Star Wars Weekly: The Revolution Starts Now (24/02/25 to 02/03/25)
Andor, Kennedy's succession plan, and ROTS at 20...
Rebellions are built on rock ‘n roll, apparently.
Right from the hop, the Andor season two trailer feels different. It sounds different, of course; instead of John Williams’ greatest hits, we’re treated to “The Revolution Starts Now” by Steve Earle. But the whole tone just feels different from the usual Star Wars trailers.
It feels modern. Sure of itself. Confident. All traits Star Wars could use a little more of right now.
Star Wars trailers in the modern era—really since the prequel trilogy—have had a sort of paint-by-numbers quality to them. They hit the audience with familiar imagery that harkens back to the original trilogy, along with a score that is either a classic John Williams piece, like “The Force Theme” or “Duel of the Fates,” and a fan service tease that will get the hard-core base talking.
This isn’t a bad thing, per se. Lots of trailers have done this remarkably well. The Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Force Awakens, and The Clone Wars’ final season trailers are some of my favourites. But when they all stick to the same formula, they can become mundane and predictable. They don’t stand out the same way they once did because it feels like we’ve seen them before. In a way, we have.
Skeleton Crew tried to break this mold. The marketing for that series leaned into its non-Star Wars inspirations, like Goonies and ET. Lucasfilm even created special graphics and filters for the trailers that evoked memories of VHS previews. There was even a Huttese version of "Major Tom (Coming Home)" by Peter Schilling featured prominently in one of the trailers.
But these still traded in nostalgia. If not for Star Wars itself, but for an imagined version of the 80s featured in so many classic movies from the era and modern pastiches like Stranger Things.
The Andor season two trailer is completely its own thing.
Clearly, the first season’s success has given Lucasfilm a dose of confidence. There are few gimmicks to be found in the trailer. Yes, there are shots with X-Wings, Stormtroopers, and the Death Star. But, aside from the one shot of the latter, the trailer doesn’t go out of its way to call attention to them or use any shots that are specifically evocative of the original trilogy.
The faces we see are all either returning characters from season one or new characters we’ll meet in season two—no gratuitous cameos. Even the return of Director Orson Krennic to our screens for the first time since Rogue One. feels natural amongst all the others. It doesn’t come across as a “Wow” moment but rather something in step with the rest of the trailer.
And then, of course, there’s the music. John Williams and series composer Nicholas Brittel are both absent from the trailer. There isn’t even an attempt to create something Williams or Brittel-esque. Instead, they went with Steve Earle. And unlike Skeleton Crew, they skipped the gimmicky translation to Huttese and let it stand on its own.
Season two of Andor, unfortunately, feels very relevant. While Disney may be trying to play ball with the current US administration, Tony Gilroy, Kathleen Kennedy, and the people cutting this trailer are not. They’re letting their work speak for itself.
“Last night I had a dream,” Earle sings in the trailer. “That the world had turned around, All our hopes had come to be, The revolution starts now.”
“Remember this moment,” Saw Gererra shouts in the final seconds of the trailer, “you’re here, and you’re ready to fight.”
It’s the same message. Change takes action. If you want to stand up and build the world, or galaxy, of your dreams, you have to be ready to fight for it. Season one built up to the moment when Cassian realized this, when he signed on with Luthen to become a part of his movement rather than just another thorn in the Empire’s side. Expect season two to be full of such moments as Cassian grows into the leader we see in Rogue One, the one who tells Jyn, “rebellions are built on hope.”
The trailer isn’t shying away from its messages or themes, it’s leaning into them. It’s not hiding behind nostalgia, it’s playing into the moment. It’s asking you to watch Andor because it’s a great show with something to say, not because you remember playing with Boba Fett action figures as a kid.
It’s modern.
Star Wars has sometimes felt like it’s afraid to be too modern. It’s understandable, it is a throwback to the past. But audiences have gotten wise to the tricks that got them back into theatres ten years ago for The Force Awakens.
If Star Wars is going to not just survive but thrive, it needs to start appealing to this audience more. It needn’t become Game of Thrones or The Last of Us when it comes to graphic violence or sex, but it needs to be able to stand next to those shows in terms of relevance. People know what Star Wars has been; they want to see what it can be.
Not every show or movie can be Andor, nor should it be. As the universe continues to expand, there should be all types of shows and movies that appeal to all types of audiences. But what this trailer shows us is a vision of Star Wars that embraces its place in the galaxy far, far away but doesn’t hide behind its past.
It’s excited to show us a different take on Star Wars, and I, for one, am excited to see it.
Top Story
The Andor Season Two Trailer Is Here!
The trailer for the second of Andor dropped on Monday, less than three hours after I published the last Star Wars Weekly, rendering most of what we talked about an afterthought to anyone who read it after noon Eastern time. It also means that the trailer has already been picked over and dissected a million times by the time you are reading this. But the trailer is so good that I can’t bring myself to be even a little upset with my poor timing luck.
We’ve already talked extensively about the tone of the trailer, so let’s get into the actual content within it. Here are some of the highlights:
The Ferrix crew is back! While I doubt we’ll actually return to Ferrix in season two (though seeing the aftermath of the riot would be interesting), it was nice to see several of the characters from Ferrix featured throughout the trailer. Bix appears to be a major player this season, appearing several times with a couple of different looks. It doesn’t seem like a stretch to assume she’ll be in multiple arcs this season. And Cassian’s best-friend-who-is-definitely-too-good-for-him, Brasso, also makes a return in the trailer. By the end of season one, Brasso had become a sand-out character, and it was his love for Maarva that led to the civil-then-not-so-civil disobedience on Rix Road in the finale. It’s no secret that Andor was originally planned to run for five seasons, with each season covering a year of Cassian’s life leading into Rogue One. The realities of production led to this being cut down to two seasons, with the second season now covering four years, a massive leap from the one year covered by the first. When I saw so many characters from Ferrix leaving the planet at the end of the finale, I wondered if this might be a holdover from the original plan and plans to revisit these characters in seasons 2-5 would be dropped since there were only 12 episodes left. It’s still possible this may happen to Jezzi and Wilmon, who are not in the trailer. But the presence of Brasso suggests they will make an appearance (Bix was always going to come back and, therefore, is less of an indicator for the others’ return).
The return of Director Krennic is an exciting wrinkle to the final season. It makes sense, as he is an important character in this era—he appeared on The Bad Batch and was mentioned in Rebels—and has ties to Cassian. I suspect that when Andor is done, we’ll look at the two seasons plus Rogue One as a quasi-Cassian Andor trilogy. Seeding both the villain for the final act and the instrument of Cassian’s ultimate demise in season two just feels right. They already did this with the Death Star in the finale’s post-credits scene, revealing that Cassian helped build the space station he will die trying to destroy during his incarceration on Narkina 5. As to Krennic’s role in the season, he says in the trailer, “What a swell party this is.” In season one, Mon Mothma’s asshole-husband Perrin was always throwing dinner parties with “interesting” guests like Mas Ameda. Krennic seems like just the sort of person Perrin would invite to one of these soirees, giving us an opportunity to see Mon Mothma and Krennic go toe-to-toe in the political arena rather than the battlefield.
Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera is always a welcome presence on our screens, and it looks like we’ll get plenty more of him in the second season. Tony Gilroy has said previously that he feels no real attachment to Star Wars, but during season one, he showed himself to be very aware of key events in the era he is playing in. The relationship between Saw and the larger Rebel Alliance led by Mon Mothma and Bail Organa was a sticking point in both Rogue One and Rebels. It will be interesting to see if Gilroy delves into it in more depth here. Again, there are only 12 episodes with which to explore these things, so Saw and the large Rebellion may simply be kept as separate factions during the season. But Gilroy’s interest in the interplay between the Rebels—as seen throughout Luthen’s story—and his awareness of Andor’s place in the larger canon might mean we see the breakup between the rebel factions alluded to in the other stories. And it feels like it's too important a moment to be left off-screen when all the main players are regulars on the same series. Regardless, we can expect this dynamic and the fallout of the break to be explored further in the novel trilogy, “Reign of the Empire,” the first of which, The Mask of Fear, was released this past week.
Whoever shot the scenes of Mon Mothma dancing deserves every award for cinematography next year. Seriously, those shots look like Renaissance paintings—they are absolutely gorgeous. The wardrobe department deserves major kudos, too. Why Mon is dancing is another question from the trailer. Some have speculated it’s during her daughter’s wedding (the arrangement of which was a major moment for Mon in season one, showing just how much she was willing to sacrifice for the Rebellion). We do see Davos Sculdun (the “financier” and father of the groom) in the background of several shots, so this seems like the most likely scenario. Personally, I’m hoping it’s actually during her divorce party after she finally kicks Perrin to the curb!
The shot of the X-Wings taking off looks to be from the base on D’Qar, as seen in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. It always annoyed me that so many of the Resistance locations in the sequel trilogy had the backstory of being old Rebellion bases (it felt like they were afraid to do anything without a tie to the past), but since that’s the story they went with, I’m excited to see it in this era.
Those imperial soldiers in white armour, but no helmets, look cool! I’ve loved the way Andor and Solo have expanded our understanding of the Imperial military beyond stormtroopers. I’m excited to learn who these guys are who they serve in the Empire. Could they be some sort of special forces unit deployed by Deedra Meero (seen briefly in the trailer)?
And finally, K-2SO is back! Cassian’s droid BFF from Rogue One was originally meant to be featured in season one but was cut after the series was restructured when Tony Gilroy replaced Stephen Schiff as showrunner. Alan Tudyk was even announced as a cast member before filming started. However, Gilroy wanted to explore Cassian’s life before he met K2. But he promised fans that the droid would be back for season two. Given the season’s unique structure (one year passes between every three-episode arc), they could skip over Cassian and K2’s first meeting and just start one of the arcs with them already as allies/friends. This would please fans who don’t want to see the 2017 comic book, which showed their first meeting, be rendered “non-canon,” but it’s unlikely. It’s just too important a moment in Cassian’s life to happen off-screen.
April 22nd can’t get here soon enough!
Speaking of which, the release schedule for the second season was also revealed along with the trailer. Intriguingly, the season will only last four weeks, with three episodes dropping every Tuesday from April 22nd to May 13th.
While I would love to savour Andor’s final season for as long as possible, this is the right choice. Andor’s use of three-episode arcs means that the episodes are best viewed back-to-back-to-back. It avoids the awkward episode endings that sometimes hurt the first season when viewed week-to-week, ensuring that stories are enjoyed in their entirety.
One could reasonably ask why call it a 12-episode season at all, why not just release four mega-episodes? I don’t have the answer to that. Probably, since the series was conceived, written, and shot as 12 episodes, they have to release it that way.
For the record, I expect this to be the way of the future for Star Wars shows. As Disney shifts their focus back to movies and away from streaming with their biggest franchises, if something is to premiere on Disney+, it will need to be a big enough event to justify the expenditure. A limited series that only lasts 4-6 weeks, with 60-90 minute episodes, a big star attached, an exciting premise, and top-tier marketing would fit the bill.
A criticism often levied at the Star Wars shows is that the episodes are too short. While I don’t think episode length is the be-all-end-all for quality, episodes can sometimes be too quick to be memorable, epesically in the middle of a season. Longer episodes and shorter seasons will help with that. It will ensure that something meaningful takes place every week and that people won’t lose interest as the season reaches its midpoint.
We don’t know what the next live-action Star Wars series will be after Andor and Ahsoka release their second seasons, but I would expect something that looks more like Andor season two when it comes to release than The Mandalorian.
Headlines
Kathleen Kennedy Is Working On A Succession Plan For Her (Eventual) Departure From Lucasfilm
This week, we got a small insight into Lucasfilm's future when it was reported that Kathleen Kennedy was planning on retiring from the company before the end of the year. There was enough noise around the rumors that Kennedy herself felt the need to comment on them. While she threw the timeline into doubt, she did confirm that succession planning was taking place, with her, Disney CEO Bob Iger, and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman exploring options for her eventual replacement.
“What’s happening at Lucasfilm is I have been talking for quite some time with both Bob and Alan about what eventual succession might look like,” Kennedy told Deadline. “We have an amazing bench of people here, and we have every intention of making an announcement months or a year down the road.”
Kennedy also shared that she intends to stick around through the transition to ensure everything goes smoothly, remaining a producer on at least the next two Star Wars films.
“I have every intention of sticking around to help that person be successful,” Kennedy said. “I’m already producing the Mandalorian movie, and Shawn Levy’s is after that.”
Naturally, Kennedy’s comments did nothing to quell the speculation around who her successor might be (though they put to rest the reports of her being “fired” or “pushed out”). A lot of the talk swirls around Dave Filoni, who worked with George Lucas for years on The Clone Wars and now serves as chief creative officer at Lucasfilm—thanks to his work on The Mandalorian and its assorted spin-offs, including Ahosoka.
Kennedy, of course, refused to comment on Filoni's, or anyone else’s, chances of getting the job. She explained to Deadline, “I can’t say who it is because there’s just an internal process that goes on inside a large corporation and a publicly held company, as to how we go about making deals, finalizing decisions and making announcements. There’s nothing unusual about that, and we’re in that process.”
I could see Disney adopting a similar approach with Lucasfilm to Warner Brothers’ strategy with DC Studios. In 2022, WB hired James Gunn and Peter Safran as co-CEOs of DC Studios, overseeing all DC film and TV productions. Gunn is best known as a writer/director with hits like the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and The Suicide Squad to his name. Safran, meanwhile, is a film producer with decades of experience. The two split the workload with Gunn focusing on the creative side (including writing and directing some of the movies himself, like this year’s Superman) and Safran handling the business side.
In a Lucasfilm version of this scenario, I could see Filoni taking on a role similar to Gunn and teaming up with a producer of a similar vain to Safran. Someone like Emma Watts (20th Century Fox) or Hannah Minghella (Bad Robot), who were both named by The Hollywood Reporter as potential replacements for Kennedy. Alternatively, an internal Lucasfilm candidate like Lynwen Brenan (President & General Manager), Carrie Beck (Senior VP of Live Action Development & Production) or Momita Sengupta (Executive VP, Physical Production) could join Filoni in the top job. This would also give Filoni the freedom to still write/direct his own Star Wars projects, like the Mandalorian conclusion event film that he is attached to.
Filoni, of course, is by no means a lock for the job, but I could see Kennedy wanting him, or someone else from the current senior leadership, to take over for her. Unfortunately, a big part of the legacy of the later years of Kennedy’s tenureship will be dominated by all the cancelled projects rather than the completed ones. If someone from outside the company takes over, there is a good chance they will want to put their stamp on Star Wars. And the quickest way to do that is to cancel all the previous regime’s projects and replace them with your own. I suspect Kennedy wants to avoid this at all costs.
Despite talk of her succession plan, Kennedy is still going at full steam ahead on the future of Star Wars. She confirmed in the Deadline article that they are developing a new slate of post-sequel trilogy projects. Shawn Levy’s movie, which she revealed is set 5-6 years after The Rise of Skywalker, will be the first of these, followed (hopefully) soon after by the Sharmeen Obaid-Chinnoy movie starring Daisy Ridley. Following that will be the trilogy that Simon Kinberg is writing and producing.
“We’re absolutely rolling fast and furiously,” Kennedy said about Kinberg’s project. “That has gone exceptionally well, and he’s literally going to script as we speak. We’ll see something probably around June.”
Clearly, Kennedy wants to ensure these projects are not cancelled, even after she steps down from the top job. It’s why she’s staying on to produce Levy’s movie (which will certainly be in theatres after she’s no longer president) and is pushing to get the next trilogy started. Having Filoni, in his role as chief creative officer, be intimately involved in the discussions about these stories means that he will also want to see them through if he assumes her old role. It also helps that Filoni and Kinberg have a history together, collaborating on the early seasons of Star Wars Rebels.
Kennedy stresses to Deadline that the decision is 100% hers as to when she steps down, though she repeatedly gives a timeline of somewhere between months and a year for when her successor will be named. Lucasfilm is such a massive operation that it would make sense for there to be an extended transition period where Kennedy shows her successor(s) the ropes while still overseeing production on the various projects.
Regardless, we are clearly on the cusp of a new era beginning at Lucasfilm…
Also of note from the Deadline interview:
Taika Waititi is still working on his Star Wars movie, though he is now working with a new writer (originally, he was paired with 1917 scribe Krysty Wilson-Cairns). Kennedy says she’s seen “a first act that I loved,” but that Waititi’s schedule has been the main reason the project isn’t further along.
James Mangold is still working on the script for his “Dawn of the Jedi” project. His time spent on the awards circuit for A Complete Unknown has led to a slight delay in the project, but Lucasfilm had to accommodate that. “I like to wait for people that I think are passionate and really good to step into Star Wars,” said Kennedy of Mangold.
It’s unlikely that Tony Gilroy will return to Star Wars after Andor. “I don’t think he ever believed he’d be a decade inside Star Wars,” said Kennedy. But then, Gilroy also said he was done with Star Wars after Rogue One, and look how that turned out.
Let’s hope Kathleen Kennedy gives more interviews like this as she prepares to step away, starting a trend that her successor follows!
Revenge of the Sith Returns to Theatres in April!
Last week, we talked a lot about anniversary re-releases for Star Wars movies and this week, we got confirmation of another! Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is heading back to cinemas for one week, starting on April 25th, to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
This rerelease will actually be more expansive than previous ones. Where The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, and The Phantom Menace all got standard 2D releases, Revenge of the Sith will, according to StarWars.com, “be available in several formats, including, for the first time, 4DX.” The 4DX experience will involve “high-tech motion chairs that sync with over 21 effects, all designed to complement the narrative of the film.”
I was lucky enough to see Revenge of the Sith in 3D at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2015, so I am very much hoping that “several formats” includes 3D, in addition to 4DX and standard 2D. The conversion was way more immersive than what was done for The Phantom Menace, the only Star Wars movie to get a wide release in 3D back in 2012. If you have the opportunity to see it this way later this year, I recommend you take it!
Lucasfilm also brought back artist Matt Furguson to create a brand new poster for the film (above). Furguson had previously done the posters for the other anniversary rereleases and the 2022 Rogue One rerelease (to promote Andor season one).
As I’m sure everyone reading this can relate, I am ecstatic about the chance to see Revenge of the Sith in theatres again. It was the first Star Wars movie I saw in theatres, and I have such fond memories of seeing it back in 2005. Plus, the film has reached “classic” status among Star Wars fans, so you can bet the energy on opening night will be electric!
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Now, if they could just announce the re-release of The Force Awakens too…
Hasbro Is Bringing Back Revenge of the Sith Packaging For Its 20th Anniversary
To mark the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith, Hasbro announced this week that it will pay homage to the toy packaging of the original Episode III tie-in products.
Revealed during a HasbroPulse livestream, certain 6” Black Series action figures will be released this year in a scaled-up version of the Darth Vader/lava bubble pack from 2005. The figures getting this treatment are Count Dooku, Kit Fisto, R2-D2, and Commander Cody.
R2, Kit Fisto, and Dooku will all be available for pre-order on March 13th as part of Walmart Collector Con and will hit shelves on the May 4th weekend. The Commander Cody figure was previously announced, and the pre-order window has already passed.
You can watch the full livestream below,
Also revealed during the livestream:
Imperial Armored Commando from The Mandalorian (The Vintage Collection, 3.75" scale)
Moff Gideon (Dark Trooper Armor) from The Mandalorian (The Vintage Collection, 3.75" scale)
Momaw Nadon from A New Hope (The Vintage Collection, 3.75" scale)
Ponda Baba from A New Hope (The Vintage Collection, 3.75" scale)
Imperial Praetorian Guard from The Mandalorian (The Black Series, 6" scale)
Cassian Andor (Sienar Test Pilot) from Andor (The Black Series, 6" scale)
Director Orson Krennic from Andor (The Black Series, 6" scale)
Clone Trooper (501st Legion) Electronic Helmet
More info, including images and pre-orders, can be found on HasbroPulse.
From The Archives
The Mandalorian Season Three Premiered March 1st, 2023
The most recent season of The Mandalorian kicked off two years ago this week when “Chapter 17: The Apostate” premiered.
Written by Jon Favreau and directed by Rick Famuyiwa, the episode was the first episode of The Mandalorian to air since December 2020. It saw Din Djarrin begin his quest to bathe in the waters of Mandalore to cleanse himself after removing his helmet (seen in the season two finale). It also featured the return of many fan favourites from past seasons, including Greef Carga, The Armorer, and Bo-Katan. Making their debut on The Mandalorian were the Anzellans, the same species of tiny droidsmiths as Babu Frik.
Season three will likely wind up being the final season of The Mandalorian, though it is not the end of the story. Din and his son will return in theatres in The Mandalorian & Grogu in May 2026.
In Other News
Mark Hamill Presents The Oscar For Best Original Score
Though all the Star Wars-adjacent nominees came up empty at the Academy Awards last night, the galaxy far, far away was still represented during the ceremony.
Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, took the stage to present the nominees and the winner of the Oscar for Best Original Score (won by The Brutalist). As Hamill took the stage, the orchestra played the iconic Star Wars main theme.
“I suggested they play the theme from Jaws,” joked Hamill.
Podcast Corner
As you’ve no doubt realized, it was a busy week in Star Wars! And we had a lot of fun breaking everything down on The Star Wars Underworld Podcast this week. Ben, Hannah, and I went over the Andor trailer, the Kennedy succession plan reports (including the Deadline interview, which broke just before we recorded), and Revenge of the Sith’s return to theatres.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or watch above on YouTube!
And if you’re looking for some Toronto Maple Leafs talk, I hosted this past Friday’s Game Over Toronto with my co-host Lauren Williamson. We broke down the Leafs’ 3-2 win over the New York Rangers.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or watch below on YouTube!
Coming Soon
Always in motion is the future, but here’s a look ahead at what we can expect in Star Wars over the next seven days:
A new graphic novel about Qui-Gon Jinn drops this week on March 4th. Written by George Mann, Hyperspace Stories: Qui-Gon Jinn kicks off a new line of stories from Dark Horse Comics.
And, a new ongoing series from Marvel kicks off this on March 5th with the release of Jedi Knights #1 by Marc Guggenheim. Set before the events of the prequel trilogy, each issue will follow two Jedi Knights (hence the title) on a mission.
“We’re in a war. You wanna fight, or you wanna win?” —Cassian Andor.