Star Wars News This Week

Another busy week in the Star Wars universe brings with it a lot of newsworthy things to talk about! Here are just a few...



Oscar Isaac comments on The Last Jedi…

While making the rounds for his latest film, Operation Finale, Oscar Isaac of course has to answer the occasional Star Wars question as he plays one of the lead characters in Captain Poe Dameron. With so much Star Wars to talk about now that Episode IX is underway, I’m surprised Isaac has the time to promote his latest project but it is what it is. If you remember he filmed both The Last Jedi and Annihilation at the same time, actually running back and forth, so he’s used to hectic schedule.

When asked about J.J. Abrams using footage from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi to piece together a final performance for Leia Organa, he had this to say…

“I’m very happy about that, I think it’ll be a wonderful way to deal with this character that we all love so much.”

As someone who spent a lot of time with Carrie Fisher on set, Isaac clearly has an affinity towards her and will most likely notice her absence more than others. Something he’s remained quiet on was the negative reaction by a segment of the fan base towards Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi, in particular, the traits of Poe Dameron who was seen as overtly foolhardy and unrealistic. On that he had this to say...

“I love that. It's incredible, because you have people actually engaging with the ethical question of war and what leadership is. The last thing you want is for people to watch a movie and be like, 'Great,' and then move on. With The Last Jedi, the conversation continues and can stir real emotions. You're having a conversation about actual things that matter, you know?

What I think is really special about the whole thing — particularly for people that really didn’t agree with where the story went — is that it’s often a great inspiration to do your own stuff. Obviously, making your own Star Wars movie is a bit of a tough challenge, but at least from a narrative standpoint maybe you make your own thing and then show what you would want. Make what you would want to see."

So Oscar is taking more a positive approach when it comes to the backlash directed at Johnson and The Last Jedi. While it’s not what has occurred necessarily, it’s a nice approach.



Star Wars has hired its first Doctor…

That’s right, J.J. Abrams has cast British actor Matt Smith in an unknown role for his upcoming Star Wars - Episode IX. Smith, who is coming off his awarding winning part in the hit series The Crown, was of course cast as the Eleventh Doctor in the very popular Doctor Who series.

Smith took over the part from the popular David Tennant as the Doctor in 2009 and would assume the role until 2013, when he was eventually replaced by Peter Capaldi.

We of course have no idea what role Smith will be taking on in Episode IX and it comes on the heels of another big casting announcement as the other day we learned fellow Brit Dominic Monaghan was cast in an unknown role. They both join fellow newcomers Richard E. Grant, Keri Russell and Naomi Ackie and trilogy mainstays Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega and Adam Driver.

I’m sure we’ll learn more about Smith’s role in the coming months as things are progressing quickly across the pond.



About that big surprise appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story...

We are only a week away from the release of Mur Lafferty’s Solo: A Star Wars Story novelization and already we’ve seen some amazing excerpts from that novel. While she stuck fairly close to what was depicted on screen, she did however add some remarkable context to a few scenes and characters.

We’ve seen great excerpts involving Enfys Nest, Chewbacca and L3-37 but one in particular has caught some attention. It involves Qi’ra and her Crimson Dawn boss, and no, not Dryden Vos. If you’ve seen the film then you know Vos wasn’t at the top of the food chain, that position was being held by former Sith Lord, Maul. At the end of the film, after she has dispatched Vos, she uses his ring to summon Maul via hologram, it’s here we see Maul order Qi’ra back to Dathomir. What happens after that we don’t quite know yet.

Lucasfilm kept the Maul surprise very close to their chest and Lafferty had the novel basically finished by the time she saw the film for the first time. The Maul appearance was a surprise to her as well.

In the novel, she expands on that scene even suggesting Qi’ra wasn’t aware of Maul before she placed the ring into the communication device. She was obviously aware Vos reported to someone, but who exactly remained a mystery…

“I don’t think she would have known who he was. They sort of implied that Dryden was beholden to someone a lot more powerful than he was. And so she knew that whoever it was scared him, but she didn’t know that the guy used to be a Sith Lord. She didn’t know who he was. She just knew that that button would call Dryden Vos’ boss.

It’s hard to think that Vader and Maul and all these great villains we’ve known for so many years, a lot of them were behind the scenes and not known to the general public. Han Solo didn’t even believe in the Jedi, so the grand battles and stuff that is so forefront to the audience are not, necessarily, known to the random person growing up on Corellia.”

Solo: A Star Wars Story Expanded Edition hits shelves on September 4th.

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