I was in Anaheim this past week and at Disneyland for part of it, though not attending this year’s D23 Expo (Friday was a nice, uncrowded day at the parks because of the convention though). I followed all the news coming out of the con as best I could – all the better to write a thorough wrap-up for all of you! Here’s the Star Wars news:

The Rise of Skywalker

No new trailer, though there was a pretty intense wrap up/sizzle reel that ends on a shot of a black-clad Rey (my money is on Force vision or some sort of clone) wielding a double, red-bladed saber:

Twitter user Aderaanian Rose pointed out that the saber looks a hell of a lot like the one we saw the Inquisitor carry on Star Wars Rebels in his former life as a Jedi Temple guard:

A better look at the Temple Guards’ lightsaber from Rebels. Double-bladed that folds in the center. pic.twitter.com/nPzK7tQ38c

— Alderaanian Rose (@AlderaanianR) August 24, 2019

Kerri Russel hinted that her character, Zorri Bliss, may have a romantic past with Poe Dameron while Oscar Issac reassured John Boyega that Finn has nothing to worry about. We got some new footage of Leia, possibly training Rey; Jannah on the Falcon with Finn; an epic space battle about to go down; Rey and Kylo Ren duking it out on what I’m assuming are the remains of the Death Star; and a protocol droid everyone is insisting is C-3PO going murderbot (Triple Zero exists, y’all). We did not, however, see Rose, which makes me very unhappy. However, Kelly Marie Tran was on the TROS panel so here’s hoping her role is simply too phenomenal to reveal quite yet.

There’s also a new poster which is just… wow.

The Mandalorian

We have a trailer:

Did you hold your breath the whole time? I did. Several people on Twitter commented that they still weren’t sure exactly what the show was about. I’m not either, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t actually care.

Character details are thus: Pedro Pascal will play the titular Mandalorian; Gina Carano Cara Dune, a “former Rebel shock trooper”; Giancarlo Esposito is Moff Gideon; Carl Weathers is Greef Carga; and Taika Waititi is the voice of IG-11. Several other actors, including Werner Herzog and Nick Nolte, are on the cast list though their roles are, as yet, unknown.

The biggest news out of D23 is that Ming-Na Wen, most recently Melinda May on Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD has a reccurring part on The Mandalorian, though the details have yet to be released. It’s most likely she’ll portray an original character, though several folks on social media have pointed our her resemblance to Ursa Wren, Sabine’s mother and matriarch of Clan Wren, first introduced on Star Wars Rebels.

The Mandalorian is set between the fall of the Empire and the rise of the First Order and we know Sabine survived the fall of the Empire, so it isn’t a stretch to believe her family did as well and an appearance by Clan Wren is on my wish list for the show…

The Clone Wars

Not a ton of news or new footage, though we did find out season seven of The Clone Wars will premiere in February (no exact date). Dave Filoni was pretty clear that he intends for this to be the last season of the beloved show, but he stated in the same interview the ending is intended as a new beginning for some of the characters born of The Clone Wars. Whether in animated form or live-action, Filoni intends to keep telling stories in the galaxy far, far away.

Also, every time season seven is mentioned, I’m reminded Ray Park was recruited to do the motion capture for Darth Maul’s fight scene with Ahsoka and I literally cannot wait for the magic.

Cassian Andor

When Diego Luna asked Kathleen Kennedy if he could reveal the name of the Cassian/K-2SO show during the panel, she apparently told him, “Not quite yet.” So his name is like the temporary filming code name studios use for projects. We do know where the project fits in the Star Wars time line now, however:

And that, no matter how deadly these two may be, they are also ridiculously adorable:

Kenobi

We heard about it last week but we didn’t actually believe it. Why would we? There have been rumors since 2014 of various media being planned, of contracts on the verge of being signed, of sabers about to be ignited. And then, inevitably, disappointment. And then…

And now 3/4 of Star Wars fandom is dead, myself included, and doing their wrap-ups and run-downs from the grave because, and excuse my French, but Holy Shit, it’s actually happening. Ewan McGregor will be playing Obi-Wan again and it won’t be for a mere two-hour film; it will be for what will likely be a six to eight episode show.

The assumption is that it will cover the Jedi master’s early years on Tatooine protecting a young Luke Skywalker and may also pull from the EU Kenobi novel. But really, the possibilities are endless. Tatooine may be the end of the galaxy, but everyone seems to find their way there eventually. Who’s to say Ahsoka won’t wander by? That, perhaps, Ventress didn’t escape death as so many others in the far, far away have done? That a young Caleb Dume didn’t run a smuggling mission for the Hutts (and he certainly has a rancor bone to pick with the man who sent him alone into the universe at age 12 after witnessing the brutal death of his master with no more than a “trust the force”).

I know some fans have been feeling Star Wars saturation recently but this slate of shorter form, episodic stories has me super excited. And Disney+ announced they’ll be releasing weekly instead of all at once, marathon-style, which will allow anticipation to build between episodes, giving us the opportunity to experience a new event at intervals. So, you can find me working on my ROTJ twin swap Leia and TROS Poe, eagerly awaiting November.