For years, the standard story about the Star Wars prequels was simple. Older fans were angry. Critics were cruel. Jar Jar became a punchline. Hayden Christensen took far more heat than any young actor ever should. And the internet, still discovering its full power to be awful in public, decided that The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, and Revenge of the Sith were a betrayal of “real” Star Wars. But according to Ian McDiarmid, George Lucas saw a lot of that coming. Speaking at Spacecon 2026, McDiarmid said Lucas knew older fans from the original trilogy era might be picky about the prequels. But Lucas also had a different target in mind: kids. Or, as McDiarmid recalled Lucas putting it, “if an 8-year-old is happy,” he had done his work. That one line explains the prequel trilogy better than 25 years of shouting ever did. The Prequels Were Never…
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Ahsoka Season 2 Might Finally Give Ezra Bridger the Spotlight He Deserves
Ezra Bridger may be getting a much bigger role in Ahsoka Season 2. According to panel reports from SpaceCon San Antonio, Eman Esfandi reportedly confirmed that Ezra will appear throughout the entirety of the upcoming second season. That would be a major shift from Season 1, where Ezra was more of a destination than a full-time character, only appearing properly in the final stretch of the story. And honestly, that might be exactly what Ahsoka needs. Season 1 Was About Finding Ezra Ezra’s role in Ahsoka Season 1 was strange by design. He was not just a missing person. He was the emotional engine behind Sabine’s decisions, Ahsoka’s mission, Hera’s concerns, and the entire search beyond the known galaxy. The story treated him like a myth, a friend, a sacrifice, and a loose thread from Star Wars Rebels that had been waiting years to be pulled. That worked for the…
Cody Rhodes Just Explained The Last Jedi Better Than Half the Internet
Star Wars: The Last Jedi discourse is apparently the Sarlacc pit of fandom. You think it is over. You think everyone has escaped. Then someone says “Luke Skywalker” online, and suddenly we are all back in the sand screaming again. This time, though, WWE star Cody Rhodes has entered the arena with one of the better defenses of The Last Jedi we have heard in years. According to GeekTyrant, Rhodes explained that his love for the film is deeply personal and oddly wrestling-related. The short version: he did not want Luke Skywalker returning as a shiny action figure version of himself. He wanted the broken old legend with one final meaningful punch left in him. And honestly? That is a much better way to understand the movie. Luke Was Never Going to Be 1983 Forever A lot of the anger around The Last Jedi comes from one expectation: Luke Skywalker…
Manny Jacinto’s Qimir Return Comment Shows the Acolyte Problem Lucasfilm Can’t Ignore
If Lucasfilm ever brings Qimir back, Manny Jacinto sounds interested. But not at any cost. Speaking to Collider, The Acolyte star Manny Jacinto was asked what he would say if Dave Filoni asked him to return as The Stranger. His answer was not the usual “I’d love to come back, call me, please let me hold the cool helmet again” response. Instead, Jacinto made one thing very clear: for him, there is no Stranger without Leslye Headland. That is the interesting part. Because Qimir was not just a breakout character because he looked good in a mask and ruined a few Jedi’s week. He worked because The Acolyte built him as something strange, seductive, dangerous, wounded, and not easily filed under “standard Sith guy.” Qimir Was The Acolyte’s Biggest Unfinished Weapon Whatever people think of The Acolyte as a whole, Qimir became the character almost everyone wanted to talk about….
Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic Just Got a Very Important Story Boost
For a game calling itself a spiritual successor to Knights of the Old Republic, story is not a side dish. It is the meal. That is why the latest Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic news matters. Arcanaut Studios has reportedly added Tony Elias as narrative director, while sci-fi author Jenny “J.S.” Dewes has joined the writing team. On paper, that sounds like normal development staffing. In reality, for a new Old Republic RPG led by Casey Hudson, it is exactly the kind of update fans should be watching closely. Because if this game gets anything wrong, it cannot be the writing. Tony Elias Joins as Narrative Director According to FRVR, Tony Elias has joined Arcanaut Studios as narrative director on Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic. His past work includes the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Remedy’s Quantum Break, and the cancelled Wonder Woman…
Rogue One Director Gareth Edwards Thinks AI Could Be Bigger Than CGI
Gareth Edwards is not exactly running from the AI conversation. The Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director has spoken positively about generative AI in filmmaking, arguing that the technology could become one of the biggest creative tools in cinema. In a new report from The Hollywood Reporter, Edwards is quoted as saying AI is “going to be better than CGI.” That is a spicy sentence. Especially in Hollywood right now. AI remains one of the most radioactive topics in entertainment, with writers, actors, artists, editors, VFX teams, and studios all arguing over what should be automated, protected, credited, or absolutely kept away from the creative process. But Edwards’ view seems less like “replace everyone” and more like “this tool is too powerful to ignore.” Why Edwards’ Opinion Matters Edwards is not some random tech executive waving a shiny toy at filmmakers. He directed Rogue One, one of the most…
Tony Gilroy Wants Star Wars to Stay Ambitious, Wild, and Adventurous
Tony Gilroy may be finished with Andor, but he clearly still has opinions about where Star Wars should go next. And honestly, good. In an Associated Press video interview, the Andor creator was asked about the future of the franchise under new leadership. His answer was short, clean, and very Gilroy: “I’d like to think that they’ll stay ambitious and wild and adventurous.” That is not a bad mission statement for Star Wars right now. Andor Proved Star Wars Can Still Take Big Swings Andor worked because it did not feel like Star Wars checking boxes. It did not chase cameos every five minutes. It did not stop the story to wave at the audience. It took the galaxy seriously, built its politics carefully, and trusted viewers to care about ordinary people being crushed, radicalized, and pulled into rebellion. That made it different. And different is exactly what Star Wars…
Christopher Lee Gave Count Dooku the Class Star Wars Needed
Some Star Wars villains enter the room like a thunderstorm. Count Dooku entered like a man who had already judged the furniture, the wine, the government, and your lightsaber technique. Christopher Lee, born on May 27, 1922, brought something unusually sharp to the prequel trilogy when he arrived as Dooku in Attack of the Clones. Star Wars already had monsters, tyrants, masked nightmares, cackling Sith Lords, and bounty hunters with jetpacks. What it did not have, at least not quite like this, was a villain who felt like aristocracy had personally discovered the dark side and decided it was better managed with a cape. Dooku was not loud. He did not need to be. A Sith Lord With Manners The official Star Wars Databank describes Dooku as a former Jedi trained by Yoda, later disillusioned with the Order and drawn into Darth Sidious’ grand design. On paper, that is already…
Dave Filoni Says He’s Becoming Lucasfilm’s Little Obi-Wan
Dave Filoni has found a very Dave Filoni way to describe running Star Wars. Not “brand architect.”Not “content overseer.”Not “the guy trying to stop the galaxy from collapsing under the weight of canon spreadsheets.” No, Filoni sees himself a little differently. Speaking to USA Today, via AOL, the Lucasfilm creative chief described his role as helping bring out the best in the people around him and being “a little Obi-Wan” when creators need guidance through the galaxy. Honestly, that may be the most Star Wars management quote ever given. The Mentor Role Fits Filoni Almost Too Well Filoni has always been a slightly unusual figure in modern Star Wars. He began as George Lucas’ animation apprentice on The Clone Wars, became one of the key voices behind Rebels, helped shape the Disney+ era through The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, and is now one of the central creative leaders steering Lucasfilm into…
Fate of the Old Republic Director Says AI Is “Creatively Soulless”
Casey Hudson is building a new Old Republic RPG, but apparently he is not asking a chatbot to write the soul of it. The Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic director has made it clear that Arcanaut Studios is not using AI to build its upcoming Star Wars RPG. In comments first reported from Bloomberg and picked up by Windows Central, Hudson said he is “really unimpressed” with AI and called it “creatively soulless.” That is a sharp line in a games industry increasingly obsessed with automation, cost-cutting, and pretending the phrase “AI pipeline efficiency” does not sound like something a villain says before building a moon-sized laser. Human-Made RPGs Still Matter Hudson’s stance matters because Fate of the Old Republic is not just any licensed game. It is being positioned as a spiritual successor to Knights of the Old Republic, one of the most beloved narrative RPGs ever…
Dave Filoni Pays Beautiful Tribute to Tom Kane
Dave Filoni has paid tribute to Tom Kane following the legendary voice actor’s passing, and his words cut straight to the heart of why Kane meant so much to modern Star Wars. Kane, who passed away at 64, voiced Yoda, Admiral Ackbar, Qui-Gon Jinn, Admiral Yularen, and many more characters across Star Wars animation and games. But for Filoni, Kane was not just another performer in the booth. He was part of the sound of The Clone Wars itself. In Lucasfilm’s tribute to Kane, quoted by the Los Angeles Times, Filoni said Kane “loved Star Wars” and noted that while many fans will remember him best as the animated voice of Yoda, his voice was truly “the spirit of The Clone Wars.” That is not an exaggeration. The Voice That Opened the Galaxy For an entire generation, Tom Kane’s narration was the doorway into The Clone Wars. Before the battles,…
Tom Kane, Legendary Star Wars Voice Actor, Has Passed Away at 64
Tom Kane, one of the most recognizable voices in modern Star Wars animation and games, has sadly passed away at the age of 64. Kane died on May 18, 2026, in Kansas City due to complications related to the stroke he suffered in 2020, according to reports from Entertainment Weekly and People. He was surrounded by family. For Star Wars fans, Kane’s voice was everywhere — sometimes so naturally woven into the galaxy that it was easy to forget just how much of it he helped carry. A Voice That Lived Across the Galaxy Kane voiced Yoda in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and several other projects, bringing warmth, wisdom, and just enough ancient mischief to one of the franchise’s most iconic characters. But Yoda was only part of his Star Wars legacy. Across games, animation, and other media, Kane also voiced characters including Admiral Ackbar, Qui-Gon Jinn, Admiral Yularen,…
Michael Pennington, Return of the Jedi’s Moff Jerjerrod, Has Passed Away
Sad news from the Star Wars galaxy: Michael Pennington, the British actor who played Moff Tiaan Jerjerrod in Return of the Jedi, has passed away. Pennington was 82. For Star Wars viewers, he will always be remembered as the Imperial officer overseeing the second Death Star — the man who had to stand in front of Darth Vader and explain that construction was not moving fast enough. A bad work meeting, by any galactic standard. The Man Who Had to Explain Delays to Darth Vader Pennington’s Moff Jerjerrod appears early in Return of the Jedi, nervously overseeing construction of the second Death Star above Endor. The official StarWars.com Databank entry for Moff Jerjerrod describes him as the commander responsible for completing the battle station under impossible pressure from both Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine. It is a small role, but a memorable one. Jerjerrod is not Grand Moff Tarkin. He…
Sam Witwer Says Maul: Shadow Lord Season 2 Has Pressure – Good
Sam Witwer knows Maul better than almost anyone in Star Wars. That is exactly why his latest comments about Maul: Shadow Lord Season 2 are worth paying attention to. The first season did not just bring Maul back for another round of snarling, scheming, and red-lightsaber therapy. It reframed him as a broken would-be liberator, a criminal strategist, and a dangerous mentor figure for Devon Izara. Now Season 2 has to deal with the fallout. In an interview with The Direct about Maul: Shadow Lord Season 2, Witwer said fans will not have to wait “too, too long” for the next chapter, adding that the team feels real pressure to keep discovering new things with the story. That is probably the best possible sign. A comfortable Maul story would be a bad Maul story. Maul Is Not Just Angry Anymore The smartest thing Maul: Shadow Lord has done is avoid…
Kathleen Kennedy Says Jon Favreau Is Pushing Star Wars Forward Like George Lucas Did
Kathleen Kennedy has made a big comparison — and yes, Star Wars fandom will almost certainly discuss it calmly, politely, and with no dramatic overreactions whatsoever. Speaking about Jon Favreau and The Mandalorian and Grogu, Kennedy compared Favreau’s approach to innovation with the way George Lucas pushed filmmaking technology forward. In a new GamesRadar+ report, Kennedy praised Favreau for taking technology and cinema “into the next level,” saying that spirit reminds her of what Lucas did. That is not a small compliment. In Star Wars terms, that is basically handing someone the keys to the digital toolbox and saying, “Try not to break cinema.” Favreau’s Star Wars Has Always Been Tech-Driven The comparison makes sense when you look at what The Mandalorian actually did for modern production. Favreau helped bring StageCraft and the Volume into the mainstream conversation, using large LED environments to blend real-time digital backgrounds with live-action filming….
Pedro Pascal Wants to Keep Playing Din Djarin After The Mandalorian and Grogu
Pedro Pascal is not ready to hang up the helmet. Or, more accurately, he is not ready for everyone involved in wearing the helmet to hang it up. Speaking during a London Q&A attended by GamesRadar+, Pascal said he hopes to continue playing Din Djarin beyond The Mandalorian and Grogu, calling the role the longest creative relationship of his career. As he put it, he would like to keep going “for as long as my body, or as many bodies as we put into the suit, can take it,” according to GamesRadar+. That is a very Pedro Pascal way of saying: yes, the Mandalorian business may continue. Din Djarin Is No Short-Term Gig Anymore Pascal first stepped into the role when The Mandalorian premiered in 2019. Seven years later, Din Djarin has become one of modern Star Wars’ most recognizable characters — even though the show’s central joke remains that…
Fate of the Old Republic’s BioWare DNA Is Starting to Look Very Real
The new Old Republic game is not technically Knights of the Old Republic 3. Lucasfilm has been careful about that. But if the team keeps filling up with former BioWare veterans, people are going to keep squinting at it like it just walked into a cantina wearing Revan’s old cloak. A new PC Gamer report highlights a fresh update to the Arcanaut Studios team page, revealing more of the senior talent working on Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic. And the short version is simple: this thing has a lot of BioWare blood in the tank. Casey Hudson Was Only the Beginning When Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic was revealed at The Game Awards 2025, the headline was already enormous: Casey Hudson was back in the Old Republic era. That alone mattered. Hudson was the project director on the original Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic…
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni Are About to Talk MandoVerse Future
The future of the MandoVerse is apparently about to become a very real conversation. Jon Favreau says he plans to sit down with Dave Filoni next week to discuss what comes after Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu. That does not mean a new movie, show, or fourth season has been announced. But it does mean the two main architects of this corner of Star Wars are preparing to talk next steps — and that is enough to make the rumor engines start coughing smoke. Speaking during a roundtable attended by MeriStation, Favreau said he is currently focused on promoting The Mandalorian & Grogu, while Filoni is busy working on Ahsoka. But once they are both back in the United States, the two will reconnect and discuss the future. MeriStation quotes Favreau as saying that after they meet next week, “we’ll sit down and talk.” The Movie Was Not Always…
Guillermo del Toro Quietly Helped Shape the Hutts in The Mandalorian & Grogu
Guillermo del Toro did not direct a Star Wars movie. He did not get to make his long-rumored Jabba the Hutt film. But somehow, beautifully, he still ended up near the Hutts. Jon Favreau has revealed that del Toro receives an acknowledgment credit in The Mandalorian & Grogu after giving creative suggestions about the Hutts featured in the film. In an interview with Vandal, Favreau explained that del Toro had spent a lot of time thinking about Hutts because of his own abandoned Jabba project, and that he shared ideas with the Mandalorian & Grogu team. The Hutt Expert Star Wars Almost Used This is one of those behind-the-scenes details that feels small at first, then immediately gets more interesting the longer you stare at it. Del Toro has history with Hutt material. Back in 2023, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the filmmaker confirmed he had worked on a now-scrapped…
Star Wars Celebration LA 2027 Starts With a Very Strong Guest List
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,…
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…