Star Wars Celebration Orlando took place over Easter weekend and with it came a metric ton of Star Wars news. Julian, Daniel and Jeremy are here to break it all down and talk about everything going on in the galaxy far far away. Starting, of course, with Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. Director Rian Johnson dropped the first teaser trailer and revealed the official poster and the guys break down every detail. Moving onto the animation side, Supervising Director Dave Filoni dropped the bomb that season 4 of Rebels would be it's final season. Julian, the resident Rebels super fan, delves deep into all the Rebels related news. To cap things off the conversation moves to Battlefront II, the sequel to the EA game from two years ago, which was announced along with a trailer showing off it's new single player campaign. All this and so much more in this ToB Interlude / Star Wars extravaganza!

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Show Notes

Nerd Association

Theme: Star Wars

Round 1: Storm Trooper
Round 2: Leia
Round 3: Prequel Trilogy

Movies

Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy, in an interview with MTV, said that they are getting close to announcing the next standalone film. Going so far as to say that she hopes she can reveal it this summer. She even gave the impression that it could be an Obi-wan solo film by giving one of those non-denial-denials that execs are so good at.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
- Trailer
- Poster
Mark Hamill, speaking to Fandango, said that not having Luke, Lea and Han reunite in Force Awakens was a “great missed opportunity”. He felt as though it would have been a stronger emotional thread if Lea and Luke had witnessed Hans death rather than 2 relative strangers and chewie.
Clarifications:
- According to director Rian Johnson “The Last Jedi” refers to Luke and is singular.
- Leia will NOT appear in Ep 9 at all. Having reworked the entire story since her Carrie Fisher’s death.
- Rian Johnson says that The last Jedi will “absolutely” address Rey’s parentage

TV

Dave Filoni announces that "Rebels" will end with season 4.
Filoni Teased new animated projects are coming in the future.
A 2D animation project was also announced. A series of animated shorts called “Star Wars Forces of Destiny” will be released on YouTube and will have an accompanying toy-line. It focuses on the female characters of Star Wars with Leia , Padme, Ahsoka, Sabine, Rey and Jyn all getting the animated treatment.

Games

EA announced Star Wars: Battlefront 2
- Trailer
- Will release on November 17 worldwide.
- Will have a single player campaign set between Ep 6 and 7. Following Iden Versio who leads an elite Imperial unit called "Inferno Squad".
- Star Wars legends like Luke and Kylo Ren will also be playable
- Multiplayer is getting bolstered and will now span all three eras and the long awaited return of space battles.

June 25, 2026

Episode 206 - Shrek 5 or Austin Powers 4?

Time marches on and we all feel old. This week, 'Toy Story 5' hit theaters, and while reviews have been positive, it's crazy to think we're onto the fifth installment in that franchise. In a similar vein, we recently learned that Mike Myers is interested in returning to 'Austin Powers', on the heels of his appearance in the trailer for another fiver, 'Shrek 5' (which already has people in it's own tizzy). Matt and Julian debate the merits of either prospect, and then turn the page to stare into the abyss that is AI invading Hollywood. Plus a grab-bag of entertainment stories covering odd popcorn bowls, a Knicks documentary, a scrapped Palpatine show and much more! Finally, to wrap things up, a brief discussion on 'House of the Dragon' season 3 premiere, 'Obsession', 'The Furious', and 'Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' (both in and out of concert).

May 27, 2026

SSSW - The Mandalorian and Grogu

It's hard to believe it's been so long since the last Star Wars movie hit theatres. After years of announcements, failed projects, and even a change in leadership at Lucasfilm, the first movie in nearly a decade is a follow-up to the first ever live action Star Wars show. Maybe that's fitting for a new era, under new management. The film itself is a fast paced, action-packed, adventure that hails back to the old serials that George Lucas loved. While it is certainly a fun time at the movies, with exciting set-pieces, characters inclusions from across the lore, all of which set on planets with diverse biomes (i.e. some of the things Star Wars does best). Unfortunately, the movie lacks compelling stakes, character depth (where's Din's arc?), much of any plot to speak of, or even a sense of real "importance" - and while that may be a bit intangible, it prompts the question: why was THIS movie the first to bring Star Wars back to feature films in almost a decade? Julian and Rachel try to answer that question and dive deep into all the nerdy details.

May 6, 2026

SSSW - Maul: Shadow Lord - Chapter 9 & 10 / Season Finale

There it is, folks - the season finale to the latest creation from Lucasfilm Animation. It was certainly gorgeous to look at, with the new painterly stylings, and there was no shortage of thrilling action to sink your teeth into, nor did they skimp on the stakes. But while the season started off on a welcomed unfamiliar foot, by the end of this season, and certainly in these final two episodes, the hallmarks of what we've come to know from Star Wars animation showed their head. Early on, the admitted inspirations from films such as 'Heat' and 'The Dark Knight', provided a needed grit to a show which was ostensibly following a villain. This provided the show with a fresh personality - distinguishing itself from it's predecessors in animation. Unfortunately, the creatives couldn't seem to maintain that tone, as by this two-part season finale the old tropes and predictable beats of 'Clone Wars' rose into prominence. And while the appearance of a certain fan favourite character adds some very cool action, the unoriginality from a narrative perspective robbed the final moments of the needed pathos and drama required to land the plane in the most satisfying of ways.

April 30, 2026

SSSW - Maul: Shadow Lord - Chapter 7 & 8

There's two of them now?! With the arrival of another Inquisitor things really start to escalate on Janyx. We see Maul at his lowest since probably his spider-leg days (he goes on a self-guided therapy session/vision quest that results in something quite inspiring actually!), providing us a deeper understanding of his motivations, beyond simply "revenge!". Meanwhile, Devon continues to be the most interesting character on the show as she takes two steps forward, one step back, flirting with the dark side (though bonus points for the slick ride she acquires for their getaway). On the action side, the show continues to bring the goods, with dynamic, large scale battles (heavy on LAATs which is always a treat), intimate lightsaber combat, and a special shout out to the speeder chase this week that included a new Star Wars techno track (get outta here Niamos!), which combined for a chef's kiss of a sequence. The finale is next week, dropping on Star Wars Day (May the 4th), so stay tuned to see how much the show wants to tie up and how much it wants to leave dangling ahead of season 2!

ToB Interlude - Star Wars Celebration 2017

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