Star Wars is heading from a galaxy far, far away straight to the heart of London this Bank Holiday weekend.
This year’s Star Wars Celebration kicks off on Friday (7th April), with four days of epic thrills for fans of the saga, from panels with A-list special guests to exclusive screenings, immersive exhibitions and merch you won’t find anywhere else.
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But if you’re not at the ExCel in London, then there’s just one thing you’ll be watching out for: the exclusive announcements, trailer reveals and other breaking news about potential new series and movies.
We’ve taken a look at all of the big rumours floating around the internet to give you a comprehensive breakdown of what you might expect to see revealed over the four-day celebration.
LucasFilm Studio Showcase (Friday, 11am – 12:30pm)
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We open with the big one, which sets the stage for the festivities: the LucasFilm Studio Showcase.
The celebration website teases updates on The Mandalorian and Andor, both of which have new seasons in the works, but the 90 minute panel will have much more to offer – and a ton of top secret special guests on hand to make the announcements.
We expect there to be an update on the upcoming series Skeleton Crew, which was first announced at last year’s event, and is reportedly set to premiere on Disney+ before the end of 2023.
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Similarly, The Acolyte – a top-secret show set during the High Republic era – is currently in the midst of filming. Last year’s event featured exclusive Ahsoka footage, and The Acolyte is further along in shooting than the Rosario Dawson series was at the time of the 2022 celebration, so our first official update may arrive then.
The big reveal everybody will be keeping an eye out for is whether or not a new Star Wars movie will finally be announced. Disney have a rough date of December 2025 penciled in for the next big screen outing, which has gone through several iterations; recently, Lost creator Damon Lindelof abandoned the project, with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight stepping in to redraft the screenplay.
With a lot of behind-the-scenes turbulence on this one so far, it’s unclear as to whether we’ll get an official unveiling of what this project is.
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With Celebration, of course, the trick is to expect the unexpected, so hopefully we get a ton of fresh announcements in addition to updates on the above projects.
It’s likely this won’t be limited to just Star Wars either. Last year’s LucasFilm panel offered a first look at Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, and a more extended look at the blockbuster (which hits cinema in June) should be expected.
The Making of Andor Season One (Friday, 3pm – 4pm)
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Diego Luna and showrunner Tony Gilroy will appear at Celebration to discuss how the acclaimed first season of Andor came together.
However, we don’t expect this to be entirely backwards looking – Andor was always pitched as a two season show, so expect some hints as to where the series will go in its second outing.
Ahsoka (Saturday, 11am – 12:30pm)
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We’ll find out more about Ahsoka Tano’s upcoming spin-off on Saturday morning, when creators Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni will take to the stage to discuss the series – and very likely unveil the first trailer.
We know the show is filmed, and ready to premiere later in 2023, but this panel will be our first proper insight into what we can expect from the top secret project.
Rosario Dawson being a special guest is highly likely, but we’re more intrigued to see if Hayden Christensen – who will be appearing elsewhere over the weekend in other panels, including alongside Ewan McGregor at an Obi-Wan Kenobi retrospective – will show up to discuss how Anakin factors into the series.
Other Series
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For young Star Wars fans, the first peak at Young Jedi Adventures – which premieres on Disney+ on May the 4th – will take place on Saturday 8th between 3pm and 4pm. Keep an eye on social media straight after for initial reactions.
On Monday (10th April) there will be a panel featuring some of the creative teams that have created shorts for the second season of Star Wars: Visions, which will also arrive on Disney+ on May 4th. Attendees are also expected to get a first look, and we can’t wait to hear what the Aardman and Cartoon Saloon episodes have in store for us.
Monday will also feature a panel dedicated to The Bad Batch at 10am. The show hasn’t officially been renewed for season three, but based on the cliffhanger ending to the recent season two, this could be the place where the news breaks.
Pure Speculation
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Sunday afternoon at 1:30pm will see McGregor, Christensen and more take to the stage to look back at last year’s limited series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Although it was conceived as a one-and-done project, both actors have been vocal about wanting to work together and revisit these characters again – could this panel be where a surprise second season gets announced?
On the movies front, all eyes are on whether Rey Skywalker herself, Daisy Ridley, will make a surprise guest appearance. She visited LucasFilm headquarters last December for lunch, which she cheekily revealed on her Instagram story – was that to discuss a future project, and if so, will it be one of the big announcements this weekend?
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A new trilogy featuring her character has long been rumoured, so we’re excited to see whether the force is strong with this one.
We’ll be back next week with a full breakdown of all the major news revealed over the weekend.
