Latest news with #DaveFiloni
Geek Tyrant
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
AHSOKA Season 2 Star Rory McCann Talks About Playing Baylan Skoll: "I Think It's the Right Decision" — GeekTyrant
Game of Thrones actor Rory McCann is officially stepped into the role of Baylan Skoll for Ahsoka Season 2, a character originally portrayed by the late Ray Stevenson, whose performance left a powerful impression on fans. Speaking for the first time about taking on the role, McCann opened up with a mix of humility, excitement, and reverence for what came before. McCann told ComicBook: "I think it's the right decision to carry on his storyline, not just cut it off. We've done it before with other things. I hope the fans embrace it and I'll do my best. 'I'm just starting now, so I'm just trying to be in the right zone for doing it. It's pretty bloody exciting. I mean, I remember being a kid with my dad, going to the first one probably in the late '70s and '80s. Now I'm training with a lightsaber at night, so it's pretty exciting." McCann's casting was confirmed at Star Wars Celebration 2025, and it feels like a natural move when you consider his previous roles playing gritty, intense, and quietly complex characters. His towering screen presence and gravitas could bring something unique to Baylan, while still honoring what Stevenson began. Series creator Dave Filoni also spoke about the challenge of continuing Baylan's arc after Stevenson's passing, saying it wasn't a decision he made lightly. 'It was a challenge for me to even consider continuing for a while. But I have a great support group with Jon [Favreau] and Rosario [Dawson]. And I found a way, and I had Ray in my head. 'And [I'm] grateful for all those conversations with him about Baylan, so I understood what to do. It just took a while to get there. But I'm very confident now that Ray would be happy with the direction of the character that we've chosen.' Stevenson gave a standout performance in Ahsoka Season 1, crafting a character who was mysterious, powerful, and on the verge of something big. After he passed away, there was a heavy question mark hanging over the future of the show. But now, with McCann wielding the orange-bladed saber, the story moves forward. Star Wars Celebration also teased a few other big reveals: Hayden Christensen is officially returning as Anakin Skywalker in season 2, and Admiral Ackbar will be going toe-to-toe with Grand Admiral Thrawn. Footage shown behind closed doors offered a concept-art sizzle reel paired with voice-over that hinted at massive battles and a galaxy-spanning conflict. There's no official release date for Ahsoka Season 2 yet, but between Christensen's return, Thrawn's rising threat, and Rory McCann training with a lightsaber under the stars, the Force feels strong with this one.
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
‘Star Wars' From Darth Maul's Perspective Sounds Fascinating
When Obi-Wan Kenobi cut Darth Maul in half over 25 years ago, most of us thought that was it. Maul was clearly one of the coolest and most interesting Star Wars characters ever, but George Lucas chose to kill him. However, as fate would have it, the character has now come back time and time again, in large part due to Lucas's protégé Dave Filoni, and soon, we're gonna get way more of him than we ever thought possible. Maul: Shadow Lord, a new animated series, was announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan last month and it'll bring the former Sith Lord back to the forefront in a big, big way. Speaking with fellow Star Wars star Katee Sackhoff, voice of Maul Sam Witwer revealed a few broad clues about what we can expect from the show, including how Maul perceives the plan formulated by his former master, Darth Sidious. 'This is a guy who knew that the Empire was coming, and he was part of that,' Witwer said on The Sackhoff Show. 'He was supposed to be part of the Clone Wars. He was supposed to work with his master, and they were going to bring about the destruction of the Republic and the destruction of his hated enemy, the Jedi Order. He was raised to hate them. He trained his whole life to destroy them. Well, now we have a show where, OK, all of that was done, but Maul, yeah, you killed a bunch of Jedi during the Clone Wars, but you did not work with Sidious. You didn't know the whole plan. And in fact, you got so scared about his plan that you tried to stop it at the last second.' 'Now the Empire's here, which Maul would have known that that was his master's intent,' he continues. 'But now that he's seeing it, he's like, 'Is this what he had in mind? Because this isn't what I thought it would be…' Maul comes from a time of swords and sorcery and magic and knights and now all of that color is being sucked out of the universe by this mechanized empire. And Maul's like, 'Is this right? Is this the universe that we were trying to build?'' That's fascinating, is it not? Seeing the grand plans of Emperor Palpatine through the eyes of someone who worked with him before Darth Vader. Before Count Dooku. Before Grand Moff Tarkin or Grand Admiral Thrawn. Someone who was there at the beginning and is now confused about what he thought the plan was, and what it ended up being. But, as Witwer explains, that's kind of the aim of Maul: Shadow Lord. 'It truly is a show about bad guys versus worse guys,' he said. 'And our bad guys are still bad guys. This isn't going to be a show where you go, oh, you find out Maul is just a real teddy bear, man. He's just misunderstood… But the idea is, in fact, that even though he's a bad guy, is he as bad as Sidious or Vader? And the answer is actually no. From the Sith perspective, this guy has flaws. And these flaws are… the humanity that seeps in at various points. And some of this is humanity he did not have maybe early in Clone Wars. But because of things that happened to him, he's rethought a lot of things.' Rethinking things is part of what is making Maul: Shadow Lord work too. Witwer explained that, as he was working with Filoni on Clone Wars and Rebels, they'd come up with ideas for Maul that they loved, but couldn't fit in the show. Now, all those ideas are coming back. 'There were ideas that I had back in Clone Wars that I would present to Dave, or even in Rebels,' Witwer said. 'And I also know things that Dave wanted to do. And Dave would go, 'We're going to cut this part out of the script that I have that I like so much because this isn't Maul's show.' Or I'd say, 'Dave, what if this happens?' And he goes, 'It's not Maul's show. You can't go into that little level of detail. We're seeing this from Ezra's perspective or Ahsoka's perspective.' And every time he said, 'This isn't Maul's show,' it never occurred to me that Maul could have a show. So I just took those ideas and I'm like, well, I guess we'll never see that. And now he's like, well, it's Maul's show.'' You can watch the full clip below and keep an eye out for Maul: Shadow Lord in 2026.
Geek Tyrant
4 days ago
- Business
- Geek Tyrant
THE MANDALORIAN Season 4 Might Not Happen; The Franchise's Fate Rests on Box Office Numbers — GeekTyrant
If you're a fan of The Mandalorian , you might want to sit down for this one. According to insider Daniel Richtman, The Mandalorian Season 4 might not be happening at all. The insider claims, 'there won't be a Season 4 of The Mandalorian ,' suggesting that Disney is pivoting away from episodic storytelling and leaning fully into theatrical territory. It's a shift that seems to align with Disney's evolving strategy for Lucasfilm and its overall approach to Star Wars . To be fair, the signs have been there. After The Mandalorian Season 3 wrapped in April 2023, development on Season 4 was delayed, and it was initially blamed on the dual Hollywood strikes. But during that downtime, Disney CEO Bob Iger started reshaping the company's streaming priorities. The result was a focus shifted to The Mandalorian & Grogu , a feature film that's now in the works and is expected to carry the torch for the franchise on the big screen. What happens next might all come down to box office performance. Richtman adds, 'There won't be a Season 4 of The Mandalorian , but if the movie succeeds, a sequel will be made. However, if it flops, it will serve as the final chapter for Mando and could also put [Dave] Filoni's movie at risk.' That's a lot riding on a single movie, not just for Din Djarin and Grogu, but potentially for the entire interconnected storyline Filoni has been crafting across Disney+. This is a pretty big change, especially considering how The Mandalorian practically built the foundation for Star Wars on streaming. It launched in 2019 and quickly became the face of Disney+, redefining how Star Wars stories could be told. It spun off characters, helped launch shows like Ahsoka and The Book of Boba Fett . Still, from Disney's point of view, theatrical might just make more financial sense right now. Moving major Star Wars titles to theaters could be an attempt to refocus the brand and boost profits in a crowded streaming landscape. But it's a gamble. Fans didn't invest teir time in three seasons of The Mandalorian just for it to be wrapped up with one movie. There's still a lot of emotional and narrative ground left to cover. So while nothing is officially confirmed, there's a chance we may have seen the last of The Mandalorian as a Disney+ series. Whether that's a savvy pivot or a major misstep depends entirely on how The Mandalorian & Grogu performs when it hits theaters. The Mandalorian & Grogu hits theaters May 22, 2026.
Perth Now
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Star Wars actress Katee Sackhoff promises series return amid The Mandalorian and Grogu rumours
Katee Sackhoff has promised that her 'Star Wars' character Bo-Katan Kryze will appear again in the future. The 45-year-old actress portrayed the Mandalorian warrior in TV shows like 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars', 'Star Wars: Rebels' and 'The Mandalorian', and has now confirmed fans haven't seen the end of the character. Speaking to Screen Rant, Sackhoff said: "You will see her again in some form. That's all you need to know. [Lucasfilm Chief Creative Officer] Dave Filoni cannot get rid of me, because Bo-Katan is based off of his wife, so I've got some job security." Bo-Katan had been rumoured to be involved in 'The Mandalorian and Grogu', though Sackhoff insisted she "has not been in the armour in 2025". Even so, the character may still appear in the upcoming movie, as filming for 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' wrapped in December last year. As well as Sackhoff, Giancarlo Esposito - who portrayed Moff Gideon in 'The Mandalorian' - recently teased his 'Star Wars' villain may return in some capacity in the future. He told Empire magazine: "There is a big movie coming out that's focusing on Mando and The Child. I can't say it'll be that. "But I hope to be able to join that franchise again, because I think there's more road for Moff Gideon." The 'Breaking Bad' actor, 67, also said he believed 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' could be the start of a new 'Star Wars' trilogy. Speaking at Dragon Con, he said: "As in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Disney will figure out how to join all of these characters into one really great movie or TV show. That's my sense of where it will go. "Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau have a new vision, continuing on with a 'Mandalorian' movie. My sense is that it's all going to converge at one point or another and we're going to have another set of… [a] trilogy, or more, of films." 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' will see Pedro Pascal reprise his role as the titular warrior alongside Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White in another galaxy-spanning adventure. While 'The Mandalorian' will finally be making its cinematic debut with 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' next year, Jon Favreau - who co-directed and co-wrote the show and movie with Filoni - admitted he "felt disappointed" the sub-franchise couldn't initially be shared on the big screen. He told Collider: "The big difference is the amount of construction you can do. "The process is so long compared to television that you can plan, look at it, discuss, use multiple stages, indoor and outdoor sets, do construction, you can do stop-motion. There are a lot of things that you have an opportunity to do because of the timeframe that you would never be able to do to the same extent on a small screen. "Although I'm very proud, I have to say that whenever we looked at the stuff that we made for the show, or in an environment where we shared it with fans, it always felt cinematic. "I felt disappointed that we couldn't share it with more people that way."
Japan Forward
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Japan Forward
Star Wars Celebration Japan: The Ultimate Fan Galaxy
At Star Wars Celebration Japan, fans, filmmakers, and stars came together in a joyful, global tribute to the galaxy that shaped this writer's childhood. The Live Stage at Star Wars Celebration Japan, where hordes of fans gathered to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars. As a lifelong Star Wars superfan, I can't tell you how excited I was when, in 2023, Lucasfilm announced that the next edition of its official fan expo Star Wars Celebration would be held in 2025 in Japan, bringing a selection of my favorite movie stars and 100,000 fans together at Makuhari Messe. I immediately collared my colleagues on IGN's US team to suggest we collaborate on coverage when the event came out of hyperspace two years later. I've never planned anything so far ahead in my life! It was worth it. For the three days of April 18–20 at Star Wars Celebration Japan, the IGN Japan and US editorial teams worked closely together in our own private on-site studio. There, we interviewed the stars of Star Wars . From The Mandalorian filmmakers and series stewards Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau to actors like Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker), Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka Tano), Ahmed Best (Jar Jar Binks), and half a dozen cast members from the Disney+ show Andor, we spoke with dozens of visiting guests from a galaxy far, far away. Daniel shaking hands with Hayden Christensen (left), the actor who portrays Anakin Skywalker and his evil alter-ego, Darth Vader. During Celebration, new shows were announced. Surprises included a brand-new animated series titled Maul: Shadow Lord , which follows the one-time Sith apprentice as he returns from near-death. Attendees also got a first look at footage from the upcoming film The Mandalorian & Grogu , which will be the first big-screen Star Wars movie since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker when it is released in 2026. In a surprise appearance, actor Ryan Gosling and director Shawn Levy confirmed the title of their own upcoming movie, Star Wars: Starfighter . They said it will hit theaters on May 28, 2027. Director Dave Filoni, co-writer Jon Favreau, and Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy share a first glimpse of the upcoming Star Wars movie The Mandalorian & Grogu on the Celebration Stage. We covered these and more announcements from the show floor, which you can read about in more detail on IGN. Star Wars has been my favorite movie series for as long as I can remember. I was around four years old when Return of the Jedi came out in 1983, and I was instantly hooked. As a child, I'm not sure how much of the story I took in. Nevertheless, heroes Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa left an indelible mark on my tiny soul, while droids R2-D2 and C-3PO still feel like some of my oldest friends. Not to mention the film's bizarre collection of creatures, from the vile gangster Jabba the Hutt to the plucky Ewok Wicket, and the huge collection of action figures that brought them to life in my hands even after the movie ended. This was in the days of VHS tapes, and when my dad recorded a TV broadcast of 1977's A New Hope , I watched it over and over again, my imagination on fire. Its tale of a raggedy band of brave heroes fighting to topple a fascistic authoritarian empire feels just as relevant today. Two other formative movie series for me were Ghostbusters , released in 1984 when I was five or six, and the space horror masterpiece Alien , which invaded my psyche forever when I saw it much too young at around age 10. I re-watch films in these series every year or two, even now, and they have defined my taste forever. Sigourney Weaver on the set of The Mandalorian & Grogu with Jon Favreau. So, imagine my shock when, during our planning for Star Wars Celebration Japan, I learned I would have the chance to interview the actress who played Dana Barrett and Ellen Ripley herself: Sigourney Weaver. She will join the Star Wars universe for the first time when she appears in The Mandalorian & Grogu , slated for release in 2026. I have interviewed hundreds of stars, and I rarely get starstruck or nervous. But looking through the list of interviewees a couple of weeks before Celebration and seeing the name "Sigourney Weaver" knocked the wind out of me. As the event grew closer, I grew ever more convinced that faced with this heroine of my childhood, I would forget my own name or simply burst into flames. Thankfully, I was able to get this out of my system before Celebration. When the time came, Weaver was a delight, answering our ludicrous questions comparing cute little Grogu with the terrifying Xenomorph with grace and humor. I even managed to remember my own name. It was also a thrill to meet Ahmed Best. When The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, his character Jar-Jar Binks was a jarring presence (no pun intended). I'm ashamed to say that old-school Star Wars fans like myself treated the character's slapstick antics with vocal disdain. Best has spoken out about how even in these pre-social media days, the backlash was so harsh that he considered taking his own life. Exsqueeze me! Mesa happy to meet the lovely Ahmed Best at SWCJ!The one and only Jar-Jar Binks *and* Kelleran Beq 💕 ジャー・ジャーの俳優であるAhmed Bestさんに会えて嬉しかったです！ — Daniel Robson (@NoMoreDaniels) April 18, 2025 The prequel movies have been widely reappraised since then. Now that digital filmmaking has become the norm, they don't feel so alien — and indeed, they set the blueprint for pretty much all of today's blockbuster effects movies. Also, the younger generation of fans for whom the prequels were their first Star Wars movies loved goofy Jar-Jar, and now they are adults themselves. Personally, a few years ago, I watched through the Star Wars movies in sequence with my daughter when she was around seven years old. Seeing her giggle at Jar-Jar's chaotic antics made me fall in love with him completely. Best has since been reinstated into the Star Wars fold, playing Kelleran Beq, the Jedi knight who saved Grogu from destruction in the Jedi Temple during Season 3 of The Mandalorian – a role of great dignity. Meeting him at Celebration was such a pleasure. Later that weekend, my daughter and I found a Jar-Jar plush that shrieks uncontrollably when squeezed. It made us laugh so hard, we had no choice but to buy it. I love the Star Wars films and spinoff shows themselves, of course, but also the fandom around them. Star Wars Celebration Japan brought fans of all ages and nationalities to Makuhari Messe. While I don't know the official percentage, it felt like 70 or 80% of the audience was from overseas, with Disney claiming participants from 125 countries. Many of the fans I met told me they were visiting Japan for the first time, taking a couple of weeks on either side of Celebration to explore Tokyo or to visit cities like Osaka and Kyoto. Star Wars creator George Lucas was influenced in part by Japanese culture and the movies of Akira Kurosawa, so Japan was like a mecca for these fans. I felt proud that Star Wars could make so many people interested in Japan and its culture, with Celebration showing Japan in a positive light that the 2020 Olympics or Expo 2025 Osaka could have only dreamed of. And where you have a massive venue filled with Star Wars fans, you have cosplay. Japanese cosplayers are of course the best in the world, and at Celebration I was amazed by cosplayer Ricky's acrobatic recreation of a rolling Droideka robot, Yuuki's kimono-clad oiran Maul, Mayu's Sith bandit leader from Star Wars: Visions , a guy dressed as Luke Skywalker riding a horse-like Tauntaun, and a couple connected together as the front and back halves of Anakin's podracer. Cosplayer Yuuki posing in an exquisite kimono as an oiran take on Star Wars villain Maul It was also impressive to see how visiting fans brought their intricate costumes with them to Japan, not to be outdone by the locals. Some favourites included a lifelike (and very tall) Chewbacca, and a pair of women dressed as the Rancor monster and its keeper. Meanwhile, some friends of mine dressed as Mandalorian warrior Bo-Katan Kryze, the Master Codebreaker from a casino in The Last Jedi , and a Jedi escorting his kids dressed as Mando and Ahsoka Tano. Seeing the amount of work they put into their costumes during the run-up to Celebration was inspiring. The Rancor monster from Return of the Jedi, led by its affable keeper. Another cool thing was SWAG. An acronym for "Something We All Get/Give" that also simply means "swag," this is a tradition where fans trade homemade stickers, patches, badges, and even 3D-printed figures with other fans. It's a great way to break the ice, and the amount of creativity that goes into these items is incredible, from artistic takes on beloved characters to iconography advertising local fan groups from around the world. Not wanting to be left out, I made a batch of stickers before Celebration to trade, featuring a terrible pun-based gag that managed to win a few laughs when I exchanged them with people at the show. Here's the sticker design — please forgive me! Star Wars Celebration Japan was an overwhelming outpouring of positivity that made me happy to be a Star Wars fan. It was a dream come true to meet the stars of my favourite movies and TV shows, of course, but more than that, it was a joy to meet so many other fans in person. Away from the anonymous barrier of social media, there was no negativity to be found. It was also a delight to expose my daughter, now nearly 13, to this wholesome expression of love, unity, and hope. In these turbulent times, it really felt like being a part of a Rebel Alliance. Far from merely an expo, Star Wars Celebration Japan was just that: a celebration. Author: Daniel Robson
