With
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker fast approaching, you'd best believe that plenty of
Star Wars news is coming our way thick and fast. Today, we have loads of fresh intel on this Galaxy Far, Far Away for you, including plenty of content relating to everyone's favourite new TV show,
The Mandlorian.
Talking of the Disney+ series, Disney has begun to release merchandise for the show, and while we have an awesome action figure and LEGO set, those featuring "The Child" have clearly been rushed out in order to meet demand.
There are also plenty of big reveals from
The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams as he addresses everything from The Emperor's shock return to whether he plans on revealing Supreme Leader Snoke's identity. Oh, and we also have a great new look at Keri Russell's mysterious Zorii Bliss.
So, for your fix of new Star Wars news, all you guys have to do is click the "View List" button!
Why J.J. Abrams Brought Back Emperor Palpatine
The first trailer for
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker confirmed that Emperor Palpatine will return in the movie, and while some fans had their minds blown, others were somewhat sceptical.
"Well, when you look at this as nine chapters of a story, perhaps the weirder thing would be if Palpatine didn’t return," Abrams told
Uproxx during a recent interview when asked about that.
"You just look at what he talks about, who he is, how important he is, what the story is — strangely, his absence entirely from the third trilogy would be conspicuous. It would be very weird."
"That’s not to say there was a bible and we knew what happens at every step," the filmmaker continued. "But when Larry Kasdan and I worked on The Force Awakens, we didn’t do it in a vacuum. We very purposely looked at what came before. We chose to tell a story that touches upon specific things and themes and ideas that we’ve seen before, to begin a new story.
"But we examined all that came before," he concluded, "to ask where does this feel like it’s going?"
It's Now A "Picture Lock" On The Rise Of Skywalker
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is fast approaching, but work on the final chapter in the "Skywalker Saga" was only finished over the weekend. During an appearance on Good Morning America yesterday, Abrams revealed that production finished on Sunday, and while some fans might think that's unusual, it's quite common for work on blockbusters like this to end up being completed last-minute.
A New Look At Keri Russell's Mysterious Zorii Bliss
A new look at
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's Zorii Bliss has been revealed, and during a chat with
Empire, actress Keri Russell shed some light on the creation of the mysterious new character.
"There was this female character when J.J. was young – I think it was in Speed Racer or something," the actress said.
"She rode a motorbike and had this helmet. He goes, ‘I could never see her face and I was always obsessed with what she looked like.’ That was the genesis of this character, because he always wanted to know who she was." Does that mean we won't see Zorii's face?
The Rise Of Skywalker Screenplay Ended Up On eBay
During that aforementioned appearance on
GMA, Abrams revealed that one member of the cast left their
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker screenplay under their bed and that led to it being discovered and placed on eBay before a member of the production team swiftly had it removed!
"One of our actors, I won’t say which one — I want to, but I won’t — left it under their bed and it was found by someone who was cleaning their place. It was then given to someone else who went to sell it on eBay," the director revealed, adding that no one was able to buy the screenplay.
It's hard not to wonder if the person who listed it got into some serious trouble, though!
Are We Getting Some Answers About Supreme Leader Snoke?
When
Uproxx asked Abrams whether
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will offer some long overdue answers about Supreme Leader Snoke after his unexpected demise in
The Last Jedi, the filmmaker refused to get into specifics, but did address the pressures of concluding the "Skywalker Saga."
"I will say, without giving anything away, knowing this movie is an ending is, for me infinitely more challenging than a beginning," he said.
"We knew we needed to provide answers. And while there may be some things that aren’t entirely demystified by the end of it, we wanted to make sure people left feeling that they were satisfied."
"So I hope, on a number of issues, people will leave and feel like that it’s a true ending and not an advertising ploy," Abrams concluded.
"We really are bringing it to an end."
The Mandalorian Is A Hit For Disney+
According to
Forbes, Parrot Analytics (a leader in data research for television and streaming entities) has looked into
The Mandalorian and during its first seven days on the newly launched streaming service, the first live-action
Star Wars TV show is 298% ahead of CBS All Access'
Star Trek: Discovery after season two and 69.8% ahead of Netflix's
Stranger Things after season two.
That's obviously good news for Disney+ and the show, and seeing as it's been receiving rave reviews, Disney made the right move by giving the show a second season before the first had aired!
Adam Driver Covers Rolling Stone Magazine
The hype surrounding
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is increasing in a huge way, and Rolling Stone has now revealed that Kylo Ren actor Adam Driver will grace the cover of their latest issue.
We'll be sure to keep you updated if he shares any interesting reveals about the movie!
New Love Interests For Rey And Finn In The Rise Of Skywalker?
Once upon a time, it appeared as if the plan was for Rey and Finn to one day become romantically involved. Well, The Last Jedi seemingly put an end to that by pairing the latter up with Rose, and there are conflicting reports about the character's involvement with both her and Jannah in this sequel.
According to Twitter user
@EllaLisa15, an interview with John Boyega in German magazine "Cinema" saw the actor reveal that,
"I think Finns (sic) eye caught someone else (meaning he falls in love with someone else) and Rey has also found someone else." So, does that mean romance for Rey and Poe?
New Merchandise For The Mandalorian
We kick things off with an awesome new "Black Series" action figure featuring the memorable "Heavy Infantry Mandalorian" from the latest episode of the Disney+ series. There's also a new LEGO set which is (vaguely) based on the show, but things take a lazy turn with Disney's new range of merchandise featuring "The Child" which literally looks like it could have been made by, well, anyone!