The magic of Star Wars is alive and well as Star Wars Celebration Japan — the 16th such gathering — began on Friday (local time). And, of course, Rotten Tomatoes is here to see all the presentations for the upcoming movies and TV shows. And as we’ve done with the last several Celebrations, we’re bringing you the vibes, news, and reactions. From Ryan Gosling to Industrial Light & Magic to The Mandalorian & Grogu, take a look below to see what’s transpired so far.
Prior to the panel celebrating the second and final season of Andor: A Star Wars Story, a group of cosplayers dressed like prisoners from Narkina 5 took to the stage and soon ran around the arena, mimicking the scene from Andor’s first season and, as it happens, a similar run at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London. In fact, the same fan organized both runs.
It served as preamble to the victory lap for the program. Although, as those who have seen Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, “victory” is a strange word to use. The second set of episodes chronicles the four years of Cassian Andor’s (Diego Luna) life prior to Rogue One. In fact, Luna told the audience to watch the film again after the final episode of the series because “you are going to be seeing a different film.”
“Each three episodes will be one year,” showrunner Tony Gilroy explained. Additionally, each trio of episodes will be released together week-to-week. “We’re essentially dropping a new movie every week,” he added. “And we’re focusing on the most important three or four days of every year.”
For Genevieve O’Reilly’s Mon Mothma, that means starting on her ancestral home of Chandrila for a wedding and, as she put it, “all the complications that brings.” But as the years roll by, it is time for Mothma to “step out of the shadows and risk everything to speak some truth.” A sizzle reel of the season to come suggests this will be literal as she speaks before the Imperial senate.
The Empire has plans of its own, of course, represented by Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). But for Dedra Meero (Denise Gough), those designs change the course of her life, too. “We find out where [she] comes from and makes her who she is,” the actor said. “Things get real strange … Dedra really shows herself. It wasn’t so much girlboss, it was much more fascist — which is so unlike me. It was really acting.”
Speaking of fascists, a few photos offered a glimpse at Cyril Karn’s (Kyle Soller) ascendancy. According to Soller, he starts out the season feeling good about himself thanks to a recent promotion one year after the season one finale. “He’s got new threads and is flexing his little bit of power in the Empire,” he said.
A very suggestive photo of Karn and Dedra appeared on screen, indicating their encounter on Ferrix continues into something else.
“He’s trying to flex this,” Soller added. “It’s a lot of staring. No touching.”
“It goes really well,” Gough laughed.
Soller offered one final tease about the characters: “Opening up themselves to each other leads to extreme situations they never expected. It’s really spicy.”
Adria Arjona’s Bix, meanwhile, may find her most significant relationship strengthened. “You’ll get to see these two characters come together, and it’s one of my favorite parts,” she said. We’ll leave you to guess who Bix might connect with. At the same time, though, she is still recovering from what transpired with Doctor Gorst (Joshua James) and must “reconstruct herself.”
The season also sees the return of Alan Tudyk as K-2S0. The actor received a strong reception from the crowd and in lieu of answering the question asked of him, he quipped, “I’m not going to top that, let’s just move on.”
“We get to see how [he and Cass] meet,” he teased. “And the birth of K-2S0. It was amazing, to be born. [Andor] feels like such an important series and it’s great to be part of it.”
“I missed Alan badly. Seven very tough years, man,” Luna said. “I was laughing the moment I saw him in his very tight costume and he was in the exact same place after seven years. We spent a lot of time together in a cockpit and he’s the nicest partner you can have in the scene.
“There is nothing like working with someone who is trying to make it more interesting and fun. It’s beautiful. I never knew it was going to be so much fun,” he continued. “When you read the pages, you’re interacting with a droid. But Alan brings a soul to this character and he deserves the reception that he gets. It was nice to witness [how he got born].”
“Tony doesn’t hold back,” executive producer Sanne Wohlenberg said, summing up the experience of making 24 episodes. “And our team really outdid themselves. They put their hearts and souls into creating new worlds to tell this story. 140 sets across 20 stages, two backlots, 156 creatures, 30 droids.” And that was just the accounting we could hear as the crowd began to applaud the effort to bring it to the screen. Their enthusiasm was rewarded with a screening of the first season 2 episode.
Andor: A Star Wars Story returns April 22.
While this Celebration’s Star Wars: Ahsoka panel was, indeed, a celebration of the first season, it was also a chance to tease some details of the upcoming second year, which creator Dave Filoni and star Rosario Dawson begin shooting next week. As revealed via a “not-a-trailer” teaser cribbed from a similar preview for The Empire Strikes Back, the story will continue with both its major threads: Grand Admiral Thrawn’s (Lars Mikkelsen) return to the Imperial Remnant in the Star Wars Galaxy and Ahsoka Tano’s (Dawson) journey with Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) and Huyang (David Tennant) on the planet Peridea in a distant galaxy.
Of course, that part of the journey led to some of the delay in production. A key element of the Peridea story concerns fallen Jedi Baylan Skoll, originally played by the late Ray Stevenson. “This is part of that challenge … losing Ray, who was such a great person and spirit,” an emotional Filoni said. “He was the most beautiful person on and off screen. It was challenge to consider continuing for a while.”
He credited a support group that included Dawson and fellow executive producer Jon Favreau with helping to find the way to carry on with the tale. “And I had Ray in my head,” he added. “I knew what to do, it just took a while to get there. Ray would be happy with what we’ve chosen.”
Taking on the role for season two is Game of Thrones’ Rory McCann. “He takes it very to heart. Rory is a big man with a big heart and he has such respect for Ray. His whole focus is not letting Ray down and not letting you guys down. We love what he’s taking on and the Force is with him,” Filoni explained. “It’s in the eyes.”
The screen above Filoni projected the first photos of McCann in costume.
“His character is important,” he continued. “He’s meant to be the parallel of Ahsoka. Where there’s the light, there’s the dark.”
Of course, what the parallel ex-Jedis will find among the ruins of Peridea’s Mortis monuments is something the creator was less willing to share. “The son is there, the father is there, most of the daughter is there … We’ll get into it,” he said. “I don’t know where George was going with that and it turned out to be compelling episodes [of Star Wars: The Clone Wars].” Now, it is up to Filoni to chart what that mythology means for Ahsoka, Sabine, Baylan, and his (former?) apprentice, Shin Hati (Ivanna Sakhno).
“You’ll get a taste of it when you watch Season 2,” he teased.
Back in the more familiar galaxy, Thrawn will go “head-to-head” with his direct counterpart in the New Republic: Admiral Ackbar. “It took all my power to resist the line ‘it’s a trap!’” Filoni joked. The character will be realized via a mixture of a practical puppet and CGI. “We needed an Akbar who had all the wiggle of the [original] puppet,” he explained.
Other characters aligned to the New Republic scheduled to return include Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Chopper (Filoni), and Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi).
Asked what makes Thrawn the right antagonist for the assembled heroes to face, Filoni quipped, “He’s the right villain for this time period because of Heir to the Empire.” The 1991 novel, set in the same era as Ahsoka, introduced Thrawn as a formidable opponent for the original Star Wars heroes. “He’s a villain who doesn’t have the Force, but holds his own against everyone because of his Moriarity-like intellect,” the executive producer explained. “Thrawn is something else and Lars plays him brilliantly … He’s right for this period of the Empire trying to regain control.”
“You have to write him smart. The smart villain is a scary villain,” Favreau added. “And that makes for strong heroes. What’s been established in multiple media is that this guy is one step ahead. That puts a lot of pressure on the performer and the writer. You want it to be something where the audience is rewarded for paying attention and Thrawn really affords that.”
After the presentation, Filoni appeared on the Fan Stage of the Celebration show floor and offered a little more clarity about what to expect. “There is going to be a war in our Star Wars, an all out throw-down on a scale as best as I can do it, as best as John and I can afford it,” he said. “You’ll see a lot more of [Thrawn], Ezra, Hera –she’ll be much more directly part of the action, and because you guys made such a big deal about, I put a lot more Chopper in it.”
The ”not-a-trailer” also teased a new Nightsister character, the “ancient machines” of Peridea, and the arrival of Zeb, who will also appear in The Mandalorian & Grogu.
Before all the season 2 reveals, Filoni, Dawson, Favreau, and guest star Hayden Christensen discussed the latter actor’s return as Anakin Skywalker in the first season. “The way they conceived of doing this was brilliant. The World Between Worlds and Anakin taking Ahsoka down the ‘yellow brick road’ of her memories,” the actor said. The episode, “Part Five: Shadow Warrior,” sees Ahsoka reuniting with her former master, Anakin, via a few flashbacks to the Clone Wars and a seeming present day fight between her and his Force Spirit.
“I remember reading this script and texting Dave and saying ‘this is amazing.’” Christensen added.
“it’s a very compelling part of Anakin’s life that we never saw in live action. George was telling me about the Clone Wars and how he was a great warrior and I thought, ‘that sounds really cool, George’, and seeing how it was presented in the animated realm, I was really excited to do it in live action.”
The reminiscences was something of a wind-up, though, as Christensen later confirmed he will also return in season 2. “There’s not much I can share, but Anakin will be back,” he said. Let the speculation about the whys and hows begin. But remember: we did see his Force Spirit on Peridea in season 1’s closing moments.
A few final teases included a recreated Home One set with “two full-sized X-wings”, some new locations on Peridea, the Notis in peril, and the introduction of loth-kittens. As Filoni explained, their legs are too weak to carry their bodies, so they roll around. “They’ll be in the shop at the next Celebration,” he joked.
Although the opening panel of the weekend was meant to showcase The Mandalorian & Grogu, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and chief creative officer Dave Filoni took to the stage to present some details about the next film after Mando & Grogu. The duo welcomed director Shawn Levy to the stage, who mentioned he and Kennedy were chatting about a potential film for years.
“In 2022 I got a call and she said, ‘Let’s do it.’ We started [working] with screenwriter Jonathan Tropper,” he explained. At that time, the story was wide open and could take place anywhere in the Star Wars timeline. But then the director added a bombshell: “This is no longer a Star Wars movie in development. We’re making it this Fall.”
“I can’t tell you too much because anything I say, you will run with it,” he continued. “This is a standalone adventure set a few years after events of Episode IX. What could that mean?”
“We won’t say what that means,” Filoni added, “There are so many rumors and you want to set the record straight.”
Levy admitted he’s read some of the wild fan theories online. “Most of it is very inaccurate,” he said. “One thing I need to dispel is that it would star Ryan Gosling. So, today, I wanted to tell you that rumor is 100 percent true.”
Gosling joined the group on stage, accompanied by a photo of his childhood Empire Strikes Back sheets provided by his mother. “Yes, she still has them,” the actor revealed. “As you can see from the picture, I was dreaming about Star Wars before I saw the film. It framed my idea of what a movie was.”
Turning his attention to his movie with Levy, titled Star Wars: Starfighter, Gosling said, “This script is so good with so many great original characters. There’s not a more perfect filmmaker for this particular story than Shawn.”
The director again made clear the film, which will be set a few years after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, is a standalone film — not a sequel or prequel to another tale. “It’s a new adventure set in a period of time we haven’t seen on screen yet. It features a group of all-new characters,” he said.
Starfighter is currently scheduled for release on May 28, 2027.
Kennedy also made a quick reference to the other films still in development: James Mangold‘s tale of the first human to access the Force, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy‘s film with Daisy Ridley returning as Rey, Taika Waititi‘s long-gestating project, Filoni’s feature debut, and Simon Kinberg‘s film trilogy.
Kennedy and Filoni remained on stage to discuss next year’s The Mandalorian & Grogu with director Jon Favreau and stars Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver joining them. Asked how Favreau and Filoni plot out the adventures of Din Djarin and his Force-sensitive adopted son, Filoni said, “We have a bunch of action figures and we spread them on the floor. I’m usually the bad guy and Jon is the good guys.”
“He’s like the older brother who only lets me play with certain toys,” Favreau quipped. “It feels like all the things we did when were younger. It’s the funnest job you can imagine.”
Above them, a slide show revealed some shots from the film, including Din Djarin and Grogu walking with Star Wars Rebels favorite Zeb Orrelios (Steve Blum) on a New Republic landing field and an interior of an AT-AT (or Imperial Walker if you prefer). One photo featured Filoni at the AT-AT controls.
“I won’t lie, it was great,” he said.
“These guys never grew up,” Kennedy joked.
According to Favreau, the film’s sets are more detailed than ever as it was shot for IMAX screens. The photos definitely offer that level of detail.
Asked if he knew Star Wars fans would connect with Djarin, Pascal said “Yes.” He went on to tell a story of how Favreau and Filoni first sold him on the show before he even knew he was going to play the title character.
Weaver, meanwhile, said she “got lucky” by being invited to have a Zoom chat with Favreau and Filoni. She admitted to the audience that she had not watched The Mandalorian prior to that call, though. “[They] gave me an assignment to watch it … I fell in love with all the characters, but especially [Pedro]. And Grogu stole my heart. I just saw him in the green room. He looked a little nervous, but I think he’d like to come out here.”
Favreau brought one of the more advanced Grogu puppets onto stage, who is now mostly self-contained but very expressive. Other creatures also appeared: a pair of large BD-style droids with an Anzellan (Babu Frik’s species) attached to one. The tiny creature interacted with Kennedy and Filoni, proving the technology continues to get smaller and better.
Although the identity of Weaver’s character is still unknown, photos and footage confirmed she is part of the New Republic. In fact, the footage shown centered on Djarin and Grogu attacking an AT-AT. In a scene reminiscent of Darth Vader’s rampage in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the Mandalorian dispatches the entire Remnant Snowtrooper detail with panache and expediency. Of course, the Walker captain quickly seals the blast door to the control room, leading Mando to just blow up the entire transport. But in a quick cut to Weaver’s character sometime later, she calls the whole operation “messy” and denies Grogu a treat.
The footage also suggests the duo will obtain a new Razor Crest class ship while Grogu gets a chance to swim. He also still has his connection to the Force as a scene depicts him using it against a new type of mouse droid. The tease ended with a brief glimpse of Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), Jabba’s son, in a stadium as Grogu looked on munching Mantell Mix from the seats. All in all, it looks like The Mandalorian amped up to the biggest screens possible. The film is due out on May 22, 2026.
The first season of Light & Magic from director Lawrence Kasdan centered on the formation of special effects company Industrial Light & Magic and the people who made it a fantastic place throughout the 20th Century. But it ended on something of a cliffhanger with the computer-generated tyrannosaurus rex from Jurassic Park signaling a major change in how visual effects would be made.
The second season of the documentary series, directed this time by ILM veteran Joe Johnston, picks up the story from that T-Rex by focusing on film likes Twister, Pirates of the Caribbean, and, of course, the Star Wars prequel trilogy. As Johnston put it via a video message screened during the celebration panel, “My goal for the second season was to chronicle the incredible chapter of change as the digital revolution took hold.”
Appearing on stage to discuss the way the Prequels pushed the art and technology forward were ILM President Lynwen Brennan, General Manager Janet Lewin, Lucasfilm Executive Design Director Doug Chiang, legendary VFX designer John Knoll, actor Ahmed Best, and digital effects artist Rob Coleman.
Moderated by voice actor Sam Witwer, the discussion centered mostly on the challenges in bringing Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace to life. At the time, an effects-heavy tentpole film consisted of maybe 300-400 effects shots. The Phantom Menace, meanwhile, has exactly one shot not augmented in some way by special or visual effects: a grate releasing poison gas early in the film. Chiang recalled submitting his portfolio to work on the film and discovering he got the job as the lead designer during his first meeting with director George Lucas. Assuming it was a job interview, he came without pencils or paper, and thus scribbled notes about what Lucas envisioned on napkins.
Footage of a baby-faced Knoll from the late 1990s revealed the daunting complexity of what Lucas hoped to accomplish with the first prequel. “Beyond the quantity, there were a lot of things that were beyond the capabilities of our tools. I was keeping a tally of all the things we needed to write to do cloth simulation or thousands of characters. In dozens of areas, we were going to develop new technologies,” he said.
“It was something I wanted,” he added. “As a teenager, I was inspired by the Star Wars films. I wanted to work on something of that scope and scale, but this was so much bigger.”
Best, meanwhile, had the honor and task of being the first actor to bring a fully CGI-animated lead character to life. Joking that he should be “more rich” for the contribution to cinema, he was quick to credit the team at ILM for making it happen. “It was an incredibly special time and it couldn’t have happened without everybody here. Jar Jar Binks isn’t just me, it’s all of us. There would be no Jar Jar without [them]. We are Jar Jar,” he said.
“There is no straight path to Star Wars. what we had was a passion and desire to make these things happen,” the actor continued. “What we all in had in common was that George had faith in us to figure it all out; that passion to deliver the best work that we could do for this thing we all love and this person who had faith in us. We had to bring our A-Game.”
That trust and passion worked out in a number of ways, from Best deciding how to deliver a seemingly indecipherable Jar Jar line to Coleman taking on the fight between Yoda and Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, which was scripted as “a fight that defies description.” In both cases, Lucas told the artists that he knew they could work it out.
According to Chiang, season 2 of Light & Magic “really highlights the clarity of vision [from George].”
“I have that same feeling about how Joe Johnston told the story of nonlinear special effects,” Lewin added. “There’s a misconception that it is a linear process, but it is extremely iterative. These guys are the leaders, but everyone has a voice. I love that we have a program that celebrates that process.”
Brennan said, “Joe did such a great job on this series of capturing these moments. There’s this mystery [to VFX] and it can come over that it’s a button we just press when it’s really thousands of people figuring it all out together. It’s a wonderful thing to be a part of. And we all still get to do something that is impossible every day.”
Light & Magic season 2 is streaming now on Disney+.
During a panel celebrating 20 years of Lucasfilm Animation, vice president Athena Yvette Portillo and Filoni unveiled the next animated series, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, to a crowd of stunned fans who assembled to hear more about the duo’s creative process and stories of the division’s first two decades.
Set during the dark times of the Empire, a deposed and dejected Maul (voiced by Witwer) vows to get revenge on the criminals who benefited from his misfortune. He also sets out to take on a new apprentice — a young Twi’lek he seemingly met before. Both developments may lead to his position as leader of the Crimson Dawn syndicate as glimpsed in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The trailer screened during the panel revealed the next evolution of Lucasfilm’s animation style: a more painterly texture to the look iterated from Star Wars: The Clone Wars to Star Wars: The Bad Batch. It gave city planets and dingy prisons a new beauty. It also made Maul look quite imposing in the moments glimpsed during the preview. Following the video, Witwer took to the stage and said with Maul’s voice, “run it again.” The crowd sprang to their feet as the fan-favorite voice actor had a moment to bask in the enthusiasm.
The series is set to debut in 2026.
Star Wars Visions Continues With Volume 3 And The Ninth Jedi
Star Wars Visions, the anthology series returns in October with 9 new shorts. But whereas the second set showcased work from animation studios all over the world, Volume 3 returns its focus to Japan with contributions from Kinema Citrus, David Production, Kamikaze Douga, Project Studio Q, Trigger, Polygon Pictures, Production I.G, and Wit Studio.
“We always hinted that we’d be back to Japan and do more anime,” Visions executive producer James Waugh said. “I’m excited to work with these master craftsmen again.”
He also announced some of the stories told in Volume One will continue – particularly “The Ninth Jedi” in its own long-form series. Star Wars Visions Presents The Ninth Jedi continues the tale of Kara as the search for her father expands to the whole galaxy. “It will be a story where the secrets [of the lightsabers] will be told,” supervising director Kenji Kamiyama said. The spinoff series is due out in 2026.
Kara’s tale will also continue in Volume 3 with “The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope.” Director and writer Naoyoshi Shiotani called it a “very grand story” as Kara takes her first steps into a larger world.
The story of “The Duel” also continues in “The Duel: Payback.” According to director Takanobu Mizuno, Ronin continues to pursue numerous Sith, but a Jedi Grand Master stands in his way thanks to a truce with a Sith named Anee-san. Although still in in the final stages of production, the director shared some character designs, including a “yakuza Anzellan,” a Wookie named Balol, and a mantis-like alien called Huk inspired by a similar creature in the original Star Wars cantina.
Another design featured an AT-AT fused with traditional Japanese architecture.
Volume One’s “The Village Bride” also expands with “The Lost Ones.” Although director Hitoshi Haga was somewhat cagey about what will transpire – or the English translator lost a lot of nuance – he mentioned the story will take place after Order 66 and that it was “an honor [to work on Star Wars].”
In addition to the returning characters and scenarios, Volume 3 will also introduce 6 new stories continuing Visions tradition of bold new takes on Star Wars concepts. “Black,” directed by Shinya Ohira of David Production, fuses graffiti-inspired art and rhythmic music to suggest the interior life of Imperial Stormtroopers. In a video message, Ohira said “people have their only lives and thoughts and the same goes for Stormtroopers.” A brief clip from the short proved it looks unlike anything else in Visions so far.
“The Song of Four Wings” from Q Project Studio and director Hiroyasu Kobayashi takes its name from the X-Wing fighter, but features a girl named Crane and what the director called a “quite secretive” droid. In a sizzle reel for the whole volume, the two appear to fuse into a singular mech as they battle AT-ATs. Kobayashi said part of the mission was to “take the old Joe Johnston design and feature a lot of mechs … We are a studio that specializes in mecha.”
He also added, “I love AT-ATs.”
Tadahiro Yoshihira’s “The Bird of Paradise” from Polygon Pictures features a Force-sensitive woman named Nakime as she goes on a journey to confront her Dark Side. The director said he “was thinking about creating a story that no one had seen yet.” Its mix of CGI-animation and painterly textures suggests he may be able to accomplish his mission statement.
Junichi Yamamoto, director of WIT Studios’ “Bounty Hunters” revealed the names of its main characters: a woman named Sevn and droid designated IV-A4 (but possibly pronounced Ivaho) They are hired by a “suspiciously handsome” businessman for a job that could lead to great danger … but don’t they all?
Crime also concerns Masahiko Otsuka’s “The Smuggler.” It centers on a female thief and her gaggle of pals as they try to evade Stormtroopers on a world reminiscent of an Italian seaside town. Otsuka’s Volume One short, “The Elder” was serious and so he wanted to make something “fun” this time around. The few moments glimpsed in the sizzle reel certain convey that.
But the short that garnered the most interest from the audience was definitely “Yuko’s Treasure” thanks to a character called Billy. Although a droid, he resembles a bear and looks after the titular Yuko. “He’s a spoiled brat,” director Masaki Tachibana said. A slide of Billy’s character design featured him holding a microwave, but the director suggested it is much more than that. Of all the shorts, it is definitely the most kawaii of the bunch.
Thankfully, fans unable to attend the panel or Celebration won’t have to wait too long to see the next set of Visions shorts. It debuts on Disney+ October 29.
Next Time In Los Angeles
And after roaming the world for the last two shows, Star Wars Celebration will be heading back to the US for the 2027 edition. As announced during the closing ceremonies, the next Celebration will be held in Los Angeles April 1-4 at the LA Convention Center — the first time since 2006 (although a couple of more recent Celebrations were held in Anaheim, CA). Presumably, Starfighter will get the bulk of the attention as it is due out later that year, but we imagine some of the films and shows referenced this weekend will also get their due. Of course, 2027 is also the 50th anniversary of the original Star Wars, so expect that to be celebrated as well. And, Force willing, we’ll be there to cover it once again.
