Star Wars Celebration 2023 TV highlights: ‘Andor,’ ‘The Mandalorian, ‘The Acolyte’ ‘Skeleton Crew’ and ‘Ahsoka’
Star Wars Celebration Europe IV got off to an exciting start as fans flooded the halls of London’s ExCel Exhibition Centre this morning. Up at the rise of dawn, Star Wars mega fans from all walks of life, from all around the globe began queuing for their passes to enter Friday’s proceedings.
This year’s event marks the fourth time that Celebration has come to Europe, which is welcome news to European Star Wars fans as the event usually frequents America’s many states. One thing that was very noticeable was the sheer amount of Americans present at the kick-off panel, the Lucasfilm Showcase, of Celebration as the pre-show host entertained the crowd and asked where everyone was from. Calling out the Brits for their quietness, the US-based host was proud of the loudness of the American fans, who at least sounded like they filled out the majority of the Celebration stage. If this goes to show anything, it’s just how passionate Star Wars fans are, they will attend no matter where the event is hosted.
Star Wars Celebration is home to all the latest Star Wars-related news when it comes to film, television and animation. This year is no different, just in the first day, Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm announced a slew of new projects, showed first looks at upcoming Disney+ shows, and even a sneak peek of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. The panels that go on throughout the jam-packed long weekend are attended by the cast and crew of each upcoming production that Lucasfilm wishes to tease, with the addition of tens of thousands of fans who truly make Celebration what it is, it’s nothing without them.
We were lucky enough to attend Friday’s proceedings in London, attending all the major panels from the Celebration stage. We witnessed all the exclusive trailers, sneak peek scenes, and the live breaking-news announcements made by the cast and crew during the individual sections for each project in the Lucasfilm Showcase panel. It was truly something to witness, especially as the second Star Wars Celebration in two years since the pandemic prevented any conventions to take place. The below will focus on the Star Wars TV announcements that were made at Friday’s opening panel.
Star Wars TV Announcements
Host Ali Plumb kicked off Celebration by introducing Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy, who welcomed fans to this year’s edition. There was no idling around as Star Wars: Andor’s showrunner Tony Gilroy hit the stage along with stars Diego Luna, Adria Arjona, Kyle Soller, Denise Gough, Genevieve O’Reilly, Andy Serkis, Muhannad Bahair and Joplin Sibtain. After some intriguing chit chat about Season 1 and what’s to come next, Gilroy teased that production on Andor Season 2 is scheduled to end in August, with the show set to release on Disney+ the following August after post-production finishes. Fans were treated to an exclusive trailer showcasing a fair few scenes from the upcoming season which was met with huge applause after the screen went black.
Following the first section of the panel, Star Wars: The Acolyte was up next as showrunner Leslye Headland came on stage along with Star Wars’ first Wookiee Jedi, named Kelnacca. Focusing on the end of the High Republic era, The Acolyte will showcase a different perspective on the dark side, showing its beginnings. Joining Headland were cast members Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman and Joonas Suotamo. The exclusive teaser that was shown completely won over the crowd, and is surely one of the most exciting Star Wars productions in development. Jedi and lightsabers galore, fans were left buzzing for the Disney+ series set to release in 2024.
The Mandalorian followed on from The Acolyte with showrunners Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Rick Famuyiwa being the first to come on stage before Giancarlo Esposito, Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers and Emily Swallow joined them. They announced an exclusive early screening of The Mandalorian Season 3 Episode 7 for those attending Star Wars Celebration, which screened later in the evening at the ExCel Convention Center. There was plenty of chatter about what the show means to them and the impact that it’s had around the world, but also there was a substantial portion of the panel where they talked about the exciting return of Ahmed Best to the Star Wars world. During the panel, the on-stage cast and crew let fans be the first ones to screen part of the episode, airing the opening scene of Episode 7.
Coming off of their Oscars win for Everything Everywhere All At Once, the Daniels were among the list of directors who worked on the new Disney+ show Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. Jude Law was joined by his fellow Skeleton crew as young stars Ravi Cabot-Conyers, Kyriana Kratter and Robert Timothy Smith got just as excited as fans with the exclusive sneak peek that was shown to the audience. The trailer confirms that Law will be playing a force user, which shook up the room with excitement. It was a joy to see such young actors be so excited about Star Wars, as they revealed to the audience that they all got into Star Wars through their dads, which hit home for a lot of young fans.
The long-awaited Ahsoka show that was announced at a previous Star Wars Celebration came with a brand new trailer, release date and exclusive news about Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character. Coming to Disney+ in August 2023, Ahsoka is set after the fall of the Empire and will see the titular character exploring a new, mysterious threat in the galaxy. Winstead was announced to be playing Hera Syndulla from Star Wars Rebels. This reveal got one of the most passionate roars of the entire panel as it came out of nowhere and they paired the announcement with an amazing image on-stage and the official trailer for Ahsoka. Favreau and Filoni were joined by Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Mary Elizabeth Winstead who were the last TV-related guests of the jam-packed Lucasfilm showcase.
The atmosphere of Star Wars Celebrations’ opening panel will more than likely be unmatched as they came with a whole slew of sledgehammer announcements that were sure to get fans buzzing with excitement. However, more is still to come as Celebration has three more days left in London for this year’s European edition.
Photos by Kate Green/Getty Images for Disney
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