Star Wars Celebration Los Angeles 2027 has just fired its first proper hype shot. The first celebrity guests have officially been announced, and Lucasfilm is not starting small. Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Dee Bradley Baker, and Michelle Ang are all heading to Los Angeles next year, giving the event an immediate mix of Skywalker Saga royalty and Lucasfilm Animation favorites. The announcement was confirmed on StarWars.com’s Celebration LA 2027 guest reveal. Anakin, Palpatine, and C-3PO Lead the First Wave The live-action side of the first guest wave is stacked. Hayden Christensen returns to Celebration as one of the franchise’s biggest modern fan-favorites, thanks to his run as Anakin Skywalker in the prequels and his later returns in Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka. Then there is Ian McDiarmid, which means the Emperor himself will be in attendance. Few Star Wars actors can weaponize a smile quite like McDiarmid, and yes,…
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Gina Carano Says She Spoke With Favreau and Filoni After Lawsuit Settlement
Gina Carano is back in the Star Wars conversation — though not, at least officially, back in Star Wars. The former The Mandalorian actor has revealed that she spoke with Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni after her lawsuit with Disney and Lucasfilm was settled. In a new Entertainment Weekly report on Carano’s Mandalorian comments, she described the January Zoom call as a “let’s touch base” conversation and said it was important for her to “mend whatever” and make sure everyone was good. Cara Dune Is Not Confirmed to Return Before anyone fires up the rumor engines at full power: there is no official announcement that Cara Dune is returning. Carano played Cara Dune in the first two seasons of The Mandalorian, before Lucasfilm cut ties with her in 2021 after controversial social media posts. Disney and Lucasfilm later settled her lawsuit, and Entertainment Weekly notes that Lucasfilm’s settlement statement said…
The Mandalorian & Grogu Finally Lets Pedro Pascal Fight Helmet-Off
Din Djarin taking his helmet off is not exactly a casual Tuesday in The Mandalorian. It usually means vows, trauma, emotional breakthroughs, or Grogu looking at him with those enormous “please ruin the internet” eyes. But in The Mandalorian & Grogu, it sounds like Pedro Pascal is not just getting helmet-off drama. He is getting helmet-off action. During recent press for the movie, Jon Favreau revealed that Pascal filmed “great set-pieces” with his helmet off, adding that the team leaned into Pascal’s physicality for some very specific reasons. As Favreau put it, Pascal was a competitive swimmer, so they got him in the water — and after seeing his combat work in Gladiator II, they also had him fighting without the helmet. Vis dette opslag på Instagram Et opslag delt af Omelete (@omelete) Din Djarin, But More Pedro This Time That is a pretty big shift for a character built…
Star Wars: Starfighter Finds Its Mandalorian Editor
Star Wars: Starfighter has quietly added another important piece behind the scenes — and this one comes with some very familiar Star Wars mileage. According to Adam Gerstel’s résumé at Independent Artist Group, Gerstel is listed as the editor of Star Wars: Starfighter, the upcoming Lucasfilm movie directed by Shawn Levy. Not the loudest piece of casting news in the galaxy, sure. But editing is where a Star Wars movie either flies like an X-wing or crashes into a committee meeting with expensive lighting. A Familiar Name From The Mandalorian Gerstel is not new to Star Wars. As noted by Bespin Bulletin’s report on Gerstel joining Starfighter, he previously edited The Mandalorian Season 2 episodes “Chapter 9: The Marshal” and “Chapter 16: The Rescue.” That is a pretty interesting pair of credits. “The Marshal” helped launch Season 2 with Cobb Vanth, Tusken Raiders, a krayt dragon, and the kind of…
Ralph Gunderman, Additional Voice Actor in SWTOR, Has Died at 77
There is some sad news for long-time Star Wars: The Old Republic fans and for people who have spent years listening to familiar voices across games, TV, and commercials. Ralph Gunderman, who provided additional voices in Star Wars: The Old Republic, has died at the age of 77. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Gunderman died on March 1 at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York from complications of pneumonia, citing a family spokesperson. For SWTOR players, Gunderman was not one of the big headline names on the poster, but he was part of the wider voice fabric that helped make the galaxy feel lived in. His IMDb credits include Star Wars: The Old Republic (2011) among his game work, listing him under additional voices. That kind of credit can be easy to overlook, but in a game as massive and dialogue-heavy as SWTOR, those supporting performances matter a lot. And…
Shawn Levy Says Star Wars: Starfighter Is Now in the Edit Room
Star Wars: Starfighter has moved into a very important phase of production: the part where the footage stops being potential and starts becoming an actual movie. Speaking to Variety at the Breakthrough Prize Ceremony, director Shawn Levy said he is currently editing the film, describing himself as being in the “beautiful sanctity of the edit room” while shaping the movie ahead of its 2027 release. As Levy put it, “We don’t come out until next year,” adding that he is in the “dark quiet of the edit room finding the best possible shape for the film.” The quote comes from Variety’s recent interview with Levy. That is not exactly a flashy reveal, but it is the kind of update that makes the project feel more real. Earlier official coverage from StarWars.com’s original announcement of Star Wars: Starfighter confirmed that the film stars Ryan Gosling, is directed by Shawn Levy, and…
Gina Carano Says She Has Spoken With Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni After Settlement
The Gina Carano story is not over yet, even if the legal fight is. After settling her lawsuit with Disney and Lucasfilm in August 2025, Carano says she has already spoken with both Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. The detail comes from Carano’s appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, later picked up by multiple outlets, where she described a post-settlement Zoom call with the two Mandalorian creatives as warm and surprisingly natural. According to Carano, the conversation did not sound tense at all. As quoted by CinemaBlend’s write-up of the interview, she said, “I’ve already had a conversation with Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau,” describing both as “really lovely,” and said the call happened after the lawsuit was settled. She also recalled Favreau joking, “So, where did we leave off?” That is the headline. The more complicated part is what it actually means. The lawsuit is over, but a return…
Martin Scorsese’s Mandalorian & Grogu Cameo Is Very Real
Of all the names you might expect to pop up in a Star Wars movie, Martin Scorsese was probably not near the top of the list. But according to SFX magazine, via comments from director Jon Favreau, the legendary filmmaker really does have a cameo in The Mandalorian & Grogu, where he voices an alien shopkeeper seen in the film’s trailer. And honestly, that is already one of the strangest and best little details attached to this movie so far. Kathleen Kennedy made it happen Favreau says the cameo came together thanks to Kathleen Kennedy, who knew Scorsese personally and was able to reach out directly. According to Favreau, Kennedy “called him up,” Scorsese said yes, and Favreau then got to direct him himself. That alone is a pretty wild sentence in Star Wars terms. It is not every day you get one of cinema’s most famous directors stepping into…
Star Wars: Zero Company Voice Cast: What We Know So Far
Star Wars: Zero Company still has one of those cast lists that feels more like a slowly opening blast door than a full reveal. The game itself is official: it is a single-player turn-based tactics game from Bit Reactor, made in collaboration with Respawn Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games, set in the twilight of the Clone Wars. Players step into the role of Hawks, leading an unconventional squad through a shadow-war story built around both authored characters and customizable recruits. What is not fully official yet is the voice cast. Publicly, Lucasfilm and EA have told us a lot about the game’s setting, squad structure, and major characters, but they have named surprisingly few actors so far. That makes this a good moment for a proper “what we know so far” check-in. Vic Michaelis is the newest reported name The newest actor connected to the game is comedian Vic Michaelis. In…
Mara Jade Represents the Star Wars Future Fans Lost
There is a reason the Mara Jade story blew up harder than a lot of bigger Star Wars headlines this week. On paper, it was simple: Claudia Gray said Lucasfilm had told her no when she asked about using Mara Jade in canon, and Timothy Zahn said he had asked too and gotten the same answer. That is not a trailer. It is not a casting leak. It is not even an official Lucasfilm statement. But the reaction online made one thing very clear: for a lot of fans, Mara Jade is no longer just a character they miss. She has become a symbol for the version of Star Wars they feel slipped away. That is why the Reddit discussion got interesting so fast. It did not stay focused on whether Mara Jade is “cool” or whether Lucasfilm should bring back more Legends characters. The argument turned almost immediately into…
Mark Hamill Says Star Wars Is in Good Hands With Dave Filoni
As Star Wars edges closer to its 50th anniversary, Mark Hamill is doing what very few people connected to this franchise can do: looking backward and forward at the same time. In a new USA Today interview, Hamill reflected on the sheer weirdness of hitting the half-century mark since the original movie began filming in 1976, admitting the milestone makes him “feel old.” That part is pure nostalgia fuel. But the more interesting bit for where Star Wars is heading now is what he said about Dave Filoni. Hamill is clearly backing Filoni According to coverage of the interview, Hamill said he “can’t think of better hands” for Star Wars than Filoni’s, and pointed to one big reason why: Filoni learned directly from George Lucas. Hamill said Lucas was a mentor to Filoni, which in his view means Filoni understands George’s creative sensibility in a way that really matters for…
Sam Witwer Says He’d Return as Starkiller “In an Instant”
Sam Witwer just tossed a fresh log onto one of Star Wars fandom’s oldest fires. Speaking to Polygon, Witwer said that if Lucasfilm ever asked him to return as Starkiller, he would “shave my head in an instant” and do it happily. That is not a canon announcement, obviously. It is also not a casting rumor. But it is a very clear reminder that the man who helped make Starkiller iconic is still completely up for it. And honestly, that is enough to get people talking again. The door is not open — but it is definitely not locked from his side Witwer is already back in a big Star Wars spotlight thanks to Maul: Shadow Lord, where he has returned to one of his most closely associated roles in the franchise. So this was not some random convention nostalgia hit from a guy who has not touched Star Wars…
Filoni Had the Most Dave Filoni Answer Possible to Sam Witwer’s Starkiller Worry
Sometimes Star Wars lore is complicated. And sometimes Dave Filoni hears a problem, tilts his head for a second, and turns it into a very Star Wars answer. In a new StarWars.com interview tied to Maul: Shadow Lord, Sam Witwer recalled worrying that his performance as the Son of Mortis sounded too much like Starkiller. Filoni’s response was basically: that is fine, because Starkiller is deeply tied to the dark side, and the Son is the dark side. So if they sound alike, that actually tracks. It is one of those explanations that sounds slightly insane for three seconds and then starts making annoying amounts of sense. A very Star Wars problem with a very Star Wars solution Witwer told StarWars.com that when he first played the Son in The Clone Wars, he did not arrive with a strong take on the character and started to worry he was slipping…
Claudia Gray Wants a KOTOR Novel — and Honestly, Lucasfilm Should Let Her Cook
There are good Star Wars book ideas, and then there are the ones that feel so obvious it is almost rude they do not exist yet. Claudia Gray writing a Knights of the Old Republic novel is firmly in that second category. And now she has said it out loud. Speaking at MegaCon 2026, Gray said she wants to write KOTOR books and joked that if a Mission and Zaalbar backstory novel happens without her, “there will be blood.” That is the sort of quote that immediately lights up the ancient Jedi temple in the brains of old-school Star Wars readers. Not just because KOTOR still has a huge fan following, but because Gray is not some random person tossing out wishlist ideas from the cheap seats. On the official StarWars.com author page, she is listed as the writer of Bloodline, Lost Stars, Leia, Princess of Alderaan, and Master &…
Sam Witwer Says Maul: Shadow Lord Was Built for Newcomers — and Compares Maul to Jack Torrance
Sam Witwer has now said the quiet part out loud: Maul: Shadow Lord is not just a reward for longtime Clone Wars diehards. In a new YouTube interview, Witwer said the series was shaped so even people with little or no Star Wars background can jump in and understand it, which is a pretty revealing statement about what Lucasfilm seems to want this show to do. That matters because Maul has never exactly been a beginner-friendly character. His timeline is messy, his rage is old, and half his best material is spread across movies, animation, and a surprise live-action cameo. But Witwer said Shadow Lord was constructed “with an eye toward” new viewers, with the story designed to explain itself rather than demand homework first. That lines up with the official setup for the series, which places Maul on Janix in the early Imperial era as he tries to rebuild…
What Carrie Fisher Revealed About Her Affair With Harrison Ford in The Princess Diarist
Few behind-the-scenes Star Wars stories have lingered quite like the Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford affair. Part of that is obvious: it involves two of the most iconic faces in the franchise, and it stayed out of public view for decades. But the reason people still search terms like “Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford affair” or “did Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford have an affair” is not just gossip. It is because Fisher eventually told the story herself, in her 2016 memoir The Princess Diarist, using journals she kept during the making of the first Star Wars. The book was published by Blue Rider Press in November 2016 and is explicitly framed around her younger self’s diaries from that period. Yes, Carrie Fisher said the affair happened The short version is yes: Carrie Fisher said she and Harrison Ford had a three-month affair during the filming of the original Star…
Timothy Zahn Thinks Thrawn Would’ve Won Star Wars at Yavin in About 30 Seconds
A single TIE fighter, one better question, and the Rebel victory might never have happened Timothy Zahn has a brutally simple answer to one of Star Wars’ oldest “what if” debates: if Grand Admiral Thrawn had been in charge of the Death Star at Yavin, the Empire probably would have won. Speaking during a MegaCon 2026 panel, Zahn said the key difference is not just that Thrawn is smart. It is that he listens. According to Zahn, where Tarkin dismissed the threat during the Rebel trench run, Thrawn would have asked for specifics — and then acted on them. His example was almost hilariously efficient: park a TIE fighter on the exhaust port, and that famous last-minute shot never happens. Why Zahn’s quote works so well What makes the quote land is how little it needs to rewrite. This is not one of those fan theories that requires ten alternate…
Jeremy Allen White Says Finding Rotta the Hutt’s Voice Was Freer Than Playing Bruce Springsteen
Jeremy Allen White has now given one of the better descriptions yet of what makes The Mandalorian and Grogu such a strange swing. Speaking in Empire-backed coverage surfaced this month, White said playing Rotta the Hutt gave him “a bit more freedom” than playing Bruce Springsteen, because Springsteen’s voice is so instantly recognizable. Rotta, by contrast, gave him more room to experiment — including, in his words, the fact that “my speaking voice changes [as Rotta].” That is a weird comparison on paper, but it actually tells you a lot about what kind of performance this is. Rotta Is Clearly Not Being Played as a Joke That matters because White is not just voicing some throwaway CGI creature. Lucasfilm has already confirmed that he plays Rotta the Hutt in The Mandalorian and Grogu, the upcoming theatrical Star Wars film opening May 22, 2026. Official material has also made it clear…
Phil Lord’s New Solo Comment Suggests Han Was Meant to Be More Than a One-Off
A throwaway line from Phil Lord may have just reopened one of the strangest “what if” questions in modern Star Wars. During a recent Happy Sad Confused interview with Josh Horowitz, Lord said one benefit of not being “on the hook for making like three Han Solo sequels” was that he and Chris Miller could go make original franchise material instead. It was not framed like a big reveal, but it landed like one. Because if you take that line at face value, Lucasfilm’s plan for Solo may once have stretched well beyond a single movie. That Is a Bigger Han Solo Plan Than Fans Ever Officially Heard About The key detail here is the wording. Lord did not say “maybe there could have been more.” He said “three Han Solo sequels,” which strongly suggests there was at least some version of a longer-term roadmap in the air when he…
Maul: Shadow Lord Is Taking Inspiration From Heat — and That Might Be the Best News Yet
If Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord needed one more reason to look dangerous in the best possible way, here it is: writer and co-developer Matt Michnovetz says Heat was a key influence on the series.In a new interview, Michnovetz called the Michael Mann crime classic “a good touchstone for Maul,” framing the show around a noir-ish underworld atmosphere instead of a cleaner, more traditional Jedi-vs-Sith setup. If you want the broader picture around the series, release rollout, and earlier reveals, check out our Maul: Shadow Lord complete guide. This Is Exactly the Kind of Comparison Maul Should Be Getting Honestly, this makes a ton of sense. If you are building a show around Maul in the early Empire era, the obvious temptation would be to go full revenge opera and just let him glare at people in dark corridors for 10 episodes. That might still be fun, but it…
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…
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…
John Boyega Says He’s Had Talks With Dave Filoni About Returning as Finn
John Boyega has just given Star Wars fans a small but very real reason to start paying attention to Finn again. During an appearance at MegaCon Orlando, an audience member reportedly shouted, “Get Dave on the phone,” referring to new Lucasfilm President and Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni. Boyega’s answer was simple: “I actually have, actually.” Multiple entertainment outlets have since picked up the moment as confirmation that he has at least spoken with Filoni about a possible Star Wars return. A Small Quote With Big Finn Energy This is not a casting announcement. It is not Lucasfilm confirming a new movie, series, or Finn-led project. But it is still notable. Boyega has had a complicated relationship with Star Wars in the years since the sequel trilogy, openly discussing disappointment with how Finn’s arc was handled. That is why this quote lands harder than a throwaway convention soundbite normally would….
Hayden Christensen Says His Daughter Still Hasn’t Watched His Star Wars Movies
Hayden Christensen says his daughter still has not really watched his Star Wars movies, and the reason is honestly kind of perfect. Speaking at GalaxyCon, Christensen said she knows he plays “a significant character,” but has still not properly seen the films. According to him, the issue seems to be pretty simple: she knows he becomes Darth Vader, she knows Darth Vader is a bad guy, and she does not want to watch her dad as the villain. A Very Star Wars Parenting Problem It is one of those stories that only really works in Star Wars. For most actors, telling your kid you played an important movie character probably sounds pretty straightforward. For Hayden Christensen, it apparently comes with the added complication that the character eventually becomes one of the most famous villains in film history. That makes this less about franchise legacy and more about a kid understandably…