Star Wars Bits: New 'The Last Jedi' Details, Toy Revelations, And Another Death Star?!?

In this edition of Star Wars Bits:

According to Lucasfilm publicist Tracy Cannobbio, Star Wars Rebels, the fourth season of the series isn't just moving to Mondays – it will premiere just after midnight on Monday morning and air throughout the day.

Rose Tico and several others from Star Wars: The Last Jedi have received official descriptions on the Star Wars Databank, giving us a few more little bits about the characters. Of note, Rose "has hated the First Order since she was a child," which implies the First Order first emerged out into the galaxy long before the open conflict, maybe 20 years before the events of The Force Awakens, which is a lot longer than we thought. We also learned that the planet Crait, glimpsed in the trailer, has ties to the Rebel Alliance and used to be an outpost. There's also new info about vehicles, troopers, and BB units. Star Wars Underworld collected the new entries here.

The excellent Real Time Strategy game Star Wars: Empire At War is back in action. Disney has reactivated the multiplayer mode for the game, letting you play your own massive Star Wars battles once more via Steam. You can even use mods! This game is awesome, and worth throwing a few hours (a day) into.

There's been much ado about a bit of a one-off statement by author Claudia Gray. Let's try to decode this: The moments/years directly after the Battle of Jakku are currently off limits for new Star Wars novels (for the most part), which is... nothing new. We've known that for some time (as Bryan Young, known Star Wars journalist who reported her statement would be the first to tell you). There have been books that have taken place about two and a half decades later, but for now, and likely until the sequel trilogy is done, we won't be seeing any novels directly after Jakku.

Everyone's favorite Chiss has an excellent special featurette on the new Star Wars Rebels season 3 blu-ray collection. A portion of it has been released online, showing a little bit about how Thrawn came to the show. You'll see just a fraction of the Lucasfilm employees completely geeking out over Timothy Zahn (Thrawn's creator), one of my favorite moments on the entire blu-ray.

They are building a third Death Star. ;) Confirmed on box art for #TheLastJedi. (via @BoSanders70 in https://t.co/DOmA2gZ608)! pic.twitter.com/6rO1RyenJ5

— Star Wars Radar (@starwarpers) September 1, 2017

What is Kylo Ren's new TIE silencer flying away from on this Revell model toy box? That's no moon! Yes, it sure looks like he's flying away from a Death Star. Some are taking this as confirmation that a Death Star, or something that very much looks like it, will be in The Last Jedi. That's not necessarily the case; it could be a place-holder or a simple error, but it could also mean we're going to see a bonafide new Death Star.

New Royal Mail stamps are going on sale October 12, and they are glorious works of art by artist Malcolm Tween. The stamps are "Aliens" and "Droids," and feature Maz Kanata, Chewbacca, Supreme Leader Snoke, Porgs, BB-8, R2-D2, C-3PO, and K-2SO. Yes, you can make Porgs part of your daily mailing needs, if you're in the UK. JediNews has the full press release, which, incidentally, identifies Snoke as an alien (so stop with your human character theories already) and Luke as the "Last Jedi Knight."

Jar Jar Binks gets a lot of crap, but C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels has a very clear understanding what Jar Jar is, and for whom he was created. At his Fan Expo panel, he was asked about his thoughts on the character from a Jar Jar fan. He praised Ahmed Best's acting, and that Jar Jar was made more 10 year olds (like the Ewoks):

"Jar Jar was created by George Lucas and he employed an actor, Ahmed Best, who is a terrific actor. Terrific mover. Terrific, inventive brain. Highly intelligent. Did exactly what George asked him to do. George's son Jett was thrilled by that performance that Ahmed did perfectly, but Jett was 10 years old. Now, I wasn't, so for me Jar Jar was a bit like the Ewoks. I've grown past that stage. 10-year-olds, 11-year-olds, eight-year-olds adored Jar Jar. It was a very, very good thing to do... so I hugely admire Ahmed Best. He got very bad press for doing it... and Jar Jar was not for me."

Poe Dameron has a new X-wing for The Last Jedi, an Incom-FreiTek T-70. It has a new speed boost function, director Rian Johnson revealed to Empire, like an old-school afterburner. Should make for a riveting scene.

If you've been reading the novels that tie into the recent films, you know that the new Stormtrooper program, the brainchild of Brendol Hux, varies from the stormtroopers in the Empire's day. But actor Sam Witwer, who has voiced troopers in both eras, says there's a few specific differences besides their upbringing (First Order Stormtroopers are raised in the program from a very young age) in a new interview:

"They are very different. They're younger, they're a little bit more emotionally available ... they actually scream at each other and stuff like that, whereas [Imperial] Stormtroopers never get really beyond a five or a six in terms of excitement. They could be in the middle of a giant firefight, and they're like, "Hold it right there, freeze," you know, in the middle of like a BIG firefight. The Rebels could be all screaming, the Stormtrooper's like, "Blast 'em!" They just don't get that excited."

BB-8 as a Superstar Destroyer playset. #Snoke throne and praetorian guard #StarWars #leak #amazon

A post shared by Star Wars News From Jakku (@newsfromjakku) on Aug 12, 2017 at 8:57am PDT

Fans have noticed that, thanks to the toys, we now know that while Supreme Leader Snoke isn't 40 feet tall like his hologram in The Force Awakens, he is pretty dang tall – taller than his own Praetorian Guard, if the image on the toy box above is to scale with the film. Again, for the millionth time, Snoke is not a human character. He's an alien, and this is just even further proof of that.

Oh, the questions Story Group guru Pablo Hidalgo gets on Twitter. How could the First Order possibly fund their war? Well, here's the official story answer. Guys, can we please remember this is a fantasy story in the future and get away from asking about minutia like this? Seriously, y'all. Or better yet, come up with your own reasons just for yourself!

That Empire issue is available now, but they revealed this new shot of Luke (along with that new shot of the X-Wing earlier) ahead of the magazine's release. The caption reads:

"Once the golden boy of the Rebellion, Luke Skywalker is now a hermit on a far, far away planet. Can plucky padawan Rey persuade him to return to the fray?"

Um, hope so, or else The Last Jedi might be a super short movie!