By George Bate & Josh Bate
Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 began today with a jaw-dropping panel event as five television shows and four movies were discussed in front of a rousing crowd of 5,000 Star Wars fans. Let’s breakdown everything was revealed from the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase.
Andor Season 2
Showrunner Tony Gilroy was joined by Diego Luna and other cast members of Andor to discuss the second season of the critically acclaimed drama. Gilroy confirmed that Season 2 will be the final season and is currently halfway finished filming. The season is due to wrap filming in August and will premiere on Disney+ in Fall 2024. Of note, Andy Serkis, who played Kino Loy in Season 1, was on stage and confirmed that he will reprise his role in Season 2.
A teaser trailer for the upcoming second season was shown to the Celebration crowd. The footage shows Diego Luna’s Cassian sporting a new haircut, somewhat reminiscent of Luthen Rael’s wig in the first season. Genevieve O’Reilly is seen in the trailer rallying the rebellion, while villains Syril Karn and Dedra Meero are back. Syril in particular appears to be playing a more substantial role in the second season. Conspicuously absent from the footage was K-2SO, Cassian’s trusted droid companion from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
As the cast exited the stage, the Celebration crowd chanted “One way out!”, a callback to the terrific prison break episode of Season 1.
The Acolyte
Next up was The Acolyte and showrunner Leslye Headland came on stage to discuss her new Star Wars series. Accompanying Headland was a Wookiee Jedi, later revealed to be played by Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo. Headland discussed her love for Star Wars, dating back to the special editions of the ooriginal trilogy in the 1990s, which she claimed “saved [her] life.” Headland also spoke of her admiration for the prequels and The Clone Wars.
Headland confirmed that her series is set during the High Republic and is unique as it is a story told “from the perspective of the villains.” Headland described the show as “Frozen meets Kill Bill,” which is a combination we can’t wait to see.
Headland was then joined on stage by cast members of The Acolyte, including Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Jodie Turner-Smith, Manny Jacinto, Charlie Barnett, Rebecca Henderson, and Dafne Keen. Stenberg, the star of the series, came on to the stage in stunning Padme Amidala cosplay.
Logan star Dafne Keen spoke about the “intense” training that the series warranted, and confirmed that her and Charlie Barnett’s characters wield lightsabers.
The first footage of The Acolyte was shown to the celebration crowd. The footage begins with a group of Jedi younglings of various species being trained by a Jedi Master in High Republic era white robes played by Squid Game’s Lee Jung-jae. The trailer shifts gears to a mysterious hooded figure, who confronts a Jedi played by The Matrix’s Carrie-Anne Moss in a bar. The fight isn’t like anything seen in Star Wars to date, with the two exchanging blows like something out of a kung fu movie.
The footage continues and shows various High Republic era Jedi, including Dafne Keen and Charlie Barnett’s characters. There’s also a Neimodian who appears in the trailer, the same species as Nute Gunray in the prequel trilogy.
The standout image from the trailer was a shot of several Jedi lined up igniting their lightsabers simultaneously, some of which were yellow blades.
The Acolyte finishes filming next month and will premiere in 2024 on Disney+.
The Mandalorian Season 3
Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Rick Famuyiwa arrived on stage to speak about The Mandalorian. Favreau teased that the story of The Mandalorian may be coming to an end soon as he said the series is ready to “culminate.”
A video message from Pedro Pascal, who couldn’t make it to the convention in person, appeared to greet the Celebration crowd.
The filmmakers on stage discussed the decision to include several of them as X-Wing pilots in a neat cameo this season.
Rick Famuyiwa was confirmed to have directed the last two episodes of Season 3. Footage from the next episode was shown ahead of an exclusive fan screening later in the day.
Favreau spoke about the decision to have Ahmed Best play the Jedi who rescued Grogu. Favreau spoke highly of Best and recalled the positive reception he received while at Star Wars Celebration Chicago in 2019.
Some of the show’s cast, including Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, and Emily Swallow, arrived on stage and spoke about the new season.
Attendees of the panel were then given cool Season 3 posters.
Skeleton Crew
Favreau and Filoni stayed on stage to discuss another show – Skeleton Crew. The series is also set during the era of The Mandalorian and will have an “Amblin vibe” akin to The Goonies.
Ahsoka. Favreau confirmed that the series has been in development since he and showrunner Jon Watts discussed the idea on the set of Spider-Man: Far From Home.
The directors of the series were revealed, including Jon Watts (Spider-Man: Homecoming), David Lowery (The Green Knight), The Daniels (Everything Everywhere All At Once), Bryce Dallas Howard (The Mandalorian), and Lee Isaac Chung (Minari).
Jude Law and several of the younger cast members then came on stage and discussed their love for Star Wars.
Several new looks from the series were also shown.
To top it all off, the first trailer for Skeleton Crew was shown to the crowd. The trailer shows several kids living in what looks like the Star Wars equivalent of an American suburb. One of the kids is of the same species as Max Rebo. It’s soon revealed that the kids have run away from home and their parents, one of whom played by The Banshees of Inisherin’s Kerry Condon, try to find them.
The trailer concludes with the kids trapped in a prison cell and rescued by a hooded figure who uses the Force to float a key over to them. Jude Law is revealed to be this hooded figure, and one of the kids shouts, “He’s a Jedi!”
Skeleton Crew is currently in post-production and will stream in 2024 on Disney+.
Ahsoka
The upcoming Ahsoka series was also spotlighted during the panel. Before doing so, however, Kathleen Kennedy and Jon Favreau spoke glowingly of their colleague Dave Filoni. In particular, Favreau said that Filoni “cares deeply” about the franchises and always finds a way to fit different people’s visions into his stories while remaining true to George Lucas’ vision for a galaxy far, far away.
Rosario Dawson came on stage to an ecstatic crowd, while a new look at Ahsoka was shown.
In addition, a new poster for the series was revealed, which confirms an August 2023 release date.
Rosario Dawson was then joined by Natasha Liu Bordizzo, who will play Sabine Wren in the show. A first look at the character was shown.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead also arrived and confirmed that she is playing the live-action version of Hera Syndulla!
The first trailer for Ahsoka was shown to the crowd and can be seen below.
Dawn of the Jedi era movie
Three new Star Wars movies were also announced during the panel. Chronologically, the first will be directed by James Mangold (Logan, Ford vs. Ferrari) and will be set during an era called the Dawn of the Jedi, which predates the High Republic. Details were minimal about this film, but Mangold described it as a “Biblical epic.”
The New Republic era movie
Also announced was a new film directed by Dave Filoni! The film will serve as a culmination of the stories in The Mandalorian and related shows and will draw upon Legends/ Expanded Universe to tell the story of an “epic battle.”
Post-Episode IX Jedi training movie
The final film announced will be set 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker and focus on the training of a new generation of Jedi. Amazingly, this new generation will be trained by none other than Rey Skywalker, with Daisy Ridley coming on stage to a deafening and excited crowd.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Last but not least was Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The upcoming Lucasfilm project will be directed by James Mangold and releases June 30, 2023 in theaters. Harrison Ford was not present in person, but delivered a message thanking the Celebration crowd.
Check out the trailer for Indy’s next adventure below.
Stay tuned to The HoloFiles and Star Wars Holocron for continued coverage of Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023!