‘Andor’, Mando, Willow and Jude Law: Everything You Need To Know From Day One Of Disney’s ‘Star Wars’ Celebration Day
Disney is hosting Star Wars Celebration, its big Star Wars conference from Thursday through Sunday of this week, and just in case you couldn’t make it, here are some of the big announcements from Day One.
Disney dropped a trailer for Andor, the series starring Diego Luna that serves as a prequel to Rogue One. The series will debut on the streamer on August 31st, kicking off with two episodes followed by weekly releases after that. Andor will also get a second season of 12 episodes, it was announced.
Showrunner Tony Gilroy said the series will be back in front on the cameras in November for the second season. “We’re going to rewind 5 years back from Rogue One,” Gilmore told fans onstage Thursday. “We’ve already shot 12 episodes!”
In the new series, Luna reprises his Rogue One character, Cassian Andor, as we learn the character’s backstory. The series is set during the height of the Empire and begins with the destruction of Andor’s homeworld.
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, the creators of The Mandolorian, also held a panel where they announced that season 3 of their hit show will premiere in February 2023.
Joining them onstage was actor Katee Sackhoff, who is returning to the series in the pivotal role of Bo-Katan Kryze after playing the Mandalorian icon during Season 2. Those assembled at the Anaheim Convention Center also got to see a teaser for Season 3.
Favreau and Dave Filoni worked on Season 3 during the pandemic, while the company has been revving up other Star Wars series around it including The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi which hits the streamer Friday. Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor were in the day’s first panel to hype up the show.
Also announced: a new Star Wars series starring Jude Law called Skeleton Crew, from director Jon Watts and writer Christopher Ford. The latest in Star Wars’ ever-expanding streaming presence, Skeleton Crew will premiere next year.
Set in the same timeline as The Mandalorian, and Book Of Boba Fett, Skeleton Crew is the story of “a group of kids who are about ten years old who get lost in the Star Wars universe,” Watts told the crowd at his panel. “It stars four kids but it’s not a kids show,” he added. Favreau and Filoni will executive produce this project too.
And it’s not Star Wars-related, but Disney announced the premiere date of Willow, the live-action original series based on the 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard. The series, starring Warwick Davis reprising his role from the movie, debuts November 30th.
The series picks up years after the events of the movie and introduces new characters. The show is set in a world where brownies, sorcerers, trolls and other mystical creatures flourish. As with many mythical quests, here an unlikely group of heroes set off on a dangerous journey far beyond their home, where they must face their fears and come together to save their world.