It’s a rather short edition of The Week in Star Wars, but there’s still some news about The Force Awakens, casting for Episode VIII and some toy bits from New York Comic Con…
Kicking things off with the much anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and it was announced this week that the movie will have its world premiere on December 14th, 2015. The premiere will take place in Los Angeles before heading to London ahead of its worldwide release on December 16th…
…The Force Awakens star John Boyega was asked about the fan backlash he received back in February when it was revealed that he was – shock – playing a black Stormtrooper. He was, of course, right on the money. “I’m in the movie, what are you going to do about it? You either enjoy it or you don’t. I’m not saying get used to the future, but what is already happening. People of colour and women are increasingly being shown on-screen. For things to be whitewashed just doesn’t make sense. It’s about getting people to drop a prejudiced state of mind and realize, ‘Oh shit we’re just watching normal people…'”
…This weekend has seen comic book fans head to the Big Apple for the New York Comic Con, and while there hasn’t been any new developments, trailers or behind the scenes videos for The Force Awakens, we did get a look at the next wave of Black Series action figures, including General Hux, Resistance Pilot Ello Asty (a play on the Beastie Boys album Hello Nasty), Resistance Trooper, First Order Snowtrooper, First Order TIE Pilot and the ever-popular Han Solo from the latest film. No word yet on when they will be released…
…Speaking of the New York Comic Con, and a new trailer was shown for Star Wars Rebels which you can watch here. You can also read Chris Cooper’s review of the debut episode shown a couple of months ago here…
…Looking ahead to Star Wars: Episode VIII and a new report from Collider is backing up a rumour from Latino Review, which claimed Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Doctor Who) was on the shortlist for the leading role. Well, they’ve gone a step further to say that she’s already been cast to star alongside Bencio Del Toro. Nothing official has been announced by Disney or Lucasfilm, so this could just be speculation at the moment…
…Speaking of casting rumours, and a new claim has it that Michael B. Jordan is being considered by Disney and Lucasfilm for the role of Boba Fett in a Star Wars Anthology movie. A previous rumour had it that Josh Trank was set to direct a Boba Fett movie before he exited the project/was fired from the project, which would have reunited that Fantastic Four/Chronicle pairing. The source also claims that Disney and Lucasfilm wanted F. Gary Gray to replace Trank prior to him being announced as the new director of Fast & Furious 8…
…Before we look at the comic previews for the week, here’s Ricky Church’s review of Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Shattered Empire #2…
…Meanwhile, Marvel has announced its first Prequel-era comic book in the limited series Star Wars: Obi Wan & Anakin: “Before their military heroism in the Clone Wars, before their tragic battle on Mustafar, and many decades before their final confrontation on the Death Star… they were Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and his Padawan learner, Anakin Skywalker. It’s been a few years since Obi-Wan pledged to train the young “chosen one,” but even as they have grown closer through training, it has been a difficult road. Now, called to a remote planet for assistance, Master and Padawan may be pushed to the breaking point…”
…And finally, here’s your comic book previews. First up is Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Shattered Empire #3: • Concluding the first new-canon comic tale set between episodes VI and VII! • As the Empire Shatters around them, Rebel heroes fight for a better tomorrow! • Greg Rucka (Punisher, Cyclops, Wolverine) and Marco Checchetto (Punisher, Avengers World) take us into the more recent long, long time ago!; and lastly here’s the preview for Star Wars: Chewbacca #1: Known as the skilled co-pilot of the infamous Millennium Falcon, the legendary Wookiee warrior CHEWBACCA will star in his very own limited comic series! After the battle of Yavin, Chewbacca is on his own when he crash lands his ship on an Imperial occupied planet. Now stranded, Chewie finds himself caught in the middle of trying to return to the rebellion and helping a young and feisty girl in need. Writer Gerry Duggan (DEADPOOL, 1872, HULK) and artist Phil Noto (BLACK WIDOW, X-23, UNCANNY X-FORCE) bring us a never-before-seen tale of the heroic Wookiee we all know and love.
That’s all 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 October 11, 2015. Updated March 1, 2020.
