STAR WARS Holonet Weekly: Hirings, Firings, and Previews Of Things To Come

Another week, another set of rumors and stories. Star Wars TV heats up while staying young, John Williams hard at work, comics, comics, and not comics? Let’s see what we got.

Lucasfilm and Disney are working hard on those two new live action series that will be on the new Disney+ streaming series. Yup, we said two! Last week we learned that Diego Luna will reprise his role as Cassian Andor from Rogue One. In an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden, Luna spoke a little about his upcoming role, which he knows nothing about, only that Lucasfilm does “have the technology to make me younger, telling the story before Rogue One, I guess” and then pointing out the series would have to happen before the movie since he did die in the film. He seems excited about this, as does his son after he became the uncool dad with the death of his Rogue One character. After getting this new gig, Luna’s first call was to his kid. Guess he’s back on the cool list again.

So not only has Lucasfilm and Disney’s other live action show, The Mandalorian, cast Game of Thrones actor Pedro Pascal for its lead role, but former MMA fighter and Deadpool actress Gina Carano will be joining him. No news on what role she’ll play, but given her amazing physical abilities and past roles, Carano could be a pretty awesome bounty hunter.

And speaking of awesome people joining in, we’ve also learned that our favorite hat wearing Star Wars genius, Dave Filoni, will direct the first episode of the series. Later directors tapped include Thor: Ragnarok’s Taika Waititi, Ronnie Howards’ talented offspring, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Jones’ Deborah Chow, and Dope’s Rick Famuyiwa. All-star cast, all-star crew. Sounds like we may have a good show ahead of us.

And speaking of good shows, as we get closer to the 2019 debut of the Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge attractions at the two Disney theme parks, more tidbits are getting released about what fans can expect. This week at the fan gathering Destination D in Orlando, it was announced that composer John Williams will be providing the attractions with an original score, which was recently recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios and conducted by his long-time associate, William Ross. They also released preview videos of attractions.

https://youtu.be/ssgGCjpFP4Q

 

Two new Star Wars comics being released this week. Here are their synopses from Marvel:

Doctor Aphra No. 26

Doctor Aphra — WORST AMONG EQUALS! On the run from the law in an alien city, Doctor Aphra can’t stray more than a few paces from her companion without both of them blowing up. Time to cooperate, right? Except, unfortunately, her companion is Triple-Zero, a sadistic murderdroid who’s more interested in her death than playing nice. A brand-new misadventure for the galaxy’s foremost amoral archaeologist starts here!

Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith No. 23

Fortress Vader – Part 5 Darkness rises above Mustafar as the brutal designs of Lord Momin begin to take shape. But the planet’s inhabitants cannot take this desecration lightly, and shape plans of their own.

And finally, speaking of comics, there are new updates on Star Wars: Shadow of Vader. Last week, we learned that Marvel had released writer Chuck Wendig after finishing three of the five books for the miniseries. Now the January 2019 release calendar has been wiped clean of any mention of the book. Wendig’s series was to replace the current Darth Vader title penned by Charles Soule, which has just 2 more issues left.  It would differ by looking at the corrupted Anakin Skywalker from the perspective of other characters. Marvel has not released a clear statement for their stance behind Wendig’s firing nor the state of Shadow of Vader, although some outlets are reporting that the book has been completely canceled, not just delayed as Wendig speculated on Twitter:

Several have asked about SHADOW OF VADER's lack of January solicits — it was scheduled to come out in January, the first two issues. No idea what it means, sorry? The art was late, so possible it's delayed for that or until they find a new writer for issues 4 & 5?

— Chuck Wendig (@ChuckWendig) October 17, 2018

That’s a wrap for this week. Look for us next week for the happenings around our favorite Galaxy!