STAR WARS Holonet Weekly: Kylo’s Arc, Hasbro’s Plans, Kenobi Plays

As speculation heats up about what J.J. Abrams is going to do in Episode IX (will he save the franchise? Does it need saving?), there’s still plenty of tidbits coming out of the rumor mill. Let’s take a look and see what we got.

Recently in an interview with Vulture, Adam Driver was asked about his character arc in Episode IX, and he distilled things down to two very vague sentences, stating, “That’s hard to say because we’re working toward something in particular with [Kylo Ren]. I don’t want to give anything away.” OK, so you killed Snoke, pretty much had a hand in killing Uncle Skywalker, so what does something “in particular” mean? Will Rey beat Kylo, either turning him to the light or finally taking him down? Or will we get some crazy turn of events and find out he was a secret agent for the Resistance all this time?

So it was announced last month that the eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith, would be in Episode IX, not with just a cameo appearance but a major part of the movie. There’s a rumor going around, based off a source close to The Weekly Planet Podcast crew, that Smith could be playing a Young Emperor Palpatine, possibly during his apprenticeship with Darth Plagueis. If so, would this be revealed as some kind of flashback scene for Kylo possibly? A note left behind from the deceased Snoke? Or is Star Wars looking to introduce something different?

According to Star Wars Post, Lucasfilm has acquired the trademark for “Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures”.  For what? Who knows. They have the final film coming out this next year. They are moving forward with several TV series, which include the recently debuted Resistance and announced Clone Wars, The Mandalorian, and the new pre-Rogue One Cassian Andor live action series. We know the spin-off films have been put on pause, but they are still moving forward with video games, books, and merchandise. One claim, from Yakface, is that Hasbro is releasing a new product line of a “story in a box” which will include action figures and mini comics. They also claim the first four figures are Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, and R2-D2, with Leia, Han, Yoda and a stormtrooper in the future.

And finally, not so much a rumor, but a chance for gamers to cheer. Star Wars has announced that Battlefront II will be adding Obi-Wan Kenobi as a playable character as well as the world of Geonosis. For those who have tried to forget the prequels, this was the planet from Attack of the Clones at the beginning of the Clone Wars where Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme were set to be executed before being rescued by the Jedi and Clone Army.  Geonosis will be designed to be more open, featuring open spaces and vehicle combat versus the close quarter combat objectives players find in the final objectives.

That’s it for this week. Look for us next week to see what is happening around our favorite Galaxy!