Star Wars Bits: The Return Of Jyn Erso, The Episode IX Rumors Begin, And Mark Hamill Protects Us From Lightsaber Fraud
In this edition of Star Wars Bits:
Jyn Erso is one of many new additions to Star Wars canon and the strong willed Rebel leader has quickly become a beloved character in the galaxy. Though we only got to see her in the last few weeks of her life, the woman who brought her to life would love to return to the galaxy far, far, away. In a recent interview with Variety Felicity Jones shared her willingness to explore Jyn further:
"I was very fortunate in some respects that it was a one-off, so we very much explored that. But I loved playing that character, so I actually, in a opposite way, I would really like to have a little more consistency and bring Jyn back. I would actually like that for a couple of years, just to have a little bit of that stability."
But in the meantime...
Fantasy Flight's Star Wars: Legion is a fan favorite tabletop game that puts you directly in the center of the action of your fave franchise. Well, now fans can take on the role of one of the most recent Rebel leaders: Jyn Erso with a new expansion pack. The commander expansion comes with your very own daughter of Mads Mikkelsen miniature to lead your Rebel army into battle, and according to the Fantasy Flight website it also includes three new command cards, the associated unit card and four upgrade cards for "you to enhance Jyn Erso and your other units."
One of the most exciting parts of contemporary Star Wars fandom is undoubtedly the incredible and sprawling new canon which has been introduced by the brilliant authors who have penned the new Star Wars universe novels. And as announced on Starwars.com, next year's Star Wars Celebration in Chicago will see these writer become a big part of the roster, with such exciting additions as E.K. Johnston, Justina Ireland, Zoraida Córdova, Claudia Gray, Jeffrey Brown and the creator of Thrawn himself Timothy Zahn!
It's been a busy year in the world of Lucasfilm legal battles, and just before the year is out SYFY reported on a little known but incredibly interesting lawsuit about the invention of one of the most iconic creations in Star Wars history: the Stormtrooper helmet. It's a deep dive article that's a must read and focuses on Andrew Ainsworth, who designed the helmets and decided to keep making them as collectables after the movie, and the lawsuit which Lucasfilm bought against him and eventually lost. Riveting stuff.
Fresh from the Star Wars Leaks subreddit are a lot of new very spoilery rumors about a bunch of Star Wars projects. Probably the most intriguing (though remember these are just rumors) is the reveal that The Mandalorian will focus on the titular character saving a baby he was supposed to kill in some kind of Willow-in-space scenario. Another interesting tidbit is the possible introduction of a new sidekick for BB-8 and a new helmet for Kylo Ren in Episode IX, but we'll have to wait until next year to start getting an official idea of either project.
Be Advised-There was no ONE lightsaber I used in the films, but many, MANY, both for myself & my stunt-double. Multiple duplicate back-up props are commonplace during production-When the handle ridges were cutting my hands, they even made a few w/ soft sponge ridges! #BuyerBeware https://t.co/C6Tv4TGIPy
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) December 4, 2018
Mark Hamill is on Twitter doing the lord's work as usual warning fans against the idea of any one true lightsaber from the filming of the first film in the classic franchise after reports of an auction which claimed to be selling exactly that. It's also a great insight into the behind the scenes world of fantasy film prop making with Hamill explaining that many replicas of the iconic weapon were made for both him and his stunt double.
If your workspace just isn't Star Wars-y enough then this collaboration between Disney and Novelkeys is just the accessory you've been looking for. "The officially licensed Star Wars Galactic Empire DSA Keycap Set" features an entire set of keys in Aurebesh which you might recognise as the transcribed form of Galactic Basic the most widely spoken language in the Galaxy. The keycaps are presented in a red and grey color scheme to show your dastardly support for the Empire, but to own this interesting and unique set you'll have to spend those big Galactic Credits as it currently costs $250.
Timothy Zahn has long been one of the most popular writers in the realm of Star Wars novels whether it was his famed entries into the Expanded Universe or his most recent canon contributions fans are always excited when it comes to a new Zahn release. And if you're one of those Zahn faithfuls then you'll love the cover reveal of his next Thrawn title Treason that was debuted on the Star Wars Show and showcases the blue skinned Admiral and none other than Palpatine himself.
As we're now officially less than a year away from the release of Episode IX it's time to start speculating! A user on Reddit has "reported" that they were told a prospective title for the newest entry to the Star Wars universe and it sounds like it's about Kylo Ren. Son of Darkness is the rumored title but in the original post the user stated that if it were true it would be public knowledge by Christmas and as we've yet to have a public announcement we'll have to take this one with a pinch of salt.
If you've ever wanted to own Luke Skywalker and relive his adventures on Endor then you are in luck as Hot Toys recently launched this incredibly detailed and gorgeous 1/6 figure. The site states that the figure includes "newly developed head sculpt with authentic and detailed likeness of Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, movie-accurate facial expression with detailed skin texture. Hair sculpture is equipped with magnetic features, body with over 30 points of articulations, five pieces of interchangeable left hands." Want one, we do.
If you've ever wanted to know how it feels to make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs then Solo was probably the closest that you'll ever get. In this wonderful new video from Screen Junkies, ILM's Rob Bredow opens up about about bringing the iconic Star Wars moment to the big screen.