By George & Josh Bate
The amount of Star Wars news, announcements, and reveals that dropped during the three days of Star Wars Celebration Japan was breathtaking to say the least. Every day featured numerous interesting panels that paid homage to the past while teasing what’s to come in a galaxy far, far away.
Here is our recap of all the big announcements and reveals from Star Wars Celebration Japan….
Ryan Gosling flies to a galaxy far, far away in Star Wars: Starfighter
Star Wars Celebration Japan kicked off with Shawn Levy talking about his upcoming Star Wars film. The movie, which hits theaters in May 2027, is titled Star Wars: Starfighter.
The film will star Ryan Gosling, who made his Star Wars Celebration debut in Tokyo and was met with roaring applause and cheers from the crowd.
Levy revealed that Star Wars: Starfighter is “a stand-alone adventure” that takes place a few years after The Rise of Skywalker and features entirely new characters.
The release of Star Wars: Starfighter aligns perfectly with the next Star Wars Celebration, which takes place in Los Angeles in April 2027.
The Mandalorian and Grogu takes fans on an adventure
A panel dedicated to The Mandalorian and Grogu revealed various details of the upcoming Star Wars film, including hints about the story.
Information about Sigourney Weaver’s character was gleaned through footage and behind the scenes pictures. Weaver will play someone in the New Republic, who hires Din Djarin for a special mission.
A behind the scenes picture of Pedro Pascal in the Mando armor with his helmet suggests (fingers crossed) that Din Djarin will appear without his helmet in the film.
A trailer was shown for The Mandalorian and Grogu, which reveals that Rotta the Hutt will appear in the movie. Check out a detailed description of the footage here.
Lucasfilm Publishing has books and manga galore
There were so many Lucasfilm Publishing projects to talk about that Celebration featured two panels for publishing this year.
The first panel was focused on Star Wars manga and included several announcements. One of these announcements was a new manga called Path of the Lightsaber, which follows a girl in between the events of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker who finds an Excalibur-esque lightsaber.
Manga adaptations of the video game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and the Timothy Zahn novel Thrawn were also announced.
The second publishing panel featured the announcement of The Art of Star Wars: Andor, an untitled novel by Dr. Chris Kempshall following The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, and a secret Millennium Falcon comic. Plus a whole host of new details about previously announced titles.
Both panels also revealed that a new Knight of Ren named Tava Ren will soon be introduced.
Tales of the Underworld will explain how Ventress lives
Those attending the Lucasfilm Anmation panel were able to watch an entire episode of the upcoming naimated series Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld.
The episode focuses on Asajj Ventress and picks up right where the novel Dark Disciple by Christie Golden left off. Importantly, the episode explains how Ventress lives from the events of that book and goes onto to feature in The Bad Batch Season 3 eventually.
Tales of the Underworld premieres May 4, 2025 on Disney+.
Maul gets his own show (and apprentice?)
Arguably the biggest surprise announcmenet of Star Wars Celebration Japan was that a newn animated series focusing on Maul is in development.
Maul – Shadow Lord will take place between the events of The Clone Wars and Rebels and follow Maul as he charts a path in the criminal underworld of the galaxy. The trailer shown to the crowd at Celebration revealed that Rook Kast returns and that Maul takes on a Twi’lek apprentice. This Twi’lek apprentice looks suspiciously like it could be a young Darth Talon, the Sith Lord from the EU that George Lucas originally planned as one of the villains (alongside Maul) in his version of the sequel trilogy.
Maul – Shadow Lord will release on Disney+ in 2026.
Andor Season 2 may be the best Star Wars show ever
Attendees of the Andor panel at Star Wars Celebration Japan got to watch the first episode of Season 2 on the big screen. Select members of the press, meanwhile, were able to watch all 12 episodes of the show previously and were allowed to share their initial reactions to the show on social media. To call the initial reactions glowing would be an understatement. Check out a round-up of reactions (including our reaction) here.
Ahsoka Season 2 heads into filming with Anakin and a recast Baylan
An emotional tribute to the late Ray Stevenson culminated in the announcement that his character Baylan Skoll will now be played by Rory McCann in Ahsoka Season 2. A first look at McCann in the costume was shown to the crowd and can be seen below.
Hayden Christensen also announce that he will reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker in Season 2.
Admiral Ackbar will also play a bigger role in Season 2 and go “head-to-head” with Thrawn.
After his absence in Season 1, Zeb was confirmed to also appear in Season 2.
Dave Filoni, meanwhile, revealed details about the season’s plot, teasing that it will feature a big war across two galaxies. Filoni confirmed that Season 2 will feature more of Ezra, Hera, and Chopper.
A retro trailer of Ahsoka Season 2 featuring concept art from the show was shown to the Celebration crowd. Read a description of the footage here.
Star Wars: Zero Company takes video games to the Clone Wars
The first trailer for Star Wars: Zero Company, a new single player-turn-based tactics game, was unveiled at Star Wars Celebration Japan. Check out the trailer below.
Read more about the new game, including its plot, characters, influences, and planets, here.
Biggest ever Fortnite x Star Wars collaboration lands soon
Fortnite will once again team up with Star Wars for the biggest Star Wars-themed season yet. The season will introduce skins of Palpatine, Mace Windu, and even Darth Jar Jar. It will also introduce the ability “Force lightning” and allow players to pilot iconic Star Wars ships like TIE Fighters and X-Wings.
Check out a trailer for the new Fortnite x Star Wars season below.
Hasbro takes Star Wars toys to the next level
Hasbro announced a number of new products (which you can see detailed comprehensively in our article here). A quick run-down of the announcements: Black Series Merrin; Black Series Cal Kestis, Turgle & Stkoova Stev; Black Series Han Solo; Black Series Chewbacca; Black Series Dash Rendar; Vintage Collection Merrin; Vintage Collection Rocket Launcher Trooper; Vintage Collection Moff Gideon (Dark Trooper Armor); Vintage Collection Cobb Vanth; Vintage Collection bantha & Tusken Raider 2-pack; Vintage Collection Crosshair; The Black Series The Ronin & R5-D56; Black Series Clone Trooper Helmet; Power Crystal Lightsaber.
We also had the chance to interview members of the Hasbro team, who revealed all sorts of interesting details about the creative process behind the figures. Check it out here if you’re interested.
The Ronin, The Village Bride, and The Ninth Jedi are back in Visions Volume 3
The Visions panel at Star Wars Celebration revealed that sequels to three beloved shorts from Volume 1 will feature in Volume 3. “The Duel,” “The Village Bride,” and “The Ninth Jedi” will all be continued in brand new shorts.
The release date of Visions Volume 3 was also revealed. The nine shorts hit Disney+ on October 29, 2025.
A trailer for Visions Volume 3 was revealed at Celebration and can be seen below.
A spin-off series about “The Ninth Jedi” is on its way
After “The Ninth Jedi” receives its sequel in Volume 3, the story continues in a new spin-off series called Star Wars Presents The Ninth Jedi. This series will mark a departure from the anthology format of Visions by leaning into longer-form storytelling and focusing on a single narrative (in this case, The Ninth Jedi).
Star Wars Presents The Ninth Jedi will release in 2026 on Disney+.
Celebration returns stateside in 2027
The next Star Wars Celebration will be held from April 1 to April 4, 2027 in Los Angeles. After a Celebration in Europe and one in Japan, 2027 will see Celebration return to the U.S.
This Celebration is a particularly important one as it aligns with the 50th anniversary of the original Star Wars. As mentioned previously, it also precedes the release of the new Ryan Gosling-led Star Wars film Star Wars: Starfighter by a few weeks. And, to top to all off, this Celebration is a few weeks prior to the 25th anniversary of Attack of the Clones. Needless to say, Celebration Los Angeles 2027 will live up to the name and give fans a lot to celebrate.