We’ve got some new concept art and leaked images from The Force Awakens, a possible new villain for Episode VIII and The King of Pop as the most annoying character in the saga in this week’s edition of The Week in Star Wars…
Kicking things off with news from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and some new concept art found its way online which showed off a new character that we’ve not seen yet. The character goes by the name of Bullhead and is an X-Wing pilot, most likely from Jakku. The source of the images claimed that Bullhead would be not be a CGI character and would instead be a man in make-up, and those rumours were confirmed when this image of him on set leaked online…
…They may have shown a behind-the-scenes video at San Diego Comic-Con, but perhaps Disney and Lucasfilm can show something more at D23 next month when they take the movie there. Along with Alice Through the Looking Glass, The Jungle Book and Captain America: Civil War, Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be part of a panel called Worlds, Galaxies, and Universes: Live Action at The Walt Disney Studios…
…Looking ahead to Star Wars: Episode VIII, and a new report has come out that Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) could be in line for the villain role in the Rian Johnson directed sequel. The report also claimed that Joaquin Pheonix was offered the role, but turned it down just as he had done with Marvel and Doctor Strange. Nothing confirmed on this one just yet, so we’ll wait and see…
…Taking a step back in time to the glorious summer of 1999 when Star Wars hit cinemas in a big way with The Phantom Menace, and some new details have been revealed about the character of Jar Jar Binks. The actor who played him, Ahmed Best, told a Reddit AMA last year that the King of Pop Michael Jackson was in line to play the role before he came on board, and he elaborated on that tale this week. “We were taken backstage and we met Michael,” Best explains. “There was Michael and Lisa Marie [Presley]. George introduced me as Jar Jar and I was like, ‘That’s kind of weird’. Michael was like, ‘Oh. OK.’ I thought, ‘What is going on?’ After Michael had driven off, we all go back up to a big afterparty. I’m having a drink with George and I said, ‘Why did you introduce me as Jar Jar?’ He said, ‘Well, Michael wanted to do the part but he wanted to do it in prosthetics and makeup like Thriller.’ George wanted to do it in CGI.” Prosthetics in a Star Wars movie?! Heaven forbid…
…Speaking of The Phantom Menace, it and its original saga brethren will be turned into new kids books by Random House’s Little Golden Books. “The Star Wars franchise has woven itself into the hearts and minds of generations of fans, many of whom read Little Golden Books as children,” said Jeanne Mosure, Senior Vice President, Group Publisher, Disney Publishing Worldwide in a release. “We’re very excited to be incorporating Little Golden Books into our overarching strategy so parents can now introduce their own children to the wonders of the galaxy through this classic format.” Check out the covers here…
…Moving over to the world of video games and Lucasfilm have released an expansion pack for its mobile game Star Wars Commander entitled ‘Worlds in Conflict’, which includes four new worlds in Dandoran, Er’Kit, Yavin 4 and Hoth [check out the trailer here], while Electronic Arts has also released a new poster for Star Wars Battlefront which will be given away to those preordering the hotly-anticipated first person shooter via Gamestop…
…Speaking of Star Wars video games, this fanmade trailer for the Star Wars VR Experience game made on the Unreal 4 engine for Oculus Rift is pretty awesome…
…Marvel Comics has released a preview of this week’s Star Wars #7, which is set to explore the secret history of Obi-Wan Kenobi when it hits newsstands this Wednesday (July 29th), while we’ve also got a preview of next month’s Star Wars #8 just in case to want to see what Luke Skywalker is up to next…
…Hot Toys have revealed the first images for their 1/6th collectible figurine for Princess Leia in her costume from A New Hope. This release falls in with their past releases of their Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker in Stormtrooper Disguise, Sandtrooper and Spacetrooper. Meanwhile, if you’re absolutely minted, you may be interested in Hot Toys 1/6th scale Millennium Falcon, which stands at a whopping 18 feet in length…
…Speaking of Princess Leia, and Carrie Fisher had some thoughts on the controversy surrounding the toy of her costume from Return of the Jedi, that caused some parents to complain and ask Target to remove. Taking to Twitter, Fisher didn’t understand why the outfit has caused controversy now when it didn’t “40 years ago” and that while she did have a chain round her neck, she used it to kill the creature than enslaved her. Which is a bloody good point…
…And before we move away from toys, here is a look at the awesome 1/6th scale model of the Millennium Falcon. Yep, that’s 1/6th scale – which means it’s 18-foot long! Expect this one to come with a hefty, hefty price tag…
…And lastly we have this hilarious editorial from our own Neil Calloway on Five Star Wars Movies Disney Should Make (But Probably Won’t).
That’s it for this week, may The Force be with you.
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published July 26, 2015. Updated November 29, 2022.
