It’s a packed edition of The Week in Star Wars as we’ve got some possible character details for Star Wars: Episode VIII, a rumour about the Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer, loads of new posters and featurettes for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and more…
We’ll kick things off this week with Star Wars: Episode VIII. It’s been a while since we last had anything to report on the film, but a new rumour has surfaced about the characters that will be played by Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern. According to Making Star Wars, who had a very good track record when it came to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Del Toro’s character “has been described as a classic ‘man in black.’ As in he wears all black and he’s dangerous. His character is clean shaven with hair not unlike Poe Dameron’s in length. While The Wrap let us know he was up for the role of the bad guy in the film sometime ago, it doesn’t appear the heroes see del Toro as a bad guy, at least not at first… On paper it sounds a little close to Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back but before you panic, there are some details we’re still working on that make that appear to a bit of a stretch”. You can read deatails Dern’s character here…
…Moving over to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and a new IMAX poster landed online [see it here] along with an international poster and TV spot [see and watch that here]. A behind-the-scenes featurette [watch that here] was also released and you can check out character promos for Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor here and details on the Mon Calamari Rebel Admiral Raddus here. You can also take a look at a 360° Experience here and Empire’s ‘Death Star Plans’ subscriber cover here. Meanwhile, fans in the UK will not want to go to bed early, as Disney and Lucasfilm have announced that advance tickets will go on sale at 12.01 AM on Monday, November 21st…
Some casting news on the as-yet-untitled Han Solo Anthology movie this week, with news that Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has secured the female lead alongside Alden Ehrenreich’s Han and Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian. Meanwhile, be sure to check out Samuel Brace’s opinion piece ‘3 Star Wars Films That Lucasfilm Should Have Made Before a Han Solo Movie‘, which you can read here…
…Star Wars Battlefront will be celebrating the release of its Ultimate Edition in just a couple of weeks and Dice and EA have released a trailer promoting it. The trailer also shows off some quick footage of the upcoming Rogue One DLC, where players can battle on the planet Scariff featured in the film. Watch it here…
…We’ve got our first look at some of the Rogue One-inspired LEGO Star Wars sets due to arrive in stores this Winter including U-Wing, Y-Wing, TIE Striker and Krennic’s Imperial Shuttler Microfighters, Rebel and Imperial Trooper Battle Packs and the Battle on Scarif and Y-Wing Starfighter sets; take a look at the promotional images here…
…Ricky Church reviews Star Wars: Catalyst, which has ties to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story; read his review here…
…A rumour has also landed online that the first trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming will be attached to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story when it’s released in December. Supposedly this news comes from unnamed sources close to the production, so while it would make perfect sense for Marvel to debut the trailer alongside what will probably be one of the biggest movies of 2016, nothing is official yet…
…Hot Toys has unveiled a batch of official promotional images for its line of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Cosbaby Bobble-Heads which includes a bronze version Darth Vader and the Imperial Stormtrooper, and a black chrome version of Darth Vader and the Death Trooper Specialist [check them out here] as well as their 1/6th scale Death Trooper collectible figure [check that out here]. You can also see previews of Darth Vader, TIE Fighter Pilot, Jedha Patrol Stormtrooper, Imperial Stormtrooper, and Death Trooper (Specialist)…
…In a slight change of pace with Ewan McGregor interviews (expect a lot of these in January when T2: Trainspotting is released), the Scottish actor revealed that he nearly turned down the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi for the prequel trilogy. “Star Wars is Star Wars, it’s something I grew up with as a kid,” he said in an interview. “At first, I was very reluctant to do it, because I saw myself as this urban, grungy actor doing films about heroin and stuff, and that’s who I felt like I really was. But the nearer I got to it, the more I wanted to do it: and it wasn’t for money reasons, because it was back in the day I got paid nicely for it, but it wasn’t ridiculous by any means. It was to do with being in it and it didn’t feel like Hollywood. George Lucas hated Hollywood; he was in San Francisco following the beat of his own drum.” With all of the questions he now gets about a spin-off movie, he probably regrets that the role on…
…Our own Tom Nightingale got to visit Star Wars Identities in London this week, and you can read his review here…
…We spoke with video game composer Jesse Harlin about his time on Star Wars: The Old Republic, which you can read here…
…Marvel is set to launch a brand new Star Wars comic miniseries based upon the fan-favourite Sith Lord Darth Maul, which will take place prior to the events of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Bred on hate, fear, and anger. Steeped in the ways of darkness…trained to kill. Darth Maul’s time as an apprentice to Darth Sidious has long been cloaked in shadows, but at last we will reveal his tale of revenge. His master tells him to embrace his anger, but to stay hidden and bide his time. Maul has waited long enough – his patience growing ever thinner. His moment to step into the light has finally come. Prepare for a tale of unbridled rage as Darth Maul readies one of his first encounters with his mortal enemy…with the Jedi…
…Which brings us to your comic book previews for the week. First up is Star Wars: Han Solo #5: This is it — the dramatic conclusion to the Dragon Void race! Will Han take the trophy? Or be left with the space junk? Our favorite scoundrel’s first miniseries comes to a photo finish! And here’s the preview for Star Wars #25: Rebel crew vs. SCAR Troopers for the fate of the Harbinger! PLUS: An all-new Artoo-Deetoo adventure!
That’s all for this week – may the Force be with you.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the co-host of The Flickering Myth Podcast and Scooperhero News. You can follow him on Twitter @ThisisLukeOwen and read his weekly feature The Week in Star Wars.
Originally published November 20, 2016. Updated November 30, 2022.
