Star Wars Celebration 2023 announces upcoming projects

Fiona Holtaway, Features Editor

Star Wars Celebration 2023 recently concluded leaving fans with much excitement for the projects to come. A lengthy list of releases and never before seen sneak peaks stretching from books to movies to TV series were presented to the delighted crowd. The event prompted a plethora of newly introduced release dates, running from Friday the 7th into the weekend ending on Sunday the 10th.

To begin, the new Live action TV series “Ashoka” was announced alongside a peek at the teaser trailer for attendees. The character Ashoka has appeared in many Star Wars series such as the “Clone Wars,” “ The Mandalorian” and the “Book of Boba Fett.” “Ashoka” is meant to be a direct sequel of the four season sci-fi series “Rebels” whereAshoka plays a prominent role in the first season finale and following seasons.

Rosario Dawson will be starring as Ashoka while characters like Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla, Chopper and Grand Admiral Thrawn will appear in the live-action series set to release in August 2023.

Following suit were three more announcements about upcoming movie projects, set at different times throughout the Star Wars storyline.

To much surprise, it was announced that Star Wars will head into the future. Taken by the director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, the newly announced movie project will be set 15 years after the Skywalker saga as Rey attempts to foster a new generation of Jedi.

Chinoy was also delighted to declare that Daisy Ridley, the beloved Star Wars veteran, will return for her role as Rey in the new project. Yet there has been no word about any other key characters returning in the upcoming project.

The next new film project announced will be directed by James Mangold. The center of this project will be taking audiences deep into the past. The movie is said to explore the beginnings of the Jedi and how they learned to utilize the Force ina time of chaos and oppression.

The last project announced is to be directed by Dave Filoni. The movie is meant to tie “The Mandalorian” plot into other released Star Wars series events. The movie is meant to be a convergence between “The Mandalorian,” Ashoka and the Book of Boba Fett. It was also foreshadowed that the movie will hold a hugely epic battle.

Several new TV series were also broadcast to the awaiting audience. “Skeleton Crew” will star Jude Law and his band of misfits as they travel the galaxy in search of a new home. The show will also feature Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith and Ryan Kiera Armstrong. No further details were given by the cast besides a description of the show: “Star Wars meets The Goonies.”

“The Acolyte” was another TV series unveiled at the celebration. This mysterious series will reveal the events during the final days of the High Republic. The timeline is set 100 years before “The Phantom Menace” and is meant to explain how the sith infiltrated the Republic. To much interest it was revealed the story will be designed from the perspective of the villains.

The mystery thriller will star Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman and Star Wars veteran Joonas Suotamo.

A variety of ongoing projects were touched on during the celebration. the next season of Star Wars Visions, a series created in collaboration with Lucasfilm and various Japanese animation studios; Bad Batch will be wrapping up with its third and final season. “Tales of the Jedi” season two will be released under the direction of Dave Filoni and the popular video game “Jedi Fallen Order” will have a sequel, the gameplay trailer was revealed for attendees. The current Live action series, “Andor”, will have a second, final season, while “The Mandalorian” will be finishing its third and final season. Lastly, phase three of the “High Republic” book series will be released between Oct. 2023 and March 2024.