Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord just took a small but meaningful step closer to launch. After months of teasers, posters, and trailers, the upcoming animated series has now released its first full clip, giving fans a more direct look at how Lucasfilm wants Maul’s return to feel in motion rather than in quick-cut marketing bursts. Star Wars News Net and Jedi News both flagged the clip’s arrival this week. For a broader breakdown of the series, release rollout, and what to expect, check out our Maul: Shadow Lord complete guide This Is Where the Real Promo Push Starts There is a difference between a trailer and an actual scene. Trailers sell mood. A full clip has to sell rhythm, dialogue, staging, and confidence. That is why this matters a bit more than it might seem at first glance. Maul: Shadow Lord already had attention thanks to its striking painterly…
Author: gingetattoo
The High Republic Returns to Comics With a Brand-New Mystery
The High Republic is not done yet. A new Dark Horse miniseries, Star Wars: The High Republic Adventures – Pathfinders, launches this week and sends a fresh team of Republic Pathfinders into the far edges of the galaxy to investigate the death of a Jedi Master. Lucasfilm first revealed the project at New York Comic Con last year, confirming that writer George Mann is leading the series alongside artists Partha Pratim, Jagdish Kumar, Michael Atiyeh, and Comicraft. A New High Republic Story, Set After Phase II What makes Pathfinders interesting is where it sits in the timeline. Lucasfilm says the story takes place about 20 years after Phase II, which gives it room to explore a different corner of the era instead of just replaying familiar beats. The official setup follows a brand-new Pathfinder team dispatched to a distant region to investigate the strange death of a Jedi Master, with…
BB-8 Puppeteer Says Sequel Backlash Is Repeating Prequel History
Brian Herring, the puppeteer and performer behind BB-8 in the sequel trilogy, thinks Star Wars fans have seen this cycle before. In a new interview with Gamereactor, Herring argued that the sequel trilogy is “no more polarising” than the prequels were when they first landed, suggesting today’s online backlash says as much about generational turnover as it does about the films themselves. Herring has long been closely tied to modern Star Wars on screen, with StarWars.com previously spotlighting his work bringing BB-8 to life. The Internet Changed the Volume, Not the Pattern Herring’s basic argument is pretty sharp: people angry about the sequels are often too young to remember how intensely fans pushed back against the prequels when those films arrived. His point is not that everyone has to like Episodes VII-IX. It is that the reaction pattern feels familiar, only louder now because every debate gets amplified online. In…
Disney’s Star Wars AI Video Plan Dies With Sora Shutdown
Disney’s Star Wars AI video experiment is over before it ever really started. OpenAI has decided to shut down Sora, its consumer video product, and that move also kills the high-profile Disney agreement that would have brought more than 200 Disney-owned characters and settings, including Star Wars, into AI-generated fan videos. Reuters reported that the deal never officially closed and that no money changed hands, even though Disney had announced plans in December to invest $1 billion in OpenAI as part of the broader partnership. A Big Star Wars Bet That Never Reached Launch Back in December, Disney said Sora would be able to generate short fan-style videos using a licensed pool of more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters, plus costumes, props, vehicles, and iconic environments. The companies also said some curated Sora-generated videos could eventually stream on Disney+. In other words, this was not some…
Ryan Gosling Says One Star Wars: Starfighter Scene Was “One of the Most Fun” He’s Ever Done
Star Wars: Starfighter is still keeping most of its secrets locked down, but Ryan Gosling just gave away a very telling little detail about the movie’s creature work. Speaking in a recent interview, Gosling said he visited the creature shop early during production so he could see what was being built and figure out ways to interact with those creations in the film. According to him, he ended up spotting one “very special” creature that had originally been meant as a background character, asked if he could have a scene with it, and that moment turned into “one of the most fun scenes” he has ever done. He also said the team later gave him a model of the creature as his wrap gift, and that it is now sitting in his house. A Small Quote That Says a Lot That is not a plot reveal, but it is exactly…
Marvel’s New Galaxy’s Edge Comic Brings Luke, Leia, and Chewie to Batuu
tar Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is getting a new Marvel comic, and this one is aiming a lot higher than background park lore. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – Echoes of the Empire #1 arrives on April 22, 2026, with Ethan Sacks writing and Jethro Morales and Roi Mercado on art, plus a cover by Phil Noto. Marvel says the story sends Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca to Batuu in search of vital intel, where they uncover a dangerous relic that puts them on a collision course with the Empire. A Bigger Batuu Hook That setup matters because it gives Batuu something it has not always had in enough quantity: instantly recognizable Original Trilogy weight. For a lot of Star Wars fans, Galaxy’s Edge has always looked great but felt slightly disconnected from the most iconic parts of the saga. Putting Luke, Leia, and Chewie at the center of a Batuu…
Star Wars: A New Hope Began Filming 50 Years Ago Today
Fifty years ago today, Star Wars stopped being an idea and started becoming a movie. On March 22, 1976, principal photography began on what was then called The Star Wars, with cameras rolling in Tunisia on the edge of the Sahara. Lucasfilm is marking the date today, framing it as the moment one of the most important films in modern pop culture officially went into production. The Day the Galaxy Really Started Moving That date matters because it was the point where George Lucas’ risky space fantasy became something real. By then, Lucas had already pushed through years of development, multiple screenplay drafts, studio skepticism, and the early build-out of the creative machine that would eventually become part of Star Wars legend, including Industrial Light & Magic and Ben Burtt’s sound work. But March 22, 1976 was when the project finally moved from concept art, scripts, and headaches into actual…
Kelly Marie Tran Reflects on The Last Jedi Backlash Nearly 10 Years Later
Nearly a decade after Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Kelly Marie Tran is reflecting on the backlash she faced after joining the sequel trilogy — and the biggest change now is how she sees it. Speaking recently about that period, Tran said the hardest part at the time was believing the abuse meant she did not belong. Looking back now, she says the thing she did not understand then was simple: it was not her fault. She also said that after ten years of therapy, support groups, and personal work, she believes she would experience it very differently now. A Star Wars Wound That Never Really Left the Conversation Tran joined The Last Jedi in 2017 as Rose Tico, becoming the first Asian American woman in a leading role in a Star Wars film. In the aftermath, she became the target of racist and sexist harassment online, a response that…
SWG Legends Looks Back on 10 Years of Growth — From “Galaxy Is Full” to New Content Questions
SWG Legends is using its 10-year anniversary to look back at just how far the project has come, and the contrast is honestly pretty striking. In a new retrospective feature shared by the team, SWG Legends revisits the kinds of questions players were asking back in 2016 compared to what the community is asking now. The short version: the early days were about getting into the galaxy at all. These days, the big questions are about planets, systems, quality-of-life upgrades, and what content comes next. The staff also promoted the feature on social media as a walk through “FAQ memory lane” alongside answers to newer community questions. Back When the Biggest Problem Was Just Logging In The oldest questions in the retrospective are pure launch-era survival stuff. Players were dealing with issues like the galaxy being full, hanging at the connection screen, or characters getting stuck in places like Lok…
Disneyland Is Quietly Erasing Another Galactic Starcruiser Detail From Galaxy’s Edge
Disneyland has quietly removed a Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser reference from Oga’s Cantina, and it looks like more than a simple background update. Reports say a Halcyon-related message on the cantina’s notice board has been replaced as part of the venue’s recent refresh. A Tiny Change With Bigger Timing On its own, this is the kind of detail most guests would never notice. But the timing makes it much more interesting. Disney has already confirmed that starting April 29, 2026, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland will expand beyond its old narrow timeline and start featuring characters from more eras of the saga, including Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Darth Vader. That means this Oga’s Cantina change lands right in the middle of a much bigger creative reset for Batuu. What Was Actually Removed The removed notice reportedly referenced Captain Keevan of the Halcyon and called for a…
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes Update 3/18 Adds New Farmable Shards and Fixes Key Bugs
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes just got a small but useful March 18 update, and the biggest takeaway for many players will be a shard shuffle involving Yoda & Chewie and Baze Malbus. EA’s official update says Yoda & Chewie shards are now farmable from Light Side Battles (Hard) 9-C, replacing Baze Malbus, while Baze Malbus moves to Light Side Battles (Hard) 5-F. Two New Events Are Also On the Way The update also teases an Additive Drops Event and a Mystery Event, though EA’s post does not include detailed timing or rewards in the brief summary. Bug Fixes Include Stormtrooper Luke and Vane On the fixes side, Capital Games says it has corrected the Stormtrooper Luke Omicron cost and fixed an issue where Vane was not properly gaining offense based on max health. Those are the kind of adjustments that will matter a lot more to active roster builders…
Mark Hamill Is Heading to FAN EXPO Anaheim for a Rare Live Appearance
Mark Hamill is officially heading to FAN EXPO Anaheim: Special Edition, giving Star Wars fans a rare chance to see Luke Skywalker himself at one of the summer’s biggest convention events. FAN EXPO’s official site confirms Hamill as a featured guest for the June 26–28 show at the Anaheim Convention Center. This Is Being Framed as a Rare Appearance That word matters here. FAN EXPO is explicitly calling this a rare appearance, and Official Pix has also promoted it that way in its announcement. For longtime Star Wars fans, that immediately makes this more than just another convention guest update. Mark Hamill Live Is Part of the Event There is also a dedicated Mark Hamill Live special event scheduled for Friday, June 26. FAN EXPO’s official event page lists multiple ticket tiers for that session, including Gold Ticket ($99.99), Silver Ticket ($29.99), and General Admission (free), while noting that general…
Lucasfilm Is Building Hype for Maul’s Return With a New Official Look Back at His Darkest Moments
Lucasfilm is turning up the heat on Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord with a new official StarWars.com feature that revisits some of Darth Maul’s most devious moments across the saga. The piece, titled “Maul’s Most Devious Moments,” looks back at the former Sith apprentice’s most important battles and appearances in film, animation, and comics ahead of the new Disney+ series. It is clearly part of the bigger push toward Maul – Shadow Lord, which premieres on April 6, 2026. StarWars.com Is Framing Maul as More Than Just a Villain One of the more interesting things about the official feature is how it presents Maul not as a one-note bad guy, but as one of the most persistent and unpredictable figures in Star Wars history. StarWars.com highlights Maul’s journey through The Phantom Menace, The Clone Wars, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Rebels, and Marvel’s new Star Wars: Shadow of Maul…
Bob Iger Steps Down as Disney CEO Tomorrow — and Lucasfilm Became One of His Biggest Franchise Bets
Bob Iger is set to step down as Disney CEO in March 2026, with Disney naming Josh D’Amaro as his successor. Reuters reported that D’Amaro will take over in March, while Iger will remain a senior adviser through the end of the year. For Star Wars fans, that makes this more than just a Disney boardroom story. Iger was the CEO who pushed Disney to acquire Lucasfilm in 2012 for about $4.05 billion, a deal Disney announced officially at the time as a major long-term franchise play. Lucasfilm Was One of the Defining Iger Moves When people look back at the Iger era, Lucasfilm is going to be one of the first things they mention. Under Iger, Disney did not just buy Star Wars. It turned Lucasfilm into one of the company’s most important franchise engines across films, streaming, merchandise, and theme-park strategy. Disney’s 2024 proxy-fight materials, as reported by…
Lucasfilm Reveals the Full Maul – Shadow Lord Episode Release Calendar
Lucasfilm has now shared the full release calendar for Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, giving fans a much clearer look at how the series will roll out on Disney+. The official schedule confirms that the show begins with a two-episode premiere on April 6, 2026, followed by two new episodes each week until the finale lands on May 4, which is fittingly Star Wars Day. StarWars.com had already confirmed that release pattern in its official trailer coverage, and the newly shared calendar now lays out the episode titles by date. The Full Maul – Shadow Lord Release Schedule According to the release calendar image shared by Lucasfilm, the schedule looks like this: April 6Chapter 1: The Dark RevengeChapter 2: Sinister Schemes April 13Chapter 3: Whispers in the UnknownChapter 4: Pride and Vengeance April 20Chapter 5: InquisitionChapter 6: Night of the Hunted April 27Chapter 7: Call to the OblivionChapter 8:…
MONOPOLY: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains Gets a Release Date, Trailer, and April Reveal Event
Lucasfilm Games has officially kicked off the rollout for MONOPOLY: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains, and yes, this is exactly what it sounds like: a Star Wars-flavored, team-based spin on Monopoly with heroes, villains, and a full reveal still on the way. The first teaser confirms that the game launches on June 11, with the full reveal scheduled for April 29 during a May the 4th event push. Ubisoft has now published the game’s store page and a news post confirming the release window and broader platform plans. This Is Not Just Standard Monopoly With a Star Wars Skin That is the part that makes this a little more interesting. According to Ubisoft’s official description, MONOPOLY: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains is being pitched as a dynamic team-based twist on the classic board game, with reimagined gameplay, cinematic moments, themed spaces, and dynamic elements designed to keep matches from playing…
Matthew Willig Says He’s in The Mandalorian and Grogu, and That Is a Fun Little Casting Update for Mando Fans
Sometimes a Star Wars casting update does not arrive with a glossy Lucasfilm press release or a dramatic trade headline. Sometimes it just shows up because the actor is understandably excited and decides to say, more or less, “yeah, I’m in the movie.” That is basically what happened with Matthew Willig, who posted that he will be making an appearance in The Mandalorian and Grogu and thanked Lucasfilm for helping him fulfill “a kid’s dream.” This Looks Like More Than a Rumor at This Point The reason this one feels solid is that it is not just floating around as recycled fan chatter. Willig said it himself on social media, and Jedi News followed that up with a report tied to his upcoming Rebel Scum Con III appearance, stating that he is playing an as-yet unnamed Iktotchi character in the film. That takes this from “internet speculation” to something a…
Ludwig Göransson Just Won His Third Oscar — Which Is a Pretty Nice Flex Ahead of The Mandalorian and Grogu
Ludwig Göransson has now won his third Academy Award, taking Best Original Score for Sinners at the 2026 Oscars. That is already a big headline on its own. But for Star Wars fans, the timing makes it even better: Göransson is also the composer for The Mandalorian and Grogu, which hits theaters on May 22, 2026. So yes, Lucasfilm’s next big-screen Star Wars movie is arriving with a composer who just added even more hardware to the shelf. This Was Not Just Another Nomination According to Pitchfork, the Sinners win was Göransson’s fifth Oscar nomination and third win. The Academy’s own Scientific & Technical Awards page is obviously not relevant here, but multiple awards-night reports and winner lists all line up on the same point: he won Best Original Score for Sinners at the 98th Academy Awards. That puts him in a pretty absurd tier for a composer who still…
Exclusive Mandalorian and Grogu IMAX Footage Is Reportedly Playing in the UK, and It Sounds Like Lucasfilm Is Leaning Hard Into the Big-Screen Upgrade
One of the easiest ways to tell Lucasfilm knows The Mandalorian and Grogu needs to feel like a real movie is this: it apparently is not just pushing trailers anymore. According to Bespin Bulletin, an exclusive behind-the-scenes-style featurette has been playing at Odeon IMAX screenings in the UK over the last few days, giving audiences a little extra look at the film before its May 22, 2026 release. That alone is enough to make Star Wars fans perk up, because once studios start attaching exclusive footage to premium screens, they are not just selling a title — they are selling the idea that this thing belongs in theaters. The Reported Footage Sounds More Cinematic Than Routine Promo Filler Bespin Bulletin says the IMAX-exclusive material includes Din Djarin walking down a dark urban street at night, Din unmasked in a cave with water up to his neck, more shots of the…
The Mandalorian and Grogu May Be 2 Hours and 20 Minutes Long — But Treat That Runtime Carefully for Now
A possible runtime for The Mandalorian and Grogu is now floating around online, and for once it is not coming from some random account with a blurry screenshot and too much confidence. Odeon Cinemas is currently listing the movie at 2h 20m on its film page, which is obviously the sort of detail Star Wars fans will latch onto immediately. Because the second a runtime appears, the entire conversation becomes: is that good, is that too long, is that secretly perfect, and what exactly is Jon Favreau doing with all that time? Odeon Has It Listed at 2 Hours and 20 Minutes As of now, Odeon’s listing for The Mandalorian & Grogu shows a runtime of 2 hours and 20 minutes alongside the film’s May 22, 2026 release date. If that number holds, the movie would land in a very normal modern Star Wars feature range, which makes sense for…
A New Mandalorian and Grogu LEGO Set May Be Bringing Rotta the Hutt Back Into the Spotlight
It looks like Rotta the Hutt might be heading back to LEGO Star Wars shelves later this year, and honestly, that is not a sentence many people probably expected to be reading in 2026. According to a new report from Bespin Bulletin, another wave of The Mandalorian and Grogu LEGO sets is reportedly on the way, and one of the leaked entries is currently labeled “Hutt and Droid.” The reported set is tied to an August 2026 release and is said to include 415 pieces for $49.99 / €49.99. The Big Hook Is Pretty Obvious: Rotta Bespin Bulletin says the current assumption is that this mystery set is connected to Rotta the Hutt, who is already known to be part of The Mandalorian and Grogu. The site notes that the film includes multiple Hutts and droids, but argues Rotta is the most likely fit here, especially given the movie’s trailer…
The Essential Legends Collection Is Bringing Back James Luceno and Finishing the X-Wing Run in 2026
The Essential Legends Collection is adding four more titles in 2026, and this is actually a pretty strong wave. Two books arrive on August 11, with two more following on November 10, and the lineup is split between James Luceno prequel-era heavy hitters and the final stretch of the classic X-Wing run. That means this is not just another “old Star Wars books get new covers” situation. This wave has a point. And if you want to get ahead of the rush, you can already check Amazon preorder availability here. August Belongs to James Luceno The first two books in the wave are Cloak of Deception and Labyrinth of Evil, both by James Luceno. That alone is enough to get a certain kind of Star Wars reader to sit up straight. Luceno has always been one of the safest pairs of hands in Star Wars publishing when the material gets…
Sigourney Weaver Says Colonel Ward Goes Way Back With Leia — and That Suddenly Makes The Mandalorian and Grogu More Interesting
For a while, Colonel Ward felt like one of those Star Wars movie characters who exists mostly as a name, a uniform, and a lot of fan speculation. Sigourney Weaver was in, the trailers showed her looking important, and everyone more or less assumed she would be the serious New Republic authority figure who sends Din Djarin off to deal with a mess. Which, to be fair, still sounds true. But Empire’s new coverage adds one much better detail: Ward apparently has history with Princess Leia. And just like that, she stops feeling like generic “new character in a control room” material and starts feeling like someone with real roots in this era of Star Wars. Colonel Ward Is Not Just Some Random New Republic Officer According to the new Empire details relayed by Jedi News, Weaver says Colonel Ward and Leia “go way back.” That is the kind of…
Walmart Collector Con Is Bringing Clone Wars Obi-Wan, an Airborne Trooper, and Two Mini Helmets Star Wars Fans Will Absolutely Pretend They Don’t Need
If you collect Star Wars figures for more than about five minutes, you eventually develop a very specific kind of delusion. It usually sounds like this: “I’m just going to look.” Then Walmart Collector Con happens, a Clone Wars-era Obi-Wan shows up with a 212th Airborne Trooper, and suddenly you are doing release-time math like your morning depends on it. That is pretty much the situation now, because Walmart Collector Con kicks off on March 19 at 10:00 AM ET, and Hasbro’s Star Wars lineup is exactly the kind of thing built to destroy even the flimsiest collector self-control. The Main Event Is the Obi-Wan and Airborne Trooper 2-Pack The biggest draw here is the Walmart exclusive Vintage Collection Obi-Wan Kenobi & Airborne Clone Trooper 2-pack, which goes up for preorder on March 19 at 10:00 AM ET for $32.80. Hasbro’s published details say the set includes a 3.75-inch Obi-Wan…