Welcome to Multiversity’s coverage of Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, which is being held in London across four days from Friday, April 7, to Monday, April 10. We’ll be updating this page regularly with the convention’s major announcements, so check back often so you don’t miss anything during the long, Easter holiday weekend.
Day 4:
– And to cap it all off, the trailer for Young Jedi Adventures was released, in which Yoda introduces us to our fledgling heroes. The High Republic kids’ show premieres on Disney Junior and Disney+ on May 4:
– Lucasfilm have closed out this year’s Celebration by announcing the next edition will be held outside Tokyo, Japan, at the Makuhari Messe, on the weekend of April 18-20, 2025.
– The trailer for Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 was released, revealing all nine short films will premiere on May 4. Unlike the entirely anime first set, Volume 2 consists of animated films from studios across the globe, like Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon and Britain’s Aardman. The stories and cast of the films were revealed, including Denis Lawson, who’ll return as Wedge Antilles in Aardman’s “I Am Your Mother.” (Director Magdalena Osinska told Empire, “I think he has more lines in our film than the original Star Wars trilogy!”) Other names include Úrsula Corberó, Angelica Huston, Kate Dickie, Maxine Peake, Daisy Haggard, Ashley Park, Daniel Dae Kim, Camille Cottin, Lambert Wilson, Daveed Diggs, Anika Noni Rose, Cedric Yarbrough, and Cynthia Erivo.
– Marvel Comics revealed a crossover event called ‘Dark Droids.’ The horror-themed story will see a threat called the Scourge possess droids and cyborgs across the galaxy. Kicking off in August, it will consist of a limited series by writer Charles Soule and artist Luke Ross, as well as one-shots and tie-in issues of “Star Wars,” “Darth Vader,” “Bounty Hunters,” and “Doctor Aphra.” A “Max Rebo” one-shot by Daniel José Older and Paul Fry for Return of the Jedi‘s 40th anniversary was also announced.
– Star Wars: The Bad Batch‘s executive producers announced the show will end with its third season, which will premiere sometime in 2024. Footage was shown of the next season at the series’ panel, which featured Palpatine visiting Dr. Royce Hemlock, reminding him it is imperative his cloning facility remains secure; Omega and Crosshair both still incarcerated; more of Rex; and the return of Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand.
Day 3:
– At Lucasfilm Publishing’s panel, the imprint revealed pages from upcoming and newly released books like Star Wars: Timelines, Star Wars in 100 Objects, Caitlin Kennedy’s Young Jedi Adventures: Jedi Training (due out May), Star Wars: The Ultimate Cookbook & Charles Soule, Rosemary Soule, and Valeria Valdivia’s picture book Jedi Brave in Every Way (both out in October), and Star Wars: The High Republic Character Encyclopedia (out November). The Art of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was confirmed as having been delayed until December 15, while Dawn of Rebellion, a new visual guide (the franchise’s first since 2019), covering Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi and more, was announced.
– Disney Parks announced new locations are being added to the Star Tours rides in Disneyland, California, Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida, and Disneyland Paris. The division declined to go into detail, stating “some surprises are best experienced as part of the upcoming Star Wars content also announced this weekend.” They also announced they will be releasing a digital playlist of Gaya (the Twi’lek singer)’s music from Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser on May 4, as well as a vinyl version at a later date.
– Dark Horse held a quiet panel for their all-ages comics, revealing art and covers for various upcoming titles, including a teaser image for Phase III of “The High Republic Adventures;” the cover for Cavan Scott’s Halloween-themed original graphic novel “Tales from the Death Star,” due out September 19; and the story for July’s “Hyperspace Stories” #9 (written by Michael Moreci with art by Nick Brokenshire), which will pit Quinlan Vos against Cad Bane.
Continued below– A final gameplay trailer for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was released ahead of the game’s launch on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on April 28:
Day 2:
– A second season of Tales of the Jedi was announced at a panel marking the 15th anniversary of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Nothing else was said about the project, including when to expect it. The first season of Tales of the Jedi consisted of six short films exploring the backstories of Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku, and was released on Disney+ in October 2022.
– Star Wars: Return of the Jedi will be rereleased in theaters to celebrate its 40th anniversary later this month. Screenings will be held in the US from April 28 to May 4, and the UK from April 28 to May 1, with plans for other countries to be revealed at a later time. This will mark the first time Jedi has been rereleased theatrically since the Special Edition in 1997. Matt Ferguson, who created the 40th anniversary poster for The Empire Strikes Back, returned to create a new poster for the film.
– At The High Republic panel, it was announced Phase III: Trials of the Jedi will kick off this fall. It will take readers back to the time frame of Phase I (about 230 years before A New Hope), shortly after Starlight Beacon’s destruction at the hands of the Nihil, and the Jedi are called back from the Outer Rim to shore up Coruscant’s defenses. Three adult, young adult, and middle-grade novels received release windows spanning from 2023 to Spring 2025, while the Marvel Comics series will be renumbered this December. “Doctor Aphra” writer Alyssa Wong will join the initiative’s writing team, co-writing January’s middle-grade release Escape from Valo with Daniel José Older. Leslye Headland also appeared at the panel to share Rebecca Henderson will be playing Vernestra Rwoh in The Acolyte.
– At a panel for the Ahsoka series, it was announced Lars Mikkelsen is reprising the role of Grand Admiral Thrawn from Star Wars Rebels, while Ray Stevenson and Ivanna Sakhno’s villains are called Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati. (Incidentally, Skoll and Hati are two wolves from Norse mythology, who were prophesied to devour the Sun and Moon during Ragnarok.) David Tennant was also confirmed as returning to voice Huyang. The show’s directors were revealed to be Dave Filoni, Rick Famuyiwa, Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), Steph Green (The Book of Boba Fett), Jennifer Getzinger (Outlander), and Geeta Patel (House of the Dragon), while composer Kevin Kiner (Rebels, The Clone Wars et al.) was announced as returning to score Ahsoka’s tale.
Day 1:
– At Lucasfilm’s Studio Showcase, Kathleen Kennedy announced three film projects: the tale of the first Jedi, directed by James Mangold, which he likened to a Biblical epic; a New Republic era film directed by Dave Filoni, which will act as the conclusion to the interconnected storyline from The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and more; and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s project, written by Damon Lindelof, Justin Britt-Gibson, and Steven Knight, which will follow the New Jedi Order 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker. Daisy Ridley confirmed she will return as Rey Skywalker in the latter, telling the audience “I am very thrilled to be continuing this journey.”
– Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Rosario Dawson introduced the trailer for the Ahsoka series, revealing the show will premiere on Disney+ in August. The trailer reveals the return of Sabine Wren, Chopper, Mon Mothma, Huyang, Thrawn, Morgan Elsbeth (from The Mandalorian episode “The Jedi”), and Hera Syndulla, who was announced as being played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Eman Esfandi’s Ezra Bridger is seen briefly as a hologram, and we get our first look at a pair of lightsaber-wielding villains, portrayed by Ray Stevenson and Ivanna Sakhno.
– Favreau and Filoni introduced the trailer for Jon Watts and Chris Ford’s Amblin-inspired series Skeleton Crew, which follows a group of bored school kids — played by Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Kyriana Kratter, Robert Timothy Smith, and Ryan Kiera Armstrong (who was unable to attend the convention) — who decide to steal a spaceship. The footage indicated Jude Law would be playing a Jedi, and revealed the casting of Tunde Adebimpe (Lazor Wulf) and Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin). It was announced Watts directed the show with Bryce Dallas Howard, David Lowery (The Green Knight), Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert (Everything, Everywhere, All at Once), Jake Schreier (Thunderbolts), and Lee Isaac-Chung (Minari, The Mandalorian).
Continued below– Favreau and Filoni were joined on stage by fellow Mandalorian executive producer Rick Famuyiwa, and (briefly, via video message) Pedro Pascal to introduce the opening of season three, episode seven. After being joined in-person by Giancarlo Esposito, Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers, and Emily Swallow, it was announced the episode would be fully screened to the audience later tonight at 6 p.m. local time.
– The cast of The Acolyte, and creator Leslye Headland, introduced a clip from the upcoming Disney+ series, which takes place about 100 years before The Phantom Menace, and follows a former Padawan as she reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes. The footage followed a group of trainee Jedi, and featured a fight in a cantina between Carrie-Ann Moss’s Jedi and an unknown assailant. Headland described her pitch for the series as being Frozen meets Kill Bill, and called its villains the underdogs. Joonas Suotamo, who played Chewbacca in Solo and the sequel trilogy, was announced as playing Kelnacca, a Wookiee Jedi Master.
– Andor creator Tony Gilroy also appeared with the show’s main cast, to introduce footage from the second and final season. He gave fans a rough timeline of the season’s current production schedule, telling them to expect it to premiere in August 2024, about two years after the first.
