of my friend, I can only say this: Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most… human.

MLB offers Star Wars fun and bobbleheads

Posted on February 26, 2015 by Emily

Major League Baseball gets into celebrating Star Wars each year with Star Wars nights at selected ballparks. This year, Cincinnati Reds fans can get this R2-D2 bobblehead with a view level ticket for $25. The night also features Star Wars music and firework show, character visits, and (usually) an appearance from the Ohio Garrison of the 501st.

Star Wars nights at MLB ballparks also help support the charity StandUp2Cancer. Other teams hosting Star Wars night during the 2015 season include the Mets, Dodgers, and Cardinals. Keep an eye on your team’s schedule to see if they’ll be hosting a similar Star Wars night (and ticket deal).

Tosche Station Radio #103: Arguing like it’s 1996

Posted on February 12, 2015 by admin

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Should the new Jedi be the same as the old? We answer that question on this week’s Tosche Station Radio!

Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight what’s New on the Blog.Bria explained why KOTOR needs three video games and a TV show. She also reviewed Sabine’s Sketchbook, Star Wars #2 and Darth Vader #1, and the Rebels episode “Vision of Hope.” Nanci started Dark Force Rising for the Thrawn Trilogy retrospective and reviewed “Call to Action”

In Fixer’s Flash, the hosts have been catching up on Agent Carter and think you should be watching it too. Nanci read Heir to the Jedi. Both of the hosts spent the weekend at Disney World and the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Oh, and something about a Disney Star Wars Cruise.

Deak’s Dirt starts with a bit of Marvel. Spider-Man is coming to the MCU and there’s a new Daredevil teaser. In Celebration news, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, and Kenny Baker will be in attendance! On the literature side of things, John Jackson Miller, Christie Golden, and James Luceno will be there as well. Finally, Tosche Station will be recording a podcast LIVE at Star Wars Celebration! Our slot is Sunday at 10:30.

Bigg’s Bull$&#* features the usual grab bag of Standalone and Rebels rumors. What characters might be showing up in the animated series? Listen in to find out.

This week on Camie’s Concerns, some online conversation had the hosts wondering just how closely the new Jedi in the sequel trilogy should mirror the old Jedi. Our take? It’s a bad idea to be a carbon copy of the Old Order and we discuss why.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

Spider-Man to Appear in Marvel Cinematic Universe While 4 Marvel Release Dates are Pushed Back

Posted on February 10, 2015 by Shoshana

Sony and Marvel Studios have formed a Spidey-based partnership, according to Marvel’s official site:

Under the deal, the new Spider-Man will first appear in a Marvel film from Marvel’s Cinematic Universe (MCU). Sony Pictures will thereafter release the next installment of its $4 billion Spider-Man franchise, on July 28, 2017, in a film that will be co-produced by Kevin Feige and his expert team at Marvel and Amy Pascal, who oversaw the franchise launch for the studio 13 years ago. Together, they will collaborate on a new creative direction for the web slinger. Sony Pictures will continue to finance, distribute, own and have final creative control of the Spider-Man films.

Notably, the release refers to the character as “Spider-Man” rather than “Peter Parker,” with one exception:

“Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios share a love for the characters in the Spider-Man universe and have a long, successful history of working together. This new level of collaboration is the perfect way to take Peter Parker’s story into the future,” added Doug Belgrad, president, Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group.

While Belgrad doesn’t explicitly state that Peter and Spidey are one-and-the-same in this case, it is implied. If they are indeed the same, it will be the second film reboot of Peter Parker as Spider-Man in less than five years and the third film version of the character in less than fifteen. I’d find a film starring Mile Morales, the current Spider-Man in Marvel’s Ultimate comics universe, to be a breath of fresh air, but if don’t get to have that, perhaps they’ll at least get more creative with Spidey’s casting this time and choose an actor who isn’t white.

In addition to the news that they and Sony will be working together on Spider-Man, Marvel has pushed back the release dates of four previously announced films, possibly to give the new Spider-Man film some space. Thor: Ragnarok, previously scheduled for July 2017, will now be released on what had previously been Black Panther‘s release date of November 3, 2017, Black Panther will now come out on Captain Marvel‘s old release date of July 6, 2018, Captain Marvel is getting Inhumans‘ previous date of November 2, 2018, and Inhumans will now be released on July 12, 2019. You can read Marvel’s full announcement on the moved release dates here.