MCM London Comic Con has landed a genuinely strong Star Wars animation lineup for its May 2026 show, with a full group of The Clone Wars voice actors now confirmed for the weekend. The event will run from Friday, May 22 through Sunday, May 24 at ExCeL London, and all three days will feature Matt Lanter, James Arnold Taylor, Nika Futterman, Catherine Taber, Dee Bradley Baker, and Ashley Eckstein. That is not just one nice guest announcement. That is basically MCM looking at Clone Wars fans and saying, “Yeah, this one’s for you.” This Is a Proper Clone Wars Reunion, Not Just a Random Guest Add-On That lineup covers a lot of the core emotional wiring of The Clone Wars. You have Matt Lanter as Anakin Skywalker, James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano, Dee Bradley Baker as the clone army and Captain Rex, Nika Futterman…
Author: Matt "ObiWaN" Hansen
ILM’s Award-Winning “Lama” Tech Is the Kind of Star Wars-Adjacent Magic Most Fans Never See
Not every big Star Wars story is a trailer, a casting reveal, or somebody saying one vague sentence in Empire and sending the fandom into orbit for three days. Sometimes the interesting stuff is deeper in the machine. That is the case with Industrial Light & Magic’s layered shading system Lama, which has now picked up one of the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards. ILM says 2026 marks its 39th Sci-Tech Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and this one goes specifically to the team behind Lama — a production-ready layered materials system that has become a key part of how ILM builds believable digital surfaces. This Is Not a Movie Award in the Usual Sense To be clear, this is not “ILM won an Oscar for one specific Star Wars project.” This is one of the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards, which recognize the tools…
Galaxy of Heroes Adds Cinta Kaz, and She Looks Built to Be a Quiet Problem for the Other Team
The Era of Andor rollout in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes is still going, and now it is Cinta Kaz’s turn to hit the holotables. Fantha Tracks picked up the news from Lucasfilm Games, while the official kit reveal mirrored on SWGOH.GG places her Marquee event from March 10 to March 17 as part of the broader Andor-era release schedule. That alone is enough to make Andor fans pay attention, because Cinta was never the loudest character in the room. She was the one who made silence feel dangerous. And honestly, that seems to be exactly what the game is leaning into here. The official kit reveal describes her as a cold, fearless assassin and a stealthy Attacker who slots into the new Rebel Fighter team alongside Cassian Andor (Undercover), Luthen Rael, Kleya Marki, and Vel Sartha. The Game Clearly Knows What Kind of Character Cinta Is One of the…
Ryan Gosling Says Star Wars: Starfighter Has Its Own Great Story — and That Is Exactly What Fans Need to Hear
There is a very specific kind of Star Wars quote that instantly makes people nervous. It usually sounds like someone involved in a new project saying, “Trust us, it’s special,” which is Hollywood code for “we are not telling you anything useful yet.” Ryan Gosling’s new comments about Star Wars: Starfighter land a little better than that, mostly because they hit the exact concern a lot of fans already have. Speaking to Collider, Gosling said the film has “such a great story on its own,” that the characters are amazing, and that Shawn Levy has the tone locked in. That may not be a plot reveal, but it is a smart reassurance for a movie that really does need to prove it can stand on its own two feet. The “On Its Own” Part Is the Real Headline That is the phrase that matters most here. Not just that Gosling…
Maul – Shadow Lord Was Shot More Like Live-Action — But Lucasfilm Still Knows Maul Works Best as a Mystery
One of the fastest ways to ruin Darth Maul would be to explain too much. That might sound strange for a character who has gone from “cool horned Sith guy with a double-bladed lightsaber” to one of the most layered villains in Star Wars animation, but it is true. Maul only really works if there is always something jagged left in him — something you cannot fully smooth out, decode, or reduce to neat lore bullet points. That is why the most interesting takeaway from the new Animation Magazine feature on Maul – Shadow Lord is not just that the show was shot “much more like live-action.” It is that Lucasfilm seems to understand the balancing act here. The series wants to get closer to Maul without stripping away the mystery that makes him compelling in the first place. A More Live-Action Style Actually Fits Maul Really Well Animation supervisor…
Ludwig Göransson Says The Mandalorian and Grogu Is Going Bigger Than the Series — and Honestly, That Matters
One of the reasons The Mandalorian worked so well from the start is that it never sounded like safe, familiar Star Wars wallpaper. Ludwig Göransson gave Din Djarin a score that felt lonely, strange, dusty, metallic, and just a little mythic. It was not trying to be John Williams cosplay. It was doing its own thing. And now, heading into The Mandalorian and Grogu, Göransson is making it very clear that the movie is not just reusing the TV formula on a larger screen. Musically, at least, this thing is going much bigger. The big headline from Empire’s new coverage is the scale. In the Readly preview of Empire’s “Settling the score” feature, Göransson says the film uses a 105-piece orchestra, up from the 70-piece orchestra used for the series, and adds a 64-piece choir on top of that. He also says he had more time to work on the…
Empire’s Mandalorian and Grogu Coverage Just Made the Movie Feel a Lot More Real
For a while, The Mandalorian and Grogu has had that slightly weird Star Wars-project energy where everyone knows it exists, everyone knows it is important, but it still somehow feels a little abstract. Not anymore. Empire’s May 2026 issue is a full-on world-exclusive preview, built around new imagery and interviews with Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, and Jeremy Allen White, and it is very clearly the point where this thing stops feeling like “that Mando movie coming at some point” and starts feeling like an actual event. Empire’s issue went on sale March 12, and Lucasfilm’s official film page still has the release date locked for May 22, 2026. Pedro Pascal Apparently Found Out About the Movie the Same Way We Did The funniest detail to come out of the new coverage might be that Pedro Pascal was not sitting on some giant secret master plan all…
Star Wars: Unlimited – A Lawless Time Is Here, and It Looks Like the Set That Wants the Game to Get a Little Messier
Not every new card set changes the mood of a game. Some just add more pieces to the toy box. A Lawless Time does not really feel like that. This one looks like Fantasy Flight deliberately leaned into the shadier, more chaotic side of Star Wars, with a set built around outlaws, heists, crime lords, Credit tokens, and new aspect combinations. Officially, it packs more than 260 new cards, and FFG has framed it as a release big enough to shake up the game as Star Wars: Unlimited moves into its third year. This Is Not Just “More Cards,” It’s a Format Moment The biggest reason A Lawless Time matters is that it is tied directly to the game’s first rotation and the launch of the Eternal format. FFG’s March streaming schedule made that very clear, with separate streams for the pre-launch meta check-in, launch day, post-rotation Premier gameplay, and…
New Mandalorian and Grogu TV Spot Keeps the Plot Murky — But the Movie’s Vibe Is Getting Much Clearer
Star Wars marketing loves doing this thing where it gives you just enough new footage to make you lean forward, and then immediately refuses to explain anything useful. That is pretty much where we are now with The Mandalorian and Grogu. A new US TV spot has surfaced, Empire’s new cover story is feeding the hype machine, and while Lucasfilm still is not exactly laying the whole plot out on the holotable, the tone of the movie is starting to come into focus. The New TV Spot Is Small, But It Does Its Job The fresh TV spot is short and pretty cagey, so this is not one of those “suddenly we know the entire third act” situations. But it does add a little new footage and keeps hammering home the same basic idea: this is still very much a Din-and-Grogu movie first, even if the scale is clearly bigger…
Katee Sackhoff Won’t Confirm Bo-Katan for The Mandalorian and Grogu — But She Says Fans Haven’t Seen the Last of Her
You can always count on Star Wars red carpet interviews to give you the most carefully engineered non-answer in the galaxy. That is exactly what happened when Katee Sackhoff was asked about Bo-Katan Kryze and whether she shows up in The Mandalorian and Grogu. Sackhoff did not confirm it. She did not deny it either. Instead, she pulled the classic “can’t confirm or deny” move — which, in Star Wars terms, is basically the franchise equivalent of waving a beskar key in front of the fandom and then sprinting away. But here is the part that actually matters: she also said fans have not seen the last of Bo-Katan. And honestly? That is the real story here. Bo-Katan Is Not Exactly a Side Character Anymore At this point, Bo-Katan is way past being some deep-cut Clone Wars favorite that only animation nerds argued about online. She is one of the…
New Star Wars: Galactic Racer Gameplay Is Out — and NVIDIA Confirms DLSS 4.5 + Ray-Traced Lumen on Day One
Star Wars: Galactic Racer just got a fresh gameplay push — and the PC version is shaping up to be a full “RTX flex” on launch. Alongside the new gameplay trailer from Lucasfilm Games, NVIDIA has now confirmed that the game will ship day-one with DLSS 4.5 and a stack of modern rendering features, including hardware-accelerated, ray-traced Lumen lighting. The new gameplay trailer is official The gameplay trailer was revealed through Sony’s State of Play coverage and reposted by StarWars.com, which confirms the game is coming in 2026 to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. If you’re tracking the vibe: the game is still being pitched as a high-stakes Outer Rim racing circuit (speeders/swoops/podracing energy), leaning into “illegal league” adrenaline rather than clean sports racing. NVIDIA’s “Day One” PC feature list In NVIDIA’s GDC 2026 DLSS 4.5 announcement post, STAR WARS: Galactic Racer is listed as launching with DLSS 4.5…
The Cancelled Star Wars Shooter “First Assault” Is Reportedly Playable Online Now — Here’s What That Actually Means
A new wave of clips is making the rounds claiming that Star Wars: First Assault — the cancelled LucasArts-era shooter — is now playable online. The current spark is a YouTube upload showcasing gameplay and describing the unreleased Xbox 360 build as “finally playable online,” plus a viral X post amplifying the claim. Before anyone starts yelling “Battlefront 3!” (again): First Assault wasn’t Battlefront 3 — but it’s part of that same weird lost era of Star Wars games where multiple projects were being explored and then evaporated when LucasArts shut down. What Star Wars: First Assault was supposed to be Back in the early 2010s, First Assault was widely reported as a downloadable multiplayer shooter (often described as Xbox Live Arcade–style) in development at LucasArts. Reporting at the time framed it as a potential stepping stone toward a larger Battlefront-style future. It later became one of the projects people…
Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster Finally Gets a Physical Release Date
Some Star Wars games never really leave. They just keep finding new ways to crawl back out of the vents. That is pretty much the story of Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster, which is now getting a physical release on March 13, 2026. Fantha Tracks flagged the date, and Atari’s own store listing backs it up with a “ships March 13th, 2026” window for physical editions on PS5 and Nintendo Switch. For an old-school Star Wars shooter like Dark Forces, that is a pretty nice victory lap. Kyle Katarn Is Back on Shelves There is something fitting about Dark Forces getting a physical release. This is not just another retro game tossed into the digital void and left to fend for itself. Dark Forces is one of those foundational Star Wars PC games that still carries real weight, partly because of what it was and partly because of what it…
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic Adds a Studio Art Director — Pascal Blanché Joins Casey Hudson’s Team
If you’re tracking Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic like it’s a mystery box (because it kind of is), here’s a real, tangible development: Pascal Blanché has joined Arcanaut Studios as Studio Art Director, working alongside Casey Hudson on the upcoming Star Wars RPG. Blanché shared the news himself, saying he’s “joined forces (pun intended)” with Hudson and Arcanaut’s team to work on what he calls the next “epic” chapter for the project. Why this hire matters (even if you don’t care about job titles) “Studio Art Director” isn’t just a fancy credit. It usually means the project is locking in a visual identity: the look of the era, the tone of environments, character silhouettes, color language, UI direction, and the “what does this Star Wars corner feel like?” bible that everything else builds on. In other words: this is a sign the creative machine is turning, not just…
Star Wars Galaxies Restoration Just Hit a New Player Record
For a project built on nostalgia, community, and the stubborn refusal to let a classic die quietly, this is a pretty big milestone. Star Wars Galaxies Restoration has announced that 2,516 unique accounts logged in yesterday, smashing the project’s previous record. In a short but heartfelt message, the team thanked everyone who has helped spread the word, calling the surge a major moment for the server and the community around it. That kind of number matters. Private server and restoration projects live and die on momentum, and this is the sort of update that says Restoration is not just hanging on — it is still growing. For longtime Star Wars Galaxies players, that is the dream. Not just preserving an old MMO, but actually seeing it pull in enough people to feel busy, social, and alive again. And honestly, that has always been the magic trick with Star Wars Galaxies….
LEGO Star Wars Castaways Quietly Brought Back a Rebels Event
Not every Star Wars game gets remembered like KOTOR or Jedi Outcast. Some of them live in much stranger corners of the galaxy, and LEGO Star Wars: Castaways is a pretty good example. The Apple Arcade title has quietly brought back its Star Wars Rebels event, giving players a chance to earn themed cosmetics and character pieces inspired by the show through March 31. Posts tied to the game say players can unlock Ghost Crew-style rewards during the event. That is obviously not a massive Star Wars headline. But it is the kind of small update that reminds people how weird and wide the Star Wars games catalog really is. Castaways launched back in 2021 as a LEGO social-adventure game on Apple Arcade, and it has kept itself alive with themed events tied to different corners of the franchise. That is also why it fits neatly into the bigger picture…
Star Wars: Star Pilots Is Coming This October — And Wedge Antilles Is the Perfect Guide
There are flashier Star Wars names than Wedge Antilles. That is exactly why he works so well here. A new book titled Star Wars: Star Pilots is on the way this October from DK Books, written by Chris Kempshall, and it sounds like a very targeted love letter to one of the best parts of the galaxy: the pilots, the dogfights, and the legends built in a cockpit. Even better, Wedge Antilles is positioned as the guide through it all, which is about as close to a “this was made for longtime fans” signal as you can get without putting Rogue Squadron on the cover in giant letters. If you already know this is your kind of Star Wars book, you can pre-order Star Wars: Star Pilots on Amazon right here. Wedge Antilles Is Doing What Wedge Antilles Does Best If this book had gone with Luke Skywalker as its…
SWTOR 7.8.1 Is Almost Here — Here’s What to Expect From Master’s Enigma This Week
Star Wars: The Old Republic is about to get a pretty busy week. Broadsword has confirmed that servers will go down on March 10 to deploy Game Update 7.8.1 “Master’s Enigma,” and the official recap from the recent livestream already laid out what players can expect once the patch lands. That includes new story content, new Date Night missions for Kira Carsen and Torian Cadera, a returning seasonal event, Twitch Drops, and new Cartel Market decorations. So if you have been half-paying attention and just waiting for the actual patch to show up, this is the moment to get your bearings. Darth Jadus Is Back in the Conversation The biggest hook in 7.8.1 is the new Master’s Enigma storyline. According to the official livestream recap, Republic and Imperial leaders head to Odessen to deal with the fallout from the Mandalorian conflict, Darth Nul’s holocron, and Malgus’ escape. In the middle…
Star Wars: KOTOR Remake Is Still Alive — Which Is Somehow Both News and a Running Joke
There are few Star Wars game stories more cursed than the Knights of the Old Republic remake. Announced back in 2021 with the kind of trailer that instantly sent half the fandom into nostalgia overdrive, the project then spent years drifting into that awkward “technically still exists, probably, maybe, please do not ask follow-up questions” zone. So naturally, the latest update is exactly the sort of update this game would get: Saber Interactive’s Tim Willits has now confirmed that the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake is still in development. And that is, apparently, all he can say. The quote is brutally short. According to multiple reports covering Willits’ remarks to IGN, the update was simply: “Yes, it is still in development. That’s all I can say.” So no trailer. No release window. No gameplay. No platform refresh. No “here is how it is shaping up.” Just a…
Jon Favreau Says Rotta the Hutt Is Basically the Adonis Creed of The Mandalorian and Grogu
There are a lot of ways to describe Jabba the Hutt’s kid. Slimy heir. Underworld legacy act. The galaxy’s weirdest case of nepotism. But Jon Favreau just reached for a much more unexpected comparison. In a new Empire spotlight on The Mandalorian and Grogu, Favreau compared Rotta the Hutt to Adonis “Donnie” Creed, the Creed franchise boxer who has to build his own identity while carrying the weight of a famous family name. Favreau’s quote gets right to the point: what does it do to a character when he is trying to establish himself while being known first and foremost as Jabba the Hutt’s son? That is actually a pretty smart angle. Rotta Is Not Just Back — He Is Apparently in “Top Form” Favreau’s comments suggest Rotta is not returning as some throwaway easter egg for people who remember The Clone Wars. According to the new details pulled from…
Star Wars Outlaws: Low Red Moon Gets a Behind-the-Scenes Spotlight From Mike Chen and the Game’s Own Voice Cast
Not every Star Wars tie-in gets to feel this connected to the thing it is spinning out from. Star Wars Outlaws: Low Red Moon was already an interesting release because it digs into the past of Jaylen Vrax and ND-5, two characters who left a real impression in Star Wars Outlaws. Now the book is getting a fresh round of attention thanks to a new feature spotlighting author Mike Chen along with Jay Rincon and Eric Johnson, the voices behind ND-5 and Jaylen in the game itself. That alone makes this more than just another “expanded universe” side story. It makes it feel like a proper extension of the Outlaws world. Why Low Red Moon Feels Different There is no shortage of Star Wars books, comics, and side stories floating around the galaxy, but Low Red Moon has something a little more specific going for it. Instead of circling the…
George Lucas Is Being Honored With a Major Saturn Awards Lifetime Tribute
George Lucas is adding another big honor to his trophy shelf: he’s set to receive the Dr. Donald A. Reed Founder’s Award at the 53rd Annual Saturn Awards. The Saturn Awards (run by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films) are basically the annual “genre celebration” for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror — which makes Lucas an extremely on-brand recipient. What is the Dr. Donald A. Reed Founder’s Award? It’s one of the Saturn Awards’ special honors, named after the Academy’s founder, and typically reserved for people who’ve had an outsized impact on genre entertainment. This year, that honor goes to Lucas. When are the 53rd Saturn Awards? The 53rd Saturn Awards ceremony is scheduled for March 8, 2026, at Hilton Universal City in Los Angeles, with Joel McHale hosting, and it will livestream on the Saturn Awards’ site. Lucas isn’t the only special honoree Fantha Tracks notes Lucas…
Werner Herzog Says Jon Favreau Personally Invited Him to Play The Client in The Mandalorian
Werner Herzog showing up in The Mandalorian as “The Client” is still one of those wonderfully weird Star Wars casting choices that somehow works perfectly. Now, Herzog has explained how it happened—and it turns out he didn’t audition, compete, or chase the role at all. He was simply invited. “I Never Competed for That Part” In a recent chat (via CinemaBlend), Herzog said Jon Favreau personally asked him to join the series—because Favreau is a genuine fan of Herzog’s films and wanted more people to recognize him on sight: “Well, I never competed for that part. I was invited by Jon Favreau… because he loves my films, and he said people have to see what this man looks like.” That’s such a Favreau move: “I love your work, please come be an Imperial bureaucrat with terrifying vibes.” Herzog Was Also Blown Away by the Tech Herzog also praised how The…
Star Wars: Starfighter Actor Daniel Ings Teases a “Punk” Vibe — and a “Tremendous” Ending
If you’re worried Star Wars: Starfighter is going to be another overly polished, committee-built space opera, actor Daniel Ings just dropped a description that suggests the opposite. In an interview highlighted by ScreenRant, Ings says the upcoming 2027 Star Wars movie has a “punk feel” and that the ending is “tremendous.” That’s… a pretty spicy choice of words for a franchise that usually lives somewhere between mythic fairytale and military sci-fi. What does “punk Star Wars” even mean? “Ings calling it punk” can be read a few ways (and yes, fans are already doing the “define punk” discourse speedrun): And honestly? That vibe would make sense for Starfighter if the movie is truly trying to stand on its own without leaning on legacy characters as a crutch. The “tremendous” ending tease lands in… interesting timing The reason Ings’ comment is turning heads isn’t just the hype — it’s the context….