From the looks of it, Disney's main focus, Star Wars-wise, is on streaming series rather than films for the foreseeable future.
Star Wars - The Mandalorian (has its own long-running thread (https://forums.2000ad.com/index.php?topic=46140.new#new) so no need to discuss it here).
The Bad Batch - looks like a follow-up to The Clone Wars, set at the beginning of the Empire.
Lando - self-explanatory.
A Droid Story - but which droid? I'll have a look for the sizzle reel during my lunch hour, unless someone else finds it first.
Rogue Squadron - no doubt based on characters from the game.
Ahsoka - self-explanatory.
Rangers of the New Republic - ?
The Acolyte - ?
Obi-Wan Kenobi - self-explanatory - was originally going to be a Star Wars Story film but I think it's a series now.
Andor - the special forces guy from Rogue One.
Visions - ?
Quote from: sheridan on 11 December, 2020, 09:55:40 AM
The Bad Batch - looks like a follow-up to The Clone Wars, set at the beginning of the Empire.
This one sounds particularly interesting. I think the start of the Empire is a time that has much potential and I don't think has been tapped too much (though I do miss out a lot of old expanded universe stuff). I'd want it be to be a bit like Rome (telly show). A balance between the political struggles needed to build an Empire and the impact on the troops on the ground and the folks they encounter. ... mind I want most things to be like Rome (telly show) so I'm not to be trusted!
Also looking forward to Kenobi - if its done as a cool space western type thing... well Samuari movie from which Westerns are devived would be the more accurate comparison I guess. They start getting this right and I might finally justify getting a Disney Plus subscription... which of course means I'd be prime sucker for them.
The Patty Jenkins announcement video has me excited! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bLkTjn6Y_s)
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 11 December, 2020, 10:03:23 AM
Also looking forward to Kenobi - if its done as a cool space western type thing... well Samuari movie from which Westerns are devived would be the more accurate comparison I guess.
This was my fervent wish when it was first announced as a movie, but hasn't The Mandalorian rather cornered the market on that vibe?
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 11 December, 2020, 10:10:16 AM
Quote from: Colin YNWA on 11 December, 2020, 10:03:23 AM
Also looking forward to Kenobi - if its done as a cool space western type thing... well Samuari movie from which Westerns are devived would be the more accurate comparison I guess.
This was my fervent wish when it was first announced as a movie, but hasn't The Mandalorian rather cornered the market on that vibe?
Not seen it yet - does seem to from the bits I'd seen BUT can there be too many stories with that vibe? ... also see my comment about wanting everything to be like Rome (telly show)
If Colin still fancies the idea of Rome but starring the Tracy family instead of Vorenus and Pullo, I think he'll be pleased. The setting is exciting, but the Bad Batch characters didn't make much of a positive impression on me in TCW Season 7. From what we've already seen, I expected their spin-off to be pitched at a younger audience, but look, if I get to follow CT-1409 into the Empire era, I'll probably be happy. Ample room for guest stars too, I wonder will this be the one to pick up the Ventress thread?
Speaking of which, and aside from Patty Jenkins' Rogue Squadron (-drool-), The Acolyte is the one that really fascinates me. The most prequelly prequel pitch to date, could it be about anything but the deep origins of Palpatine?
I'd be most concerned about Ahsoka and Rangers, which seems to run the risk of diluting the potential of The Mandalorian by all drawing from essentially the same well (see also: The Defenders). Better one good show with an abundance of ideas, than 3 fighting over the same elements. But hey, I don't have greedy shareholders.
For me, my excitement as a sad fanboy is tempered by a frustration with Disney as a corporation. Unless they put their house in order with regard to creators, employees and kowtowing to oppressive regimes, I'm not going to be able to support any of this wonderful stuff.
QuoteAhsoka - self-explanatory
And yet I'm all: who? Clearly, my geek level is set to only about a 3 when it comes to SW... (I did do a quick search online to find out who the character is.)
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 December, 2020, 11:03:53 AM
The Acolyte is the one that really fascinates me. The most prequelly prequel pitch to date, could it be about anything but the deep origins of Palpatine?
There was talk of a High Republic series earlier in the year, set about 200 years BBY. This would appear to be that, with a female protagonist (or are they still the antagonist if they're Sith?)
I didn't like Rosie Dawson's take on Ahsoka - there, I've said it - but statistically speaking, I have to enjoy some of this. I mean, that's just maths.
Quote from: Professor Bear on 11 December, 2020, 11:58:07 AM
... but statistically speaking, I have to enjoy some of this. I mean, that's just maths.
I see you have rumbled Disney's cunning strategy.
I have enjoyed The Mandalorian so far so I will give these ago. I am sure even a half of an attempt will most likely be much better than the Disney SW movies so far.
I've enjoyed all the recent Star Wars films, but have yet to see a moment of The Mandolorian. Up til now I've been doing the equivalent of putting my fingers in my ears and humming whenever my brain makes the intuitive leap from Star Wars (and Marvel) to Disney. Now, however, I really am going to have to hold my nose and get Disney+, because those Star Wars- and even more so the Marvel titles that were likewise announced- are completely unmissable. I've kind of got sick waiting for a physical release of Mando, so I take it at this point they arent doing that? Sigh. But yes, Disney+ is in my immediate future.
SBT
Crikey, it's like all my Christmas presents at once.
Everything I have wished for since Jedi is now coming to pass. What a great time to be alive! (Except for, you know, COVID19, Brexit, rise of fascism, climate change etc)
Just in case you missed this - made me chuckle:
(https://i.imgur.com/WDDUXWI.jpg)
Quote from: TordelBack on 11 December, 2020, 11:03:53 AM
If Colin still fancies the idea of Rome but starring the Tracy family instead of Vorenus and Pullo, I think he'll be pleased. The setting is exciting, but the Bad Batch characters didn't make much of a positive impression on me in TCW Season 7.
Oh hadn't realised these were a thing already (as I say my expanded Universe knowledge is weak) and just watched the trailer. Looks like it is coming out of the cartoon's which is necessarily a bad things and might be close to what I imagined. Just don't we'll get the political thriller elements of Rome in this. Shame I think there's a good show there.
Quote from: SmallBlueThing(Reborn) on 11 December, 2020, 01:13:56 PM
I've enjoyed all the recent Star Wars films, but have yet to see a moment of The Mandolorian. Up til now I've been doing the equivalent of putting my fingers in my ears and humming whenever my brain makes the intuitive leap from Star Wars (and Marvel) to Disney. Now, however, I really am going to have to hold my nose and get Disney+, because those Star Wars- and even more so the Marvel titles that were likewise announced- are completely unmissable. I've kind of got sick waiting for a physical release of Mando, so I take it at this point they arent doing that? Sigh. But yes, Disney+ is in my immediate future.
SBT
For me Star Wars has collapsed under the weight of it's own humourless fandom and oversaturation, and the love I used to have for it has greatly diminished. I enjoyed the movies (bar the prequel trilogy) but have no interest in the rest. I've heard lots of praise for the Mandalorian but a quick peruse of the thread shows me lots of references to characters I don't know and cartoons I haven't seen, which is off-putting.
But dammit, 10 new Marvel properties may make me hold my nose and go Disney.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 11 December, 2020, 04:23:26 PM
I've heard lots of praise for the Mandalorian but a quick peruse of the thread shows me lots of references to characters I don't know and cartoons I haven't seen, which is off-putting.
Again, you don't
need to know any of that stuff to enjoy the show. The stories function in their own right and the hints at a wider world are just that if you're not immersed in the continuity* — hints, like the reference to the Clone Wars in the very first movie. Didn't matter that you didn't know what those were (and I'm damn sure Lucas didn't).
Everything that needs to be explained (as Tordelback noted in the dedicated Mandalorian thread) gets explained in-story, because Mando himself wasn't involved in any of that stuff.
*Although I've seen all of Clone Wars and Rebels, it's not like I've committed any of that stuff to memory, and I've never read any of the EU novels, played any of the games, and have read barely a handful of the comics.
Yeah, you don't need to know or care about Star Wars continuity to enjoy The Mandalorian.
Or make the sequel trilogy.
ZING!
Or make the prequel trilogy!
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 11 December, 2020, 04:45:16 PM
*Although I've seen all of Clone Wars and Rebels, it's not like I've committed any of that stuff to memory, and I've never read any of the EU novels, played any of the games, and have read barely a handful of the comics.
Same here - I've seen all of both series, though only once, over half a decade ago (apart from the newer episodes of course, which saw shortly after they came out). Not that this isn't an endorsement of them - it's just quite a time commitment, though I'm certainly up for a re-watch soon.
Visions - "an original series of animated short films...through the lens of the best Japanese anime creators".
The Acolyte - part of the High Republic - being billed as the largest publishing initiative of the Disney Star Wars era.
A few hundred years before TPM and focussing on Jedi (before they lost their way).
A Droid Story - animated. C3PO and R2D2 guiding "a new hero". Presumably the new hero is also going to be a droid (BB8? D-0? Though they aren't new).
Rogue Squadron - a feature length film directed by the daughter of a USAF pilot.
My Star Wars Viewing Order spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tP_phTR6J-8ghQRQ-d-leF3Yjn7P2SZMJ_PrpIYZDNk/) is certainly going to start getting a lot messier!
Quote from: sheridan on 13 December, 2020, 04:59:20 PM
My Star Wars Viewing Order spreadsheet (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tP_phTR6J-8ghQRQ-d-leF3Yjn7P2SZMJ_PrpIYZDNk/) is certainly going to start getting a lot messier!
You're already short a whole season of Clone Wars!
Lovely stuff, Sheridan, I'm keeping a copy of that if you don't mind.
I hadn't really copped that Lando would be Donald Glover, I was half imagining it as a spinoff from Rebels. This opens up all sorts of enticing
Solo-adjacent possibilities.
Yeah, I first created that spreadsheet in 2014 (I'd dedicated 2013 to watching all of Doctor Who (due to the 50th anniversary) so spent 2014 watching all of Star Wars, in chronological order) and have been gradually updating it ever since.
Excellent video essay on The Rise of Skywalker from the guy who did the equally excellent video defending The Last Jedi from last year. Also touches on The Mandalorian and the problems with modern moviemaking in general. To be honest, I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that we're already living in the franchise/nostalgia nightmare media landscape future he warns about at the end, and have been for some time.
https://youtu.be/IrMM33uHAo8 (https://youtu.be/IrMM33uHAo8)
Seeing as we had Star Wars Celebration (one of the three most likely times of the year to hear about new Star Wars content)...
Andor - premier date 31 August 2022, 12 episodes set about five years before Rogue One and another 12 in the works closing the timeline from the first series to Rogue One.
Ahsoka - live action premiers of Sabine Wren, Chopper and Hera Syndulla.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew - Jude Law to star in 2023 series focused on a group of ten-year-old children (Stranger Things in space?). In the Mando era.
Mandalorian Season Three in February 2023.
Bad Batch Season Two - autumn 2022, to feature a wookie jedi.
Star Wars: Visions Volume Two - spring 2023.
Tales of the Jedi - animated anthology featuring Ahsoka, Count Dooku and Qui-Gon Jinn.
Young Jedi Adventures - High Republic era children's show.