Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi may not be the Star Wars TV show you were looking for, but after having watched its entire first season, I can confidently say it's something the franchise desperately needed.

With several new Star Wars movies on the horizon without a cohesive plan in sight and a surprising lack of new live-action Disney+ series beyond Ahsoka Season 2, it seems like the galaxy far, far away's future looks brighter in animation.

Shows like The Bad Batch and Maul – Shadow Lord have proven there's room for more tonal experiments and expansions of the canon canvas, yet it's the Legends-like Star Wars: Visions formula that's produced the most striking tales starring Jedi, Sith, Rebels, and whatnot in years.

After a second short released as part of last year's Star Wars: Visions Vol. 3, Production I.G's The Ninth Jedi has evolved into an eight-episode anime series that's far outside what we've come to expect from the canon Star Wars timeline.

And yet, the traditional nature of its story and setting showcases what an icon Star Wars could be for younger generations if it looked forward more often than backward.

A well-calculated evolution

Back in 2021, The Ninth Jedi became a fan-favorite what-if Star Wars scenario with a first short (which you can watch for free on YouTube right now) set generations after the disappearance of the Jedi Order. It's a familiar setup, but crucially, one that doesn't invoke the Skywalker family name, the Republic, or the Empire.

At the same time, the show's approach to the Force, the Jedi, and the Sith doesn't collide with what we've already seen. It almost feels like a canon Star Wars story that's just set centuries into the galaxy's future. Even the visuals, which evoke an old-fashioned style as possible — despite some jarring bits of CG imagery — use the same language Lucasfilm veterans like Doug Chiang have developed over the decades.

The Ninth Jedi sticks to the few rules established by the two previous shorts, but also dreams slightly bigger to paint a richer canvas that doesn't always feel like a genuine part of George Lucas' original universe, which is almost necessary at this point to avoid stagnation.

There will no doubt be back-and-forth conversation about its place within the franchise, but such chatter is less interesting than dissecting what it means for how Disney and Lucasfilm approach the property moving forward.

Honoring the recent past

Interestingly, The Ninth Jedi borrows quite a lot from modern Star Wars entries the loud online types called unmitigated disasters: namely The Last Jedi and The Acolyte.

Lah Kara feels like the direct result of Rey's impact on a new generation of creatives and fans, and Lah Zhima – Kara's father – quickly goes from a missing sabersmith to a far more complex Jedi figure that lands close to Luke Skywalker's divisive role in Episode VIII. General Nawaam — the main villain — also makes for a memorable character that has more Kylo Ren (or The Stranger) than Darth Vader in them.

The nature of lightsaber-wielding warriors like the Jedi and Sith — both ancient concepts to the galaxy's common people — is also questioned. These are religions that, at least in their original shape, have gone extinct for a good reason.

While Kara and Jedi Knights like Margrave Juro — essentially the Obi-Wan Kenobi of this story — and Ethan fight to bring back the Order from the brink of extinction (again), it becomes evident there's no path forward for the guardians of peace and justice without some introspection. These shades of grey only deepen when lightsabers start to change colors, and unlikely heroes rise.

Over the course of this eight-episode season (with more teased but not confirmed), the Production I.G anime veterans Shunsuke Tada (director), Mitsuyasu Sakai (writer), and Kenji Kamiyama (supervising director) make a strong effort to bridge Star Wars' past and present, even if there was no real need to respect what had come before. The Ninth Jedi is its own thing, but not really.

It may be limiting for the Visions experiment — as many fans favor bolder swings as stylish and disruptive as The Duel — but ironically, that makes it a valuable endeavor for Lucasfilm as they navigate an uncertain future trying to conquer the big screen once again. How much classical Star Wars do we need in future projects? This show gives a very reasonable answer.

Star Wars for a new generation, even if the bones are old

Veteran Star Wars fans need to remember newcomers don't care about canon outside of stories meant to be connected. Instead, they're looking for captivating tales starring new characters who are fun to spend time with, and on that front, the first of the Star Wars: Visions shows (more are rumored to be in the works) is a resounding success.

On a surface level, there are enough new planets, spaceships, alien species, and factions in The Ninth Jedi to fuel an entire trilogy of movies, yet it's all put to good use over the course of eight breezy episodes which tell a complete story, just in case Season 2 isn't a possibility.

Thematically, it's also among the richest explorations of the Force, the Jedi, and a cycle of conflicts sparked by the need for more Star Wars forever and ever. Even if corporate needs are the main reason why creatives are still getting to tell stories set in a galaxy far, far away, the meta conversation found in these tales might help refresh and save Star Wars. Beyond that, it shows that Rian Johnson and Leslye Headland had the right idea, even if they didn't nail the execution.

Those who have been around for decades will spot and appreciate the tradition holding this all together, but even with a Death Star-like threat and reheated plot beats peppered throughout the journey, The Ninth Jedi has the pulse and patience to build new legends that deserve a moment in the spotlight.

The galaxy Kara is fighting for might look a little different from the one we know, but this is the most Star Wars-feeling Star Wars entry in quite some time.

Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi (full season) is now available to stream on Disney+ following its premiere on Aug. 5, 2026.

Disney+’s imaginative anime anthology series, "Star Wars: Visions", is getting a standalone expansion next month with "Star Wars: Visions Presents –The Ninth Jedi".

This 8-episode limited series is a continuation of the saga of Lah Kara, Margrave Juro, and their ragtag crew in the search for her kidnapped father. "Star Wars: Visions Presents – The Ninth Jedi" debuts on Disney+ on Aug. 5, 2026.

Fans were first introduced to the intriguing story in "Star Wars: Visions" Volume 1’s chapter titled "The Ninth Jedi", and now writer/director Kenji Kamiyama and his animation studio Production IG will revisit Kara’s world to elaborate more on the mythology behind lightsabers of different hues.

In the original 2021 episode, viewers met a bright Force-sensitive girl named Kara and her sabersmith father, Zhima, as they harvest Kyber Crystals to forge new lightsabers for Margrave Juro, the leader of an outer rim planet called Hy Izlan.

Juro is collecting worthy Jedi to help repopulate the Jedi Order, but evil Sith mercenaries are hiding within his candidates’ ranks. Kamiyama’s short initially presented the cool notion of lightsabers changing colors to reflect their users’ true links to the Force.

A direct sequel to Kamiyama's episode, "The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope," was delivered by anime master Naoyoshi Shiotani and premiered on Oct. 29, 2025, for "Star Wars: Visions" Volume 3. Lucasfilm's new show takes place shortly after the events seen in the two "Star Wars: Visions" shorts as Kara advances her training and searches for her father.

"Every time we finished one of the anthologies, the first conversation would be, 'God, I’d love to expand that story,'" James Waugh, Lucasfilm Senior V.P. and "Star Wars: Visions" executive producer, told TechRadar last year after the project was announced at Star Wars Celebration Japan.

"We love the shorts, but Kathy [Kennedy] heard that, and there was a moment to say, 'Let’s see what could happen if we expanded this.' That’s really where 'Visions Presents' comes from. If we could give a bigger canvas to paint on, what would we get? We’ve been so impressed with what Kamiyama and his Production IG team has delivered so far."

Directed by Shunsuke Tada and with Kenji Kamiyama acting as supervising director, "Star Wars: Visions Presents - The Ninth Jedi" arrives Aug. 5 on Disney+ and Hulu.

"Star Wars" and Casio G-Shock have teamed up to create a beautiful pair of "The Mandalorian and Grogu" themed wristwatches. This time-telling duo is a perfect match, presenting two stylish, unbreakable watches that symbolize the timeless bond between Big Mando and Baby Yoda.

The Mando-themed watch is called the GM2100-1ASW G-STEEL and costs $220. It has a stainless-steel casing designed to resemble the bounty hunter's iconic Beskar armor. The Grogu model is called the BA110YK-3ASW BABY-G and costs $130. Terrible watch naming conventions aside, it's a striking neon green to pay homage to Grogu, with the full resin casing keeping the price down.

Casio was kind enough to send us this pair of Star Wars timepieces to check out, so let's take a look

The Mandalorian model gleams like the notorious bounty hunter’s legendary Beskar steel armor and is crafted using a tough forged metal bezel and finished in a rugged texture. It's obviously shock resistant and can stand up to the most dangerous of missions on planet Earth. This is a handsome industrial-looking watch you can wear every day, yet it’s flashy enough for dress-up occasions.

Not to be outshined, Casio G-Shock’s Grogu model branded as the Baby-G comes in a distinctive bright neon-green hue in honor of Din Djarin’s little Force-wielding apprentice. It's a bit smaller and more playful than The Mandalorian release, but still features the same powerful shock-shielded quality and carries a brighter casual attitude that comes across as a far less formal accessory.

A special thank you to Casio for providing samples of these stunning "Star Wars" timepieces that are available for purchase now!

"Built to withstand the toughest conditions, from the Outer Rim to everyday adventures, G-SHOCK selected two pre-existing models for the campaign, the GM2100 and the BA100, that reflect the main characters," states the description.

"Each model comes equipped with a highly collectible officially licensed Bounty Hunter ID Card Watch Stand. Designed for fans and collectors, this innovative accessory folds completely flat to display a character-specific Bounty Hunter ID. Through integrated magnets, the card seamlessly transforms into a rigid, 3D watch stand, providing the perfect way to present and hold the timepiece when it is not being worn.”

Both the GM2100-1ASW G-STEEL and BA110YK-3ASW BABY-G watches are available to buy now from the Casio website for $220 and $130, respectively. You can watch The Mandalorian and Grogu in theaters now.

In December 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney live-streamed a much-talked-about "Investor Day" presentation. Along with her Marvel Studios counterpart Kevin Feige, then-Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced a slew of new projects to join Disney+ hit "The Mandalorian" (then nearing the end of its second season) in an impressive slate of "Star Wars" projects.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi", "Andor", "The Acolyte", "Ahsoka", "The Bad Batch" and "Star Wars: Visions" have all since made it to the screen (to varying degrees of success), while "Rangers of the New Republic", "Lando" and "Rogue Squadron" were either abandoned completely or cast into the Sarlacc pit better known as development hell.

But arguably the most intriguing project remained nameless and was little more than an aside. This "climactic story event" would be a theatrical release directed by Dave Filoni (who's since become president of Lucasfilm), and would wrap up storylines established in "The Mandalorian", " The Book of Boba Fett" and "Ahsoka".

This "Avengers"-style team-up, we believed, would be where the Imperial Remnant would get its backside kicked, before running off to hide in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy. Yes, we also knew they'd eventually go on to form the dastardly First Order, but that was a problem for another day.

THE PATH AHEAD CONTAINS "THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU" SPOILERS. CHOOSE WISELY IF YOU'RE YET TO SEE THE FILM.

Five-and-a-half years have now passed since Kennedy teased "Star Wars: The Climactic Event", and it's not even a dot on the horizon. "The Mandalorian and Grogu", now in theaters, was ideally placed to progress the story, but — despite a few Imperial entanglements early on — it's definitively not that movie. And in such an intriguing era of "Star Wars"' in-universe history, that feels like a hell of a waste.

It wouldn't have been proper to interrupt the Ewoks' party with a reality check, but — whisper it — the Empire was never going to go quietly after Emperor Palpatine's (temporary) demise in the bowels of the Death Star. Even the old, no-longer-canon Expanded Universe novels (now branded "Star Wars Legends") told stories of Grand Admiral Thrawn and other Imperial hangers-on making themselves a nuisance for Luke, Han, Leia, and co. So it was no surprise when history repeated itself in Lucasfilm's official "Star Wars" timeline. The Mandalorian was crossing paths with "Imps" from day one.

But these Imperial Remnants exist as a very different entity to the authoritarian regime that developed a penchant for blowing up entire planets or — perhaps even worse — crushing its enemies via the medium of relentless bureaucracy in "Andor". With the New Republic now in control, it's the Imperials who are the insurgents, a ragtag collection of warlords in need of leadership — a dark echo of the Rebel Alliance's early years.

A meeting of the Shadow Council in "The Mandalorian" season 3 episode "The Spies" (featuring the father of a certain General Hux) showed that the late Moff Gideon was just the tip of a very dodgy iceberg, while "Ahsoka"'s first season spent eight whole episodes bringing Thrawn back from exile to take his place as the Emperor's heir apparent.

In an interview with SFX magazine, "The Mandalorian and Grogu" writer/director Jon Favreau said that a fourth season of "The Mandalorian" — which he wrote scripts for, before it was abandoned in favor of the new film — "was teeing up what was happening moving into [the second season of] 'Ahsoka'. It was about Grand Admiral Thrawn and following the larger storyline [of this era of the Star Wars timeline]".

But if you've seen the movie, you'll know that Thrawn is conspicuous by his absence, sidelined in favor of a more standalone story. That said, "The Mandalorian and Grogu"'s opening act does see Din Djarin and his little green friend working for the New Republic, hunting down rogue Imperials to order on behalf of Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver).

Two members of the aforementioned Shadow Council are soon apprehended — one brought in warm, the other brought in cold — in what turns out to be the best segment of the movie.

Djarin is a bounty hunter at the top of his game, making full use of his Mandalorian box of tricks. Grogu, meanwhile, turns out to be a surprisingly effective foil. There are TIE Fighters, Stormtroopers with appalling aim, and at least two models of Imperial Walker, as the film riffs on some of the franchise's greatest hits, while continuing (all-too-briefly) the hunt for the Emperor's disciples. It's fun, fast-paced, and transports you to wretched hives of scum and villainy as only "Star Wars" can.

But as soon as Mando apprehends Imperial bad guy Lord Janu (Jonny Coyne), "The Mandalorian and Grogu" decides that the Empire aren't the main threat after all. Instead, its attentions shift to Jabba the Hutt's twin cousins, who unleash their bounty hunting muscle, Embo, after Mando double-crosses them to free Jabba's cage-fighting son, Rotta.

It feels like a strange decision — imagine an alternative cut of "Return of the Jedi" that rushes through all that annoying business about Darth Vader's redemption and the Death Star (y'know, the stuff with galactic implications), so we can all get back to having fun in Jabba's Palace. There's monsters galore, a chance to catch up with those cute Anzellans, and too much time watching Grogu slowly (but endearingly) nurse his surrogate dad back to health. All the while, you can't help feeling that the more exciting, big-screen worthy stories are happening in another corner of the galaxy.

There are a couple of important caveats we should mention here. Firstly, the writer and actor strikes of 2023 delayed productions throughout Hollywood, ultimately prompting Mando and Grogu's transfer to the big screen. Favreau has also said that he wanted "The Mandalorian and Grogu" to work as a standalone, to keep the movie accessible to newcomers.

That's an admirable aim — not everybody who goes to the theater has access to Disney+ — but surely it's safe to assume that, if you're going to watch a film about Baby Yoda and his armor-wearing chum, you're going to know that the Empire is/was bad news — especially as the state of play is explained via a title card at the start of the film. Indeed, all of these elements are undoubtedly better known than the movie's nominal villains. The Hutt twins' only previous appearances came in two episodes of "The Book of Boba Fett", which debuted more than four years ago.

That's the other problem with "The Mandalorian and Grogu"'s reluctance to face that Empire-shaped bantha in the room. By the time "Ahsoka" season 2 picks up, Grand Admiral Thrawn's story in 2027, more time will have passed since that show's first outing than elapsed between the "I am your father" revelation in "The Empire Strikes Back" and its resolution in "Return of the Jedi". This arc is advancing slower than a glacier on Hoth, and Mando apprehending a couple of mid-level Imps on the big screen doesn't really fill the gap.

If the story of the Imperial Remnant is as important as Disney and Lucasfilm have made out — and a big enough deal to tantalize all those investors back in 2020 — it surely deserves a conclusion in the not-too-distant future. "Avengers: Endgame" delivered on the promise of a decade of movies, but crucially, it rarely lost momentum en route to that final showdown with Thanos.

If "Star Wars" doesn't resolve its Imperial Remnant issues soon, inertia and apathy might just unravel this intriguing period in the "Star Wars" timeline.

'The Mandalorian and Grogu' is in theaters now. All three seasons of "The Mandalorian" are on Disney+.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" is exactly what you expect from it: Baby Yoda melting hearts through his cutesy interactions with the feisty (and funny) Anzellans, Mando doing a lot of brooding, and some space stuff happening in between.

The film doesn't really move the needle for Grogu and Din Djarin's narrative in any meaningful way, but it at least offers an intriguing origin story for one interesting character — Rotta the Hutt (played by Jeremy Allen White).

Spoilers for "The Mandalorian and Grogu" lie ahead.

Appearance-wise, Rotta is impossible to miss. Unlike the other lousy lumps in his family, he stands out for his shredded and beefy physique. Of course, the internet reacted in the way you would imagine when pictures of him first surfaced, as The Cut asked the real question, "Is Jabba the Hutt's son hot now?" We're not here to judge anyone's taste in oversized, muscular slugs and meat slapping…

Rotta isn't an entirely new character in a galaxy far, far away. He was introduced as a baby in the animated series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars", where he was affectionately referred to as Stinky. Judging by the general living conditions in this universe, it's probably an accurate nickname for him, too.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" picks up in the post-Empire future, where the jacked Rotta works as a gladiator and fights in an arena. He isn't bashing other alien creatures for the praise and giggles, though; he's trying to earn his freedom from the despicable Janu (Jonny Coyne). The way in which Mando (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu figure in his arc is that they're working for the New Republic, which strikes a dodgy deal with the Hutt Twins. The agreement is simple: Mando rescues and brings back Rotta to the Hutts, and they'll provide the details of who the pesky Imperial warlord they're looking for is.

It's a bit of a non-story, really, as it's fairly obvious who the warlord is, so why there's a need to cut a deal is anybody's guess here. Regardless, when Mando and Grogu speak to Rotta, they discover he's not like his father, Jabba, at all. He's kind to Grogu, offering the tiny and fluffy creature something he values more than the teachings of the Jedi: food. Rotta also doesn't want to live a life of crime, nor does he want to associate himself with the Twins, who are two-faced and end up double-crossing the New Republic. What a shocker…

Several convoluted plot threads later, and it all culminates in Rotta and Mando joining forces to take down the Twins and save the day. In the end, Rotta pledges his allegiance to the New Republic, deciding that instead of running from fate, he'll rewrite his own destiny as a hero for the forces of good. Cue the upbeat score and raise your lightsaber to the sky.

Rotta marks a departure from how a Hutt is traditionally portrayed in the "Star Wars" Universe. Normally, they're showcased as greedy and untrustworthy antagonists who'll do whatever they can to gain and maintain power, including smuggling and slavery. Here, though, Rotta demonstrates that he doesn't have to walk – or slither – down the same path as his father or the Twins. He chooses good when it would be much easier to fall into the same trappings he grew up around.

His story oddly mirrors Luke Skywalker's, actually. Both of them discover their fathers are capable of great evil (don't give us that "Darth Vader is misunderstood" nonsense; he was part of Order 66 and killed the Younglings). However, the true test of their mettle is the temptation of unadulterated power. It would be much easier for them to give in and join the family business and repeat the cycle, but they reject it.

Where Rotta has it tougher, though, is that he's completely alone. Luke has his sister, Leia, and a solid support system to help him see reason, while Rotta is isolated, save for the other Hutts, who are all lowlifes and thieves. Add everyone else's preconceptions of him, based on how the rest of his kin act, and we can see what a tough and lonely road Rotta had to slither down. It showcases his character, which is built from tremendous integrity, incredible willpower, and empathy.

At the same time, it's clear that there's a deep sadness in him when he sees Mando with Grogu. More than a few times, he commends their relationship, reminding Grogu that he has a good dad and needs to appreciate him. Again, this highlights how "Star Wars" is literally all about daddy issues, and everything that goes wrong is because of it.

Rotta's story is far more interesting than anything Din Djarin and Grogu get up to in this movie. In an age in which every character needs to have some edginess or shadow of darkness in them, this Hutt is the contrary. He's kind, honourable, and heroic — like a slug version of Captain America. He's a breath of fresh air in a universe that hasn't done such an excellent job of introducing likable protagonists in recent times.

Leaving "The Mandalorian and Grogu", you can't help but be curious about Rotta's future. His story is far from finished, and he has the opportunity to rewrite the Hutt history in "Star Wars". Sure, his brethren didn't do themselves any favours with their questionable behaviour, but Rotta could be the one to prove that no one is defined by their past. This franchise has always been about second chances, so it's time for him to grasp his and become a symbol of optimism. A new hope, if you will.

Alternatively, maybe everybody just wants to see the jacked Rotta knock around a few Stormtroopers. Who needs a lightsaber when you have those guns on your arms?! Give us a trilogy of Rotta-led movies, you cowards!

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" is out now on the big screen, while "The Mandalorian" is available to watch on Disney+.

The Mandalorian & Grogu kicks off Star Wars' return to cinemas on May 22, and it'll likely have casual moviegoers wondering who that metal hat-wearing bounty hunter is that's pursuing Din Djarin and the little fella we still love to call Baby Yoda. His name is Embo, and he's already got quite the history in the Star Wars universe.

While The Mandalorian & Grogu isn't the beginning of a new Star Wars era, it marks the first big-screen project exploring the long 30-year gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. And sure, a bunch of Star Wars TV shows — as well as books, comics, and games — have expanded on the period. Still, there are more stories to be told in that space, and Jon Favreau's theatrical follow-up to The Mandalorian Season 3 is aiming to tell an old-fashioned Star Wars adventure.

As our Mandalorian protagonist and his little green sidekick take on more Imperial warlords, now as freelancers working for the New Republic, it seems the baddies will be annoyed enough to enlist Embo's help. You might not know him, but he's been an iconic 'Glup Shitto' for over 15 years, so here's everything you need to know about The Mandalorian & Grogu's main villain.

Embo's homeworld, species, skills, and equipment explained

Embo is a Kyuzo male bounty hunter. The Kyuzo are a humanoid species native to the planet of Phatrong, located in the Outer Rim of the galaxy. They're known for their fast reflexes and resilience, which makes them notable fighters with a strong sense of honor.

Based on his previous appearances, Embo is a stoic figure who rarely loses track of his prey. When he speaks, he does so in his native language. He's tall, intimidating, and remarkably focused on the job, yet he's shown remorse at times. When it comes to his most defining skills, his acrobatics and overall agility come to mind. Even unarmed, he was a formidable opponent who even gave Jedi Knights trouble during the Clone Wars.

Another defining aspect of Embo is his preference for traditional weaponry over blasters and other weapons. His primary weapon – at least in past appearances – is a wide bowcaster.

More surprising is his metallic hat, which can be used as a shield and like a (deadly) frisbee (much like Kung Lao in Mortal Kombat). He also had a pet anooba (a canine-like mammal) named Marrok, but the companion we've seen in The Mandalorian & Grogu's trailers is likely a different one (unless Marrok's passing before the Battle of Jakku – as revealed in the Aftermath: Empire's End novel – is retconned).

Embo's history during the Clone Wars and the Imperial era

Embo's on-screen presence is (so far) limited to the second Clone Wars animated show, with his debut happening in Season 2 Episode 17 'Bounty Hunters', which happened on the colorful world of Felucia. There, he and other bounty hunters – alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano – protected a village from a gang of pirates. During the ensuing battle, Embo was heavily wounded.

His freelancing days during the Clone Wars also included brief scuffles with clone troopers, clone commandos – including Clone Force 99 (aka The Bad Batch) – and other bounty hunters.

Working for various crime syndicates, corporations, and even Count Dooku, he often crossed paths with the Jedi and Naboo senator Padmé Amidala. On Scipio, he managed to fight off even Anakin Skywalker himself, walked away, and informed Darth Sidious of the success of his mission to scare Baron Rush Clovis into leaving the InterGalactic Banking Clan's vault world.

Near the end of the Clone Wars, Embo also worked with Boba Fett's team. At some point, the former Sith assassin Asajj Ventress hired them to help with the rescue of Quinlan Vos, the Jedi Master she fell in love with. The mission was a failure, but the team survived an encounter with Count Dooku (aka Darth Tyranus), an impressive feat by all accounts.

Embo's activities during the Imperial era are mostly unknown. He reappeared after the Battle of Endor to collect a bounty on Lando Calrissian, but the resourceful New Republic general managed to capture him.

Somehow, he regained his freedom and traveled to Jakku, during the big final showdown between the Empire and the New Republic, to capture Zabrak bounty hunter Jas Emari, who'd been working for the Republic for some time. Embo and the rest of the team eventually turned against Mercurial Swift, the bounty hunter who recruited them, in exchange for full pardons from the New Republic.

Embo after the Battle of Jakku

As promised, Embo and the rest of Jas Emari's crew were pardoned with the help of Sinjir Rath Velus, Jas' good friend and an ex-Imperial who became Chancellor Mon Mothma's adviser. For a few more years, Embo worked for the New Republic along with Emari and her team, likely targeting the Imperial remnants as the new galactic government was firmly established.

By 9 ABY (after the Battle of Yavin), however, Embo ran out of New Republic funding and retired from bounty hunting, at least for a while, settling on Felucia as a farmer. By the time The Mandalorian & Grogu begins, it seems he's returned to the old profession, hired by Imperial warlords or the Hutts to take care of Din Djarin and Grogu.

Will that be his final mistake? We're about to find out...

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" is coming to our galaxy on Friday, May 22, in time for Memorial Day Weekend, and one of the coolest callbacks to this spinoff of Disney+'s "The Mandalorian" is seeing Mando's Razor Crest gunship appearing again in trailers. But how has Mando's iconic ship been resurrected from the dead?

Fans will recall that Din Djarin’s bulky silver machine, the survivor of many daring missions, was destroyed in "The Mandalorian" season 2 when Gideon unleashed a lethal turbo laser blast from his command cruiser. There was a reason why that chapter was called "The Tragedy."

Now we’ve got the rest of the story with the release of this new clip that shows Sigourney Weaver's Colonel Ward offering Mando a souped-up new spaceship that bears a striking resemblance to his old ST-70 Razor Crest in exchange for accepting a bounty card mission to hunt down a mysterious Imperial renegade named Commander Coin.

The original Razor Crest set was actually used for the filming; it simply was given a makeover and repurposed with a different backstory as belonging to someone working for the Empire who just happened to have the same ST-70 model as Din Djarin’s former star-hopping home.

"It's a different vehicle,' director Jon Favreau told Adam Savage in a recent Tested video. "This is a perfectly restored one that was part of a collection of an Imperial that they caught. They confiscated. We went through it and made it like it was a stock restoration. So if you look, especially in the cargo area and the paint job, you’ll see it’s different. But it looks like he does the hotrod version, which is like rip everything out to make it lighter. That's George’s [Lucas] thing, too. So much of this is hotrod culture. Make it go faster."

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" blasts into theaters on May 22, 2026. You can catch Mando's previous adventures on Disney+.

Poor Maul, the Dathomirian Zabrak formerly known as Darth Maul. All those promises to reap the benefits of the dark side didn't materialise as planned, eh? Yet, his lust for absolute power and control only masked what was really happening beneath the surface.

"Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord" picks up after the Clone Wars as the Galactic Empire puts a chokehold on the galaxy. Order 66 has been executed, and life looks about as miserable as any average day in 2026. Maul (voiced by Sam Witwer) operates in the shadows, rebuilding his criminal empire and taking revenge against his enemies after renouncing his Sith title. Despite building up a formidable crew of thugs, he still seeks an apprentice – in this case, it's the Jedi Padawan Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon).

The burning problem is, why is Maul even bothering with an apprentice since he said sayonara to the dark side? Surely, the Rule of Two should no longer be a concern for him. You could argue that he requires someone as powerful as he is at his side to take down Darth Sidious, aka Sheev Palpatine, and the Galactic Empire, but the truth is there's something deeper at play: daddy issues.

It's important to take a step back and understand Maul's backstory here. While the different "Star Wars" media tweaks elements here and there, this is what's known about the character. Maul is the product of a union between a Nightbrother and a Nightsister. As per tradition, the father is executed after their child's birth, so Maul never had a chance to play catch or go to a ball game with his dad. To make matters worse, Sidious took Maul under his wing as his apprentice at a very young age (how young depends on the story being told), teaching him all about the dark side of the Force and how to become a fascist in 10 easy steps.

The malevolent Sidious put Maul through the wringer, torturing and manipulating him on his path to becoming a fearsome Sith Lord. Even so, Sidious is the only father figure that Maul has ever known in his life, so it's understandable that his values and worldviews may be skewed. It's like being raised by Hannibal Lecter; chances are, you won't be a vegan.

In Maul's mind, the natural order would have involved him growing from apprentice to master, then taking on his own protégé to corrupt and mold. This mirrors the journey of life... maybe without all the deceit and backstabbing, though some families may disagree. Instead of throwing a ball around in the backyard, Sidious taught Maul how to decapitate his enemies. The father passes down the knowledge to the son, then the son to the next generation, and so forth.

Maul's biggest mistake, though, was viewing Sidious as Mufasa when he's actually Scar. Maul was always expendable, being played like a violin by the Sith for their own sinister purposes.

After Obi-Wan Kenobi sliced the Zabrak in half in "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace", Maul spent years trying to rebuild himself – figuratively and literally. What hurt deeper than this pain and loss to the Jedi was knowing that Sidious had replaced him immediately. Sidious didn't miss a beat in finding a new apprentice, while Maul was still alive and maybe hoping his master would look for and help him.

The disappointment hit Maul hard, but he bounced back. He received a few upgrades on his body, his memories returned, and he reunited with his brother, Savage Opress, to embark on a new, lucrative life of crime. Maul took Savage as an apprentice, but this was more than just a big brother taking care of his younger sibling. This translated into a replacement father dynamic, where Maul taught Savage the ways of the Sith, much like Sidious had done for him years before. Despite them being family, there was a firm hierarchy in place, as Maul remained above Savage in the pecking order, and both brothers accepted it.

This all went to hell in a handbasket after Sidious killed Savage and defeated Maul in combat. It wasn't only the death of his brother that Maul needed to contend with, but also the soul-crushing betrayal of his "father", Sidious. He needed to come to terms with the fact that his idol, his role model, was a scumbag who never cared about him. This wasn't just a case of a father saying he's going out for smokes and milk and never coming back; this was the father telling the son he's worthless and means nothing to him. Ouch.

Now, with Devon in "Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord", Maul hopes to repeat the master-apprentice dynamic with her as he did with Savage. He believes they can take down the Empire together, and he can lead her to a better future. However, this can only happen with him as her master, not Jedi Master Eeko-Dio-Daki (Dennis Haysbert), who is training Devon.

This isn't a spoiler, since "Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord" takes place canonically before the events of "Star Wars Rebels", but Maul tries this approach again with Ezra Bridger. It demonstrates that all he has ever wanted is someone by his side as his apprentice. His own Mini-Me to do double-bladed lightsaber tricks with. Considering Maul's final fate in this universe, psychologists would have a field day analysing his compulsive behaviour and desire for an apprentice.

Maul possesses serious attachment issues, with most of them stemming from a deep-rooted feeling that he isn't good enough – partially because he never had a father, but also due to how Sidious poisoned his mind during his formative years. Initially, Maul views himself as having failed Sidious, hence his master moving on without him.

Over time, though, this grows into resentment and hatred because of his abandonment. Regardless of whatever's happening inside that horned head, it's clear that he isn't addressing his problems in a healthy manner by thinking an apprentice will solve all his woes. But hey, at least Maul didn't turn to the Manosphere for answers, right?

The reality is, Maul never needed an apprentice; he needed a good therapist. It goes to show that even in space, daddy issues are still a problem.

"Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord" is out now on Disney+.

Remember "Meet Joe Black", Brad Pitt's remake of '30s drama "Death Takes a Holiday"? What about Bruce Willis's military drama "The Siege"? Or even Adam Sandler's American football comedy "The Waterboy"? They're rarely talked about now, but for a brief period in fall 1998, these three movies — along with Pixar's "A Bug's Life" — came to unexpected prominence in the lives of "Star Wars" fans.

With anticipation for "The Phantom Menace", George Lucas's first big-screen excursion to the Star Wars galaxy in 16 years, comfortably exceeding fever pitch, these films provided an unlikely route back to a galaxy far, far away. Knowing that the first "Episode I" teaser was attached to prints across the States, many "Star Wars" fans bought tickets to these Earth-bound movies, watched a certain red-hot trailer, and then walked out before the feature presentation had even begun.

That promo also taught Hollywood — and movie fans around the planet — that the internet could be the place to go to watch preview videos from upcoming releases. The second trailer, released in Apple's QuickTime format a few months later, would be downloaded a million times within 24 hours of its launch.

Yes, it's fair to say that the generations of moviegoers who'd queued around the block to watch the original trilogy in theaters or on VHS — as well as embracing the Special Edition theatrical re-releases in 1997 — were kind of excited about Darth Vader: The Early Years.

How Disney and Lucasfilm must be hoping they can recapture similar excitement ahead of "The Mandalorian and Grogu"'s multiplex debut this month. It may be easier said than done, however, especially with a report in Deadline suggesting that the movie is tracking for the worst opening weekend in "Star Wars" history.

It's now almost seven years since "The Rise of Skywalker" brought "Star Wars"'s most active period in theaters — five films in four years — to a disappointing close. But although the box-office returns of JJ Abrams' threequel and the previous year's "Solo: A Star Wars Story" suggested diminishing returns — then Disney boss Bob Iger famously admitted it was "a little too much, too fast" — the studio's movie strategy had paid big dividends up to that point. No film in history has made more money in the States than "The Force Awakens", while "Episode VII" and follow-up "The Last Jedi" sit at fourth and fifth, respectively, in the all-time list of the US's biggest ever opening weekends.

Related: 10 years into the Disney 'Star Wars' era: Grading the ups and downs of a galaxy far, far away

"Star Wars" was, at it always had been, a franchise totally at home on the big screen, but something changed in November 2019. Barely a month ahead of "The Rise of Skywalker"'s debut, Disney launched its own streaming platform, Disney+, and "The Mandalorian" was the headline attraction. It was something of a shot in the dark for a franchise whose TV output had previously been limited to animation — for all its highly acclaimed brilliance, even "The Clone Wars" remained the domain of kids and hardcore fans.

"We were making the show when the sequels were on the big screen," "The Mandalorian" creator and "The Mandalorian and Grogu" writer/director Jon Favreau told SFX magazine. "Nobody expected anything for us. We were small screen, shorter schedule, smaller budget, and we had to find a way to make 'Star Wars' for a new medium."

"The Mandalorian", of course, turned out to be the right show at the right time, as Din Djarin and his little green friend, then known affectionately as Baby Yoda, became instant superstars across the world — even in countries that were still (officially, at least) waiting for Disney+ to boot up.

As Disney and Lucasfilm dragged their heels over a new movie, the streamer subsequently became the place to go for new "Star Wars" "content, with "The Book of Boba Fett", "Obi-Wan Kenobi", "Andor", "Ahsoka", "The Acolyte" and "Skeleton Crew" all following in "The Mandalorian"'s footsteps, to varying degrees of success. In the last six-and-a-half years, there have been more hours of live-action "Star Wars" TV than 11 movies had generated in the previous four decades.

The problem is, the Disney+ years may have shifted perspectives so much that "Star Wars" now feels like a TV franchise. And while there are numerous examples of TV shows finding their way onto the big screen (notably "Star Trek", "The Simpsons", and "The X-Files"), they rarely make a big impression at the box office. Even "Star Trek Into Darkness", the most lucrative of the 13 big-screen final frontier adventures to date, failed to make the top 10 earners of 2013.

Disney executives will surely also be concerned by the performance of the underrated "The Marvels", which lifted two of its three leads from Marvel Cinematic Universe TV shows, and is by some distance the least lucrative MCU movie to date.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" now faces the not-insignificant task of convincing fans that a pair of characters they fell in love with on the small screen are worthy of a one-off theater ticket purchase — a challenge made even more challenging by the fact that everyone knows the movie will land on Disney+ in a few months.

And, unlike "Star Wars "'s previous big-screen comebacks in 1999 and 2015, it's not as if we've been waiting a decade or more for our next instalment. It's barely three years since Mando and Grogu settled down on Nevarro at the end of season 3, granted a happy ending that was the antithesis of "The Empire Strikes Back"'s famous cliffhanger.

A fourth season would have been gratefully received, but it's not like everyone was on tenterhooks to find out what happened to the duo next. In fact, the focus had arguably shifted to the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn and the escalating threat of various Imperial Remnants, stories we now know will be picked up in "Ahsoka" season 2.

Favreau has spoken of his intention to up the scale of the TV show, shooting his movie on IMAX to ensure it feels like an event. He's also added more aliens, filmed on physical sets (most of the TV show was made against digital backgrounds), and created roles for Hollywood royalty in the form of Sigourney Weaver and Martin Scorsese. But will that be a big enough draw?

On the flip side, with the Skywalker Saga over, Darth Maul headlining a brilliant TV show of his own, and the proposed Rey New Jedi Order movie seemingly trapped in development hell, the Mandalorian and Grogu may now be the biggest stars on the Star Wars docket.

Baby Yoda has a proven track record of shifting toys, while the man under the helmet, Pedro Pascal, has conveniently been elevated to the Hollywood A-list since "The Mandalorian"'s debut, largely thanks to "The Last of Us" and "The Fantastic Four: First Steps".

It's not quite Han/Luke/Leia triumvirate being brought out of franchise retirement to tempt back those original Gen X fans who'd been left disillusioned by the prequel trilogy, but who knows? Maybe they are the best way to convince younger fans weaned on the TV shows that — guess what — "Star Wars" does movies too.

Whichever way you look at it, there's a significant amount of pressure on "The Mandalorian and Grogu", especially after "The Acolyte" and "Skeleton Crew" struggled to find an audience. But if those pessimistic Hollywood predictions about a weak opening come to pass? Well, as Yoda was so fond of reminding Obi-Wan Kenobi, there is another hope.

For the 2027 release "Starfighter", Lucasfilm is taking a completely different tack. For the first time, this is a "Star Wars" movie headlined by an A-lister who's already made it big elsewhere, as "Project Hail Mary" leading man Ryan Gosling (a man with a proven track record in outer space) engages the hyperdrive to travel from Tau Ceti to a galaxy far, far away. Director Shawn Levy has also had big-screen mega-hits of his own, most notably 2024's "Deadpool & Wolverine".

This feels like a "Star Wars" movie and would arguably have been a safer bet to bring the veteran franchise back to multiplexes. And you have to hope that at least one of these films is a major success because, speaking as someone who grew up repeat-viewing the original trilogy on VHS, there really is nothing quite like watching "Star Wars" on a very big screen.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" is in theaters (not TV screens) from May 22. Need to catch up on the show first? Check it out on Disney+

Pedro Pascal suits up as Din Djarin, and the animatronic Grogu receives extra grease for his tiny joints one more time in "The Mandalorian and Grogu", which releases this Friday (May 22). It remains uncertain if this is the last ride for the "Star Wars" version of Adam Sandler's "Big Daddy" in space, but even if it isn't, it might very well be a case of milking a thala-siren dry here.

In this new movie, the Galactic Empire is no more. Emperor Palpatine has been sent to the great big Sith graveyard in the dumpster — until future movies retcon this plot point — and it's a better tomorrow. Despite the cause for celebration, that doesn't mean all is well in the New Republic, as there are still a few bad seeds running amok and practicing basic thuganomics. So the Mandalorian bounty hunter and his big-eared sidekick get roped into fighting the good fight.

Does the plot for "The Mandalorian and Grogu" make canonical sense and slot into the wider universe's timeline? Yes. Does it also sound like any old excuse to revisit two beloved characters from "Star Wars"? Absolutely. Should it be a theater release? Probably not. But the bigger question is, should it exist at all?

It's been three years since the third season of "The Mandalorian" concluded. The finale provides the perfect conclusion to the story, as Djarin adopts Grogu and they move into a cosy cabin on Nevarro. After all they have been through, this is the happily ever after they both deserve. But it isn't. “It only felt like the ending of a particular chapter," Pascal told Empire, while new "Star Wars" head honcho Dave Filoni touted "The Mandalorian and Grogu" as the beginning of a new era.

Perhaps it is. Perhaps it isn't. There hasn't been a "Star Wars" film in theatres since 2019's divisive "The Rise of Skywalker", and "The Mandalorian and Grogu" appeared to be a safe bet for the franchise's triumphant return to cinema. However, it doesn't seem like an overwhelming victory lap by any stretch of the imagination.

At the time of writing, the movie's main trailer has roughly 11 million views on YouTube. Compare this to other upcoming U.S. summer blockbusters like "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" (31 million), "The Odyssey (41 million), and "Supergirl" (25 million), and it's clear that "The Mandalorian and Grogu" doesn't exactly have people clicking to see what it's all about or dying to revisit a galaxy far, far away.

This is "Star Wars"; just the fact that this film belongs to this prestigious universe should have people running — not walking — to theaters. Yet this doesn't have that big event feeling. It's muted by current-day standards.

Under the trailer, a user comments, "Wow, I wish I felt anything." That's the larger issue rather than the concerning marketing statistics. Those who have seen the promotional material aren't exactly glowing in praise for Djarin and Baby Yoda's latest adventure. To be fair, it's a stale trailer, recycling the same tired jokes and cutesy interactions between the pair from before. Nothing is original here. It's a yawn crusted in CGI. Worse, it comes across as more "Star Wars" for the sake of it — a problem the franchise has faced too often in recent times.

Cycle back to season 3 for a moment. While "The Mandalorian" finale wraps up the show's storyline in a neat bow, the season isn't fondly remembered as the best. A quick glance at the Rotten Tomatoes scores and reviews demonstrates a consensus that the show ran out of steam and drifted away from what made it fresh and appealing in the first place.

Sure, there might be a temptation to right the wrongs and give it another shot, but it's often best to leave well enough alone in these circumstances. Maybe revisit the property in 10 or 15 years and tug firmly on those nostalgia strings to squeeze out whatever sentiment might still be there. Anything less is playing with fire. Yet, whether it was through the original plans for a fourth season or movie, Disney and Lucasfilm refused to be done here, which could be to their own detriment.

Another major problem, which is out of Disney and Lucasfilm's hands, is the Pedro Pascal fatigue engulfing the world at present. The actor has experienced an extraordinary rise to fame, with "The Mandalorian" playing a massive part in it. Hollywood gravitated toward him and offered up all the juicy roles on a silver platter. From "The Last of Us" to "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" and everything in between, you can't escape Pascal nowadays. He's everywhere. He's oversaturated.

And sure, he's brilliant, but it's completely natural for audiences to feel this particular way about a performer. How can you ever miss someone who's never really gone? As with any actor, Pascal requires a good break from big projects to give him and the audience some breathing space. Unfortunately, the upcoming "The Mandalorian and Grogu" and "Avengers: Doomsday" won't allow for this to happen. Instead, it'll be more eyerolls and exclamations of, "Oh, look. It's him again!"

This could all be conjecture, though. Maybe "The Mandalorian and Grogu" is a masterpiece and set to be the biggest hit of 2026. Maybe it takes the story to exciting and unexpected heights, forcing everyone to demand that Djarin and Grogu usurp the Skywalkers as the new faces of the franchise. Maybe Pedro Pascal is what's needed to bring the whole world together to heal once and for all. Maybe not.

Knowing what we do, however, it's all too easy to be cynical at this point. While the animated part of the "Star Wars" Universe continues to churn out excellence, such as the dark and fantastic "Maul – Shadow Lord", the live-action front limps along with uncertainty of where it's going. No one asked for another season of "The Mandalorian", so it seems even more bizarre to greenlight "The Mandalorian and Grogu" in retrospect. Regardless, may the Force be with it.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" flies into theatres on May 21. All three seasons of "The Mandalorian" are on Disney+.

Let’s be honest here, and no disrespect to venerable family board games, but Monopoly is kind of boring. There, we said it. Oh sure, it's iconic — the real estate-hoarding classic has been with us since 1903, when it was called "The Landlord Game" — but have you ever actually enjoyed a game of it?

Behold the potential antidote to Monopoly ennui in the form of Ubisoft's new "Star Wars"-themed spinoff release, "Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs Villains." This new twist on a time-worn game could recalibrate your thoughts on the 90-year-old land acquisition diversion when it lands on PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 1/2 and Xbox Series X|S on June 11, 2026.

No, this isn’t Monopoly’s first venture into the galaxy far, far away, as a basic tabletop "Star Wars" edition came out in 1996, followed by a video game adaptation in 1997. However, this latest incarnation has some sensational digital magic attached that has piqued our interest.

"Assemble your team, build your roster of iconic 'Star Wars' characters, and battle with your friends and family for control of the galaxy as you move across storied planets and locations," states the official description.

"Choose from a wide array of 'Star Wars' heroes and villains, each with their own unique abilities. Whether you're teaming up with Luke Skywalker or unleashing Darth Vader, every match is packed with team strategy, surprises, and classic 'Star Wars' moments. No two battles unfold the same way; the fate of your team is yours to shape!"

Based on the trailer and gameplay overview, the game allows teams of two or three to join forces on and offline to take control of the Monopoly board, using specific character attributes and skills found within the greater "Star Wars" canon.

Something called "Dynamic Go Events" promises to infuse an air of unpredictability into the action with fun moments that can "alter the deal” significantly. Plus, thrilling cinematic clips will help bind players to the "Star Wars" franchise while acquiring their "properties."

We know you all were really hoping for EA to deliver "Battlefront 3" or Quantic Dream to accelerate "Star Wars Eclipse" instead of a Monopoly crossover, but while you wait for those upcoming Star Wars games, this new "Star Wars Monopoly" just might be the way to address your lack of faith in that moldy old family game night favorite.

"Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs Villains" launches for PC, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 1/2, and Xbox Series X|S on June 11, 2026.

Lucasfilm Games is hard at work coordinating with various publishers and developers to craft all sorts of new games set in the galaxy far, far away, but Star Wars: Galactic Racer’s announcement caught everyone off guard in the best possible way. There’s no Force to rely on here, only quick reflexes.

It’s a new era inside and outside the Star Wars universe, which means this spiritual successor of sorts to the previous Racer games — which were all about podracing — needed new tricks and substantial features that could set it apart from the competition. Thankfully, it seems that Fuse Games (a studio started by Burnout veterans) perfectly knew how to shake things up while retaining the speed, danger, and raw excitement of the older Star Wars racing titles. Now this is podracing!

As we march into a new era for Star Wars games defined by more genre-specific pitches and a more varied pool of creative talent, it can be a bit hard to keep track of all the games currently in development, so don’t forget to regularly take a look at our list of every upcoming Star Wars game announced and in the works.

When is Star Wars: Galactic Racer coming out?

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is set to launch on October 6, 2026.

How do we know this? Because some poor soul accidentally uploaded a pre-order infographic to the Steam page. Whoopsie daisy. Not long after that snafu, Secret Mode and Fuse Games confirmed the release date with an official press release.

With a late 2025 reveal during the last Game Awards ceremony, Lucasfilm Games, publisher Secret Mode, and developer Fuse Games had quickly confirmed the plan is to launch Star Wars: Galactic Racer before 2026 ends, so this all tracks with expectations too.

What platforms is Star Wars: Galactic Racer launching on?

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is set to launch on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Windows) via Steam and the Epic Games Store.

As we approach the tail-end of this generation of consoles, big-budget game projects like this one have left last-gen machines behind. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, the team behind Star Wars: Galactic Racer aims to deliver cutting-edge visuals at high speeds, and while we wouldn’t rule out a Nintendo Switch 2 port at a later date, nothing has been promised on that front yet.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer trailers

Thankfully, there wasn’t an extremely long wait between Star Wars: Galactic Racer’s big reveal trailer and a second one featuring a closer look at the gameplay and more of its racers, including a couple of podracing legends.

We also got the release date trailer on April 30, showing off some more gameplay and all the exclusive racers and skins that come with the deluxe edition.

Watch all the trailers released so far below:

What type of racing game is Star Wars: Galactic Racer?

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is a highly competitive but casual-friendly arcade racer in the style of the two previous Star Wars podracing games released over 20 years ago: Episode I – Racer (1999) and Racer Revenge (2002). The key difference is that more vehicle classes — and not just podracers — are allowed in this new era of galaxy-wide racing: land speeders, the smaller speeder bikes, and even the new skim speeders all compete against the podracers from the olden days.

Players are introduced to the Galactic League — “an unsanctioned racing circuit born in the lawless Outer Rim” — through a single-player campaign with a traditional narrative that’s a main part of the package. We can also look forward to online, player-versus-player multiplayer modes that support cross-platform play across consoles and PC for up to 12 players. Ride customization is confirmed, too, but we haven’t seen the system in action yet.

Though veteran gamers will think of Burnout (developer Fuse Games was founded by Criterion Games veterans after all) almost instantly, Galactic Racer seems to be using lots of ideas from Evolution Studios’ MotorStorm series. That is, there’s a focus on the unpredictable racing and carnage that comes from the mix of different vehicle classes and off-road racing versus well-defined circuits. Of course, “takedowns” of sorts are part of the moment-to-moment mechanics, meaning that you can just take out foes by force as you try to conquer the top of the leaderboards.

When and where does Star Wars: Galactic Racer take place?

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is set in the New Republic era, right after the fall of the Empire, who had outlawed podracing and other dangerous vehicular competitions led and organized by criminal syndicates and Outer Rim governments.

With the Empire finished and the New Republic struggling to maintain order across so many inhabited star systems, “gambling, entertainment, and glory” fuel the fires of an underworld on the rise. While other Star Wars stories (such as The Mandalorian) are focused on the remaining threats to the galaxy and difficult politics, Galactic Racer is all about the lawless frontier where the people demand the return of high-speed racing.

So far, five planets have been shown in the trailers and promotional materials: Jakku, Tatooine, Sentinel One, Lantaana, and Ando Prime. While Star Wars fans are familiar with the first two, the toxic volcanic planet Sentinel One and the lush Lantaana were created specifically for this game. Ando Prime, meanwhile, is a returning snow world from the original Episode I – Racer.

Who are the new and returning characters in Star Wars: Galactic Racer?

Star Wars: Galactic Racer follows “lone racer” Shade as he takes on the villainous Kestar Bool, who’s currently dominating the Galactic League, “an unsanctioned racing league” created and organized by Darius Pax. When Pax fears he’s about to lose control of his creation, he convinces Shade – who has an unknown “personal grudge against the Bool family” – to take down Kestar.

The branching-path campaign includes a colorful roster of supporting characters, with the mechanic Hibi helping Shade out with new upgrades and tools. We also know the troublesome Sebulba and even fan-favorite (but unlucky) Ben Quadinaros are making triumphant returns, though it remains to be seen if they play major roles in the story or are simply part of the playable roster outside the story campaign.

Class has been dismissed rather earlier than planned, following the premature cancellation of "Starfleet Academy". A second season has already wrapped shooting — and will presumably beam onto Paramount+ early next year — but "Star Trek"'s paymasters clearly decided it wasn't worth persisting any longer with the final frontier's newest show.

The teen-oriented spin-off becomes the shortest-lived live-action series in the franchise's 60-year history, and — given the extensive and largely unjustified criticism the show's faced online — many will say its demise is no surprise. But whatever your feelings on "Academy", its unfortunate fate suggests that all is not well at Starfleet Headquarters.

The only other 'active' "Trek" on the Paramount+ roster is "Strange New Worlds", whose fourth and fifth seasons are already in the can. But with the fifth already confirmed to be the last outing for Captain Christopher Pike and co, we could easily find ourselves with no new "Treks" on the horizon by the end of 2027.

It's a scenario that would have seemed implausible just three years ago when "Discovery", "Picard", "Lower Decks", "Prodigy" and "Strange New Worlds" were all on active duty. Indeed, Gene Roddenbery's space saga was in better health than it had been since the glory days of "The Next Generation", "Deep Space Nine" and "Voyager".

But this potential slowdown isn't unique to "Star Trek". With "The Mandalorian and Grogu" about to relocate (maybe temporarily?) to movie theaters, "Ahsoka" season 2 is currently the only small-screen "Star Wars" adventure waiting on the launchpad. And in the UK, "Doctor Who" is currently trapped in a kind of Time Lord limbo. We know the BBC is bringing it back for a Christmas special — maybe with Billie Piper in the lead role — but beyond that, its future is a mystery now that Disney+ has decided to end its involvement in Britain's most famous sci-fi export.

Could it be that the biggest streamers are getting cold feet about some of their biggest legacy franchises?

It's worth pointing out that the last decade has been the historical outlier, a period in which armchair sci-fi fans have never had it so good.

From the cancellation of "Enterprise" in 2005 to "Discovery"'s debut 12 years later, there was no "Star Trek" on TV. "Star Wars" had never had a live action TV show before Din Djarin met Baby Yoda in 2019. Since then, we've had more separate "Trek" shows in nine years (albeit with shorter seasons) than the franchise managed during its entire Rick Berman-marshalled 1987-2005 heyday. Disney+, meanwhile, has become our primary source of action from a galaxy far, far away, with "Star Wars" movies on hiatus since "The Rise of Skywalker".

Both franchises have been regarded as consistent earners for their respective owners, so much so that Disney famously decided to pay $4 billion for the keys to George Lucas's Empire. They've also thrown a lot at money at making sure these TV shows looked like movies, investing in production values that would have been unimaginable in the pre-streaming age. But the impending pauses suggest they might not be as bankable as they used to be. So what's gone wrong?

For starters, there is a limit to how much "content" even the most passionate fans can consume, especially in a market that's more saturated than ever. "Doctor Who" has been on air more or less continuously since Russell T Davies brought it back in 2005 — nearly as long as the show's original 26-year run — while "Star Wars" has evolved from a once-every-few-years movie factory to an always-on TV machine. Even the mighty Marvel Studios, which seemed unstoppable in the wake of the mighty "Avengers: Endgame", had to concede there wasn't an appetite for everything it was making. It subsequently reduced its output.

Also, Hollywood tends to remember its perceived failures more than its successes, and the big legacy franchises have all had a misstep somewhere along the way. In the "Star Wars" camp, "The Acolyte" and "Skeleton Crew" both failed to get second seasons, feeling the grim reaper's scythe just as "Starfleet Academy" has a year or so later. When you're spending tens of millions of dollars on a season of TV, failure is no longer an option. And in the current TV climate, there's no time to find your feet, the way that bona fide classics such as "The Office", "Parks and Recreation" and "Fringe" all did in their second seasons.

One thing those aforementioned cancelled shows have in common is the fact they tried to step away from established norms, whether it's visiting a whole new time period ("The Acolyte"), or targeting a younger audience ("Skeleton Crew", "Starfleet Academy"). But it turns out that embracing the new can be surprisingly controversial when you're dealing with a long-standing franchise. Remake "A New Hope", as JJ Abrams essentially did with "The Force Awakens", and everybody's happy; try to shake things up, as Rian Johnson did with "The Last Jedi", and risk splitting the fanbase in two as if they're Darth Maul on the wrong end of a lightsaber.

"You’ve got a very, very small percentage of the fan base that has enormous expectations and basically they want to continue to see pretty much the same thing," former Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in her "exit interview" with Deadline. "And if you’re not going to do that, then you know going in that you’re going to disappoint them. I’m not sure there’s anything you can do about that, because you can’t please everybody."

"Star Trek" overseer Alex Kurtzman (who's currently in discussions with Paramount about the franchise's TV future) admitted similar ahead of "Starfleet Academy"'s debut, telling SFX magazine: "I don't believe that it's really possible to create a one-size-fits-all 'Star Trek' show. The goal, over time, is you have to plan different shows for different people, with the assumption they're all a gateway drug in some way. We've discovered there's a whole audience of younger kids who've found 'Star Trek' through 'Lower Decks', and that's led them to the other shows and movies."

This is undeniably a noble ideal, and classic franchises need to evolve if they're going to stay relevant — the same way that Davies made "Doctor Who" feel so vibrant and fresh when the Ninth Doctor first told Rose Tyler to "Run!".

But with the eyeballs of Gen Z and Gen Alpha also trapped in the tractor beams of "Stranger Things", "Wednesday" and, er, "Friends", the likes of "Star Wars", "Star Trek" and "Doctor Who" maybe can't afford to neglect the older fans who already have the franchises in their blood — even if some are a little too resistant to change.

That would be a shame, because great TV and movies should be more than nostalgia exercises — "Andor" is up there with the best "Star Wars" ever made because it pushed the envelope of what "Star Wars" could be. The crucial difference with "Skeleton Crew" and "Starfleet Academy", perhaps, is that it did so in an adult-friendly way, taking old-school fans along for the ride.

Then again, a bit of a break could be what each of these franchises needs. Absence usually makes the heart grow fonder, and stepping off the conveyor belt could give each of these sci-fi institutions a chance to rediscover what it wants to be.

Maybe "The Mandalorian and Grogu" and next year's "Starfighter" will remind us all how much we love seeing "Star Wars" on the big screen. Perhaps a new Doctor will recapture that David Tennant era mojo, or a new Starfleet crew will win over hearts and minds like Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise-D gang did with "The Next Generation".

It's worth remembering, too, that the best franchises always find a way back, however long they're away. And besides, "Star Trek" has a 60th birthday coming up — and Paramount would be utterly mad to let the occasion pass without marking it in pretty spectacular fashion.

Looking like a scene out of a "Star Wars" title crawl, this photograph from the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) atop Cerro Paranal in Chile's Atacama Desert showcases some advanced techniques astronomers use to look out into the cosmos.

What is it?

This image shows the ESO's VLTI beaming four separate lasers into the sky towards the Tarantula Nebula. "It might look like we started a space war, but we didn't," the ESO wrote in a statement accompanying the image.

Far from waging galactic warfare, astronomers use these lasers to create "artificial stars" in order to measure atmospheric turbulence. First, scientists can use telescopes pointed at the cosmos to observe how points of light created by the lasers blur and disturb molecules in Earth's atmosphere. Then, they can use computer algorithms on the same images to account for and cancel out that blurring and disturbance.

The Tarantula Nebula is situated some 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.

Why is it amazing?

Aside from looking like the iconic yellow-on-black "Star Wars" title crawl or laser bolts fired by an Imperial Star Destroyer chasing down the Tantive IV, this image demonstrates the great progress astronomers have made in developing technologies and concepts to better observe the distant universe.

Using laser guide stars and adaptive optics is still very much a young, developing technique only a handful of observatories worldwide have tapped into. The VLTI, which consists of four separate telescopes that work together to form one large virtual telescope, has only been using its Four Laser Guide Star Facility system since 2016.

Happy Star Wars Day! While most enthusiasts might prepare for the unofficial geek holiday of May 4th by rewatching a "Star Wars" movie, reading a pile of "Star Wars" comics, or playing a "Star Wars" video game, YouTuber Zach King unveiled "Cardboard Wars," a spectacular "Star Wars" parody starring King alongside Randall Park, Michelle Khare, Airrack, and Bart Johnson.

But this is no ordinary tribute endeavor since King’s incredible one-hour project recreates 1977's "Star Wars: A New Hope" entirely out of cardboard, and it simply must be seen to be believed! King graciously provided some exclusive comments on how this hilarious micro-budget miracle came about.

"'Star Wars' has truly inspired so many filmmakers and reshaped how movies are made," King tells SPACE. "As a nod to how groundbreaking those films were, we asked ourselves, what if we made a version out of cardboard and shot it in just five days? That’s exactly what we ended up doing."

King first became hooked on the galaxy far, far away with the lead-up to the 1999 launch of "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace," when Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox re-released the original trilogy in theaters and the rest is history, as evidenced by his masterful "Cardboard Wars" which was beautifully directed by Josh Fapp.

"One of the funnier challenges was our cardboard stormtrooper costumes," he recalls. "They were super stiff and hard to see out of, just like in the original films. That made moving around in tight shooting spaces pretty difficult. Also, shooting an entire movie in five days was a huge challenge. We made it work by filming primarily in one warehouse (aside from some desert exteriors), and running multiple cameras and scenes at the same time."

"Cardboard Wars" even mimics the pioneering digital effects technology devised by legendary ILM names like John Dykstra, Alvah J. Miller, and Jerry Jeffress for their Dykstraflex camera.

"From the beginning, we wanted to film the ships the same way George Lucas did in the original trilogy," King adds. "So we built miniature and even some 'bigature' versions of the ships and used motion control to recreate that classic look and feel."

Our sincere congratulations and admiration to King and his entire cast and crew for creating one of the funniest, cleverest, and most inspired "Star Wars" spoofs since the vintage "Hardware Wars" short film from way back in 1978.

However and wherever you celebrate, a Happy Star Wars Day to all!!

Happy Star Wars Day!

To celebrate George Lucas’s sprawling space opera that first landed on Earth in May of 1977, we’ve got a global gathering of 13 international advertising one-sheets created for "Star Wars: A New Hope," "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back," and "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" that are pieces of cinematic history.

Most of these inventive interpretations for the foreign territories have never been seen in person. Film distributors and theater owners outside the U.S. would routinely commission both amateur and professional artists to conjure up promotional movie posters using symbolism and iconography specific to their particular cultures.

What eventually manifested for these important international release regions has become prized "Star Wars" collector's pieces derived beyond the official marketing materials provided by Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox. These imaginative designs often used minimalist imagery and sci-fi characters not even included in the films, yet helped establish a particular mood, tone, and emotion to entice fans into their seats.

Let’s travel around the globe, from Hungary, Japan, and Germany, to Italy, France, and Poland, to see 13 foreign "Star Wars" posters from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s when the power of the Force arrived in theaters there.

Grab your passport, and away we go!

"Star Wars: A New Hope" - Italy

"Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" - Poland

"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" - Poland

"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" - France

"Star Wars: A New Hope" - Japan

"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" - Germany

"Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" - Hungary

"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" - Poland

"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" - Hong Kong

"Star Wars: A New Hope" - Hungary

"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" - Turkey

"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" - Japan

"Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" - Hungary

Lego and Star Wars is a match made in sci-fi heaven and not only can you get your hands on the best Star Wars sets, May 4 aka Star Wars Day sees the launch of several new sets.

Which sets? There's a reasonably priced Razor Crest, for a start, soon to be seen in The Mandalorian and Grogu movie. Or, if you prefer to step back to the days of the Empire, you can pick up a bust of Darth Vader. And, if you're a Lego Insider (you can sign up for free) these new sets are available from May 1, if not earlier!

You can even snag some free Lego Gifts With Purchase sets if you buy through Lego's website. But since those will be available from May 1 and are liable to sell out, we recommend you hurry.

Here at Space.com, we love the night sky, rocket launches and sci-fi just as much as you do. Each month (from here on out) we want to celebrate that love by bringing you a collection of eclectic staff photos that show you a little of what we've been up to.

Expect launch photos, snaps of historic hardware destined for space, images of the night sky and, from time to time, photographic evidence of our entertainment editor Ian Stokes infiltrating Amazon's London office to sneak a peek at their May the 4th Star Wars offering … allegedly.

Don't forget! We love nothing more than seeing your discussions in the comments section under each article and, of course, featuring and enjoying your astrophotography, which you can share with us and the readers at spacephotos@space.com!

Photos from Space (.com)

We'll kick off with our spaceflight writer Josh Dinner, who took a road trip down to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to report first hand on the historic launch of the Artemis 2 mission to the far side of the moon!

"Witnessing SLS launch from the press site was more than just seeing the rocket liftoff  —  it was feeling it," Dinner told Space.com. "The shake and crackle of the solid boosters and legacy shuttle tech ripping through the sky is truly one to behold, and shooting Artemis 2 was an absolute experience. Whenever I photograph a launch, I always shoot at least a little underexposed. Accounting for the flame is important, especially when it comes to those blindingly bright solids."

"From farther away, you don't want to set your shutter too fast, but for my launchpad cameras, up close, that's where I'll plan for minimum exposure time. It makes your RAW images dark everywhere else, but that's all easily brought out in minor edits. I love getting to see the details of the flames as they explode from the rocket's engines.

"And with Artemis 2 I got extra lucky with some small water droplets that didn't quite dry off the lens as my cameras braved a rain storm the night before liftoff. They created some nice flares I think really add some uniqueness."

Managing editor Brett Tingley, meanwhile, set his sights further afield to photograph a stunning spiral galaxy shining 11.6 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major.

"On March 28, 2026, I hiked out to a dark area in the Appalachian mountains to capture some deep sky objects," explained Tingley. "Bode's Nebula (Messier 81) was positioned perfectly overhead during the evening hours, allowing for a perfect long-exposure shot. Despite its name, Messier 81 is actually a galaxy - one of the brightest in the night sky."

"This was taken with a Celestron Origin Mk II using a nebula filter, enabling me to capture its spiral shape in great detail. It's incredible to be able to set up a smart telescope and watch images like this one develop in real time, putting deep space objects out in the cosmos right at our fingertips"

Space.com astronomy editor Monisha Ravisetti was lucky enough to spend a little time with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland earlier this month, ahead of its planned September 2026 launch.

"As a space journalist, it's tremendously routine for me to write about space telescopes," said Ravisetti. "I've pored over vast cosmic landscapes imaged by the tried and true Hubble Space Telescope, but what sticks out is this instrument launched before I was born. More times than I can count, I've tried to make sense of ancient black holes or glowing nebulas that sit millions of light-years away from me, but often, I owe these sights to the James Webb Space Telescope.

"Indeed, I've only seen the JWST in photos. My iPhone lock screen used to be a Euclid image, but again, I've never seen Euclid itself. These physical observatories have therefore remained in my imagination just like the universe they observe — places I'll never be able to explore."

"The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is the first observatory headed beyond Earth that I got to see in person. It was a surprising experience. Did it look as grand as you'd expect something so pivotal to look? Not really, honestly. It was relatively compact, industrial and most importantly, comprehensible. It appeared as a piece of real, mechanical equipment.

"But while I looked on, I started to realize why it seemed profound to be this telescope's witness. It's surreal to remember a very reasonable object will eventually show us corners of our universe we haven't yet reasoned with. It's surreal to remember that these telescopes really aren't just intangible items in my imagination, and neither are those cosmic places I'll never explore."

Skywatching editor Daisy Dobrijevic captured a gorgeous view of the Triangulum Galaxy, using a smart telescope that cut through the light-polluted city sky to reveal fantastic detail on the deep sky object.

"I captured this view of the Triangulum Galaxy (M33) from my garden in Nottingham, U.K., using the Vaonis Vespera Pro," said Dobrijevic. "Despite working under Bortle 6 skies, I built up 3 hours of total exposure time across multiple nights, taking advantage of the Vespera Pro's multi-night observing mode — an invaluable feature when clouds inevitably roll in."

"I was genuinely surprised by just how much detail I could pull out in such a short amount of time, especially given the light pollution!"

Space.com editor-in-chief joined Dinner in Florida to witness the launch of Artemis 2 first hand, before heading out to Houston to report on the astronaut's progress as they broke the record for the most distant crewed spaceflight in human history, ahead of their safe return to Earth.

"I have waited my entire life to see astronauts launch to the moon," recalled Malik. "It was worth it. For just about my entire career, NASA has been trying to send astronauts back to the moon. First, it was Project Constellation and a goal of 2020. Then, maybe it was 2024. Then Constellation was cancelled and I instead watched dozens of space shuttle and rocket launches stay in low-Earth orbit. Even Artemis 1 in 2024, I missed. It was scrubbed several times (I saw them all) and when it finally did fly, I couldn't be there."

"But a month ago, Artemis 2 was something else. I've seen the largest rocket on Earth — SpaceX's Starship — launch (and explode) and that was loud. But watching four astronauts launch on NASA's most powerful rocket since the Saturn V hits different. First, it was SO LOUD. Much louder than the Starship launch because we were just 3 miles away (about 2 miles closer). You felt it in your bones and it drowned out all sound. But also because there were PEOPLE on this one. Four astronauts that I have spoken with personally at one time or another. Then they went to the moon.

And for the first time in my 49 years, more than half of that as a space reporter, I feel like a new space age is finally beginning, one in which astronauts finally reach the moon to stay, then Mars, and then who knows where else? (I vote for Titan and Venus, but that's just me.)"

Our senior producer/video wizard Steve Spaleta chose to reminisce over a collection of legendary aircraft — and the creation of a legendary photo.

"After covering the unveiling of Virgin Galactic’s Spaceship Unity at the Mojave Air and Space Port in February 2016, Dave Brody (Space.com’s former exec. producer) and I visited the Joe Davies Heritage Airpark in Palmdale. The photo here shows a retired Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a Boeing 747-100SR—one of only two ever used to ferry space shuttles.

"The outdoor aerospace museum, free to the public, also features a Lockheed JetStar used by NASA, along with several military aircraft, including a B-52 Stratofortress. Dave Brody snapped the image and joked, “add a Rick or an Alembic, and that’s an album cover.”

Harry Bennett, our e-commerce staff writer and overall photography enthusiast snapped a stunning view of Vega shining in the constellation Lyra.

"Vega shines a beautiful white-blue with four prominent diffraction spikes, giving it an angelic presence amongst a vast star field, " said Bennett. "It is the fifth brightest star in the night sky and the second brightest in the northern hemisphere. I took this shot using the enhanced vision mode on the Unistellar Odyssey Pro, which stacks four-second exposures continuously until you stop it."

"I have a soft spot for it because it is the first smart telescope I ever used and it gave me the ability to capture mind-blowing images of night sky objects even from a city center. It is fully automatic and can orient itself, find a target and start imaging all from a few presses on your smartphone. People can be swept up in smart telescopes’ ability to capture amazing detail on deep-sky objects like galaxies but forget that imaging individual stars can really make you feel magical."

Entertainment editor Ian Stokes went off campus to take a look at Amazon's office in London in disguise as a scout trooper. At least we think it's Ian?

"I channelled my inner Bothan and managed to infiltrate the Amazon office in London and while they didn’t have the droids I was looking for, they did have a bunch of Star Wars merch on display ahead of the May the Fourth festivities. They had a bunch of cool lightsabers, figurines, and helmets for staff and visitors to check out, including the snazzy scout trooper helmet that I’m sporting here.

"Sadly I was escorted from the premises when I tried to add myself to the cast list for the new Stargate show they’re working on."

Editor's Note: If you would like to share your photography with Space.com's staff and readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

That Death Star's operational… and extremely clean thanks to this wild new collaboration between PowerWash Simulator 2 and Star Wars.

There's no shortage of exciting Star Wars games in the works, but we'll be honest, we didn't see this one coming, as Lucasfilm Games and FuturLab are teaming up to release PowerWash Simulator 2's Star Wars pack, coming this summer.

While no specific release date or price tag was provided in the short 'announce' trailer, we know it's coming to all platforms where the game is available. That means PC (via Steam & Epic), Xbox Series X|S, PS5 (with Pro support), and Nintendo Switch 2.

From the frozen wastes of Hoth to the Lars Homestead on Tatooine — hopefully without poor Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru's charred corpses still lying around — PowerWash Simulator 2's next DLC is focusing on locales from the original Star Wars trilogy. There are even brief hints that an Imperial destroyer and a Rebel cruiser (probably a Mon Calamari one) need to have their space dust and muck washed away.

Though the galaxy far, far away could also accommodate new washing mechanics and systems with bespoke tools (or perhaps astromech helpers), most details are being kept as secret as the Death Star plans for now.

We know the cleaners this time around "take on the role of P0-W2, a Class Five cleaning droid", so a certain degree of immersion is being offered. Here's hoping we can blast stormtroopers away with pressurized water, too.

Earlier this month, PowerWash Simulator 2 received its first level pack, which was based on the animated series Adventure Time, so this might be a tradition for the offbeat 'cleaning simulation' game as it ventures into post-launch support. Much like the original, PowerWash Simulator 2 supports both solo and co-op, local or online.

The latest trailer for the next Star Wars film is an explosive return to form to the old-fashioned Saturday afternoon matinee style seen in vintage Hollywood serials featuring Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon back in the heady days of pulp science fiction, something George Lucas's original Star Wars Trilogy tried to faithfully capture and did so beautifully.

The surprisingly enjoyable final trailer for Disney/Lucasfilm's The Mandalorian and Grogu was released last week in the aftermath of CinemaCon 2026 and delivers more than enough nostalgic space opera vibes prior to its scheduled May 22, 2026 release.

At that annual Las Vegas industry convention, director John Favreau revealed the first 17 minutes of the film and wowed the attending audience with thrills and spills from a galaxy far, far away, perhaps reigniting that wonderfully pure "Star Wars" magic.

In Disney/Lucasflim's $166 million spinoff feature we find Pedro Pascal reprising his role as feared bounty hunter Din Djarin from the Disney+ TV series, "The Mandalorian." He's teaming up with the green-skinned, pint-sized Baby Yoda to track down wanted criminals for the New Republic.

This cosmic adventure is stuffed with Star Wars characters, ships and lore, including a shiny new Razor Crest spaceship, hateful Hutt twins on the moon of Nar Shaddaa, mad mercenaries, mystical moments, monster battle droids, Imperial walkers, X-wings in formation, alien serpents, airborne Anzellans, and "Star Wars Rebels" fan favorite Zeb Orellios.

Two particular items worth mentioning are the humongous stop-motion robots Mando is fighting which were created by Academy Award-winning Phil Tippett and his ace VFX crew, and the incredibly cool live-action rendering of Embo, "The Clone Wars"' brutal Kyuzo bounty hunter, and his faithful wolf-like creature Marrok. "The Mandalorian" co-creator Dave Filoni will also be providing Embo's villainous voice!

Also starring Sigourney Weaver as New Republic Colonel Ward and Jeremy Allen White as Jabba's son Rotta the Hutt, "The Mandalorian and Grogu" lands May 22, 2026.

There was a time when things ended. When the stories on our screens had a beginning, middle, and end. A time when a trilogy was the longest series of films you could hope for, and when a show aired its final season, it was actually its final season.

That time is gone. Star Trek, Star Wars, Marvel, Godzilla, Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, DC, Doctor Who… the list goes on and on. These franchises are no longer vehicles for structured stories, but instead sprawling universes in which stories build and collide and ramble on ad infinitum. If a successful film or show does end, the result is more of that thing, especially if it already has an established fan base.

This is hardly a new observation. We’ve all, at one time or another, discussed the fact that franchises and cinematic universes are out of control. The very fact that we now refer to these things as franchises should illuminate what they’ve become. We're not here to bemoan that again.

Instead, we want to talk about what happens to something when it’s never allowed to end; the consequences of this endless treadmill of content. What happens to us, the audience (and maybe even society) when we’re no longer allowed to finish a story?

It’s the end of the world as we know it

Expanded universes are nothing new. Among the litany of sci-fi movies turning into sprawling franchises/universes, you probably have one that’s especially important to you, and most of them have a litany of comic books, novels, and video games under their umbrella. But these were always niche and hidden away from the main canon. Now, they're multi-million dollar streaming shows and theatrical releases.

These worlds are now cultural touchpoints. They are the modern myths we tell, like Odysseus, but no one ever makes it home, because the franchise must continue. The footprint of film and television is just that much bigger than books or comics. Those previous expanded universes let beloved stories live on, but didn’t define the zeitgeist as franchises do now.

And perhaps most importantly, the internet wasn’t around for every aspect to be picked apart, and discussions of ever-expanding lore sat in friend groups, cons, or limited forums. When a series of Trek ended, that was the end of it (barring a few cameos), not the chance to spin off a closely related show or bring it back decades down the road.

By contrast, the last two live-action Star Trek shows — Strange New Worlds and Starfleet Academy — were both spun off from Discovery, because everything needs to be connected. And don't even get us started on the mess that is the MCU, with its infinite roster of shows and movies that only make sense if you've seen the preceding five entries.

To be clear, the end result isn’t always — or even usually — bad. Releases like Andor, Lower Decks, and even Thunderbolts have shown that exploring lesser-known corners of established universes can be a gold mine. The problem is that these franchises are now living in an eternal nostalgia loop, with fans both wanting the past and constantly asking what is next. But without a chance to say goodbye to our heroes, we're missing out on a core part of stories; their endings.

And the worst thing is, if we're looking for someone to blame for this, we need only look into a mirror. We asked for this — sometimes directly, but often by voting with our wallets — and the corporations delivered, and delivered, and delivered, so that our modern-day myths never end.

But in the end, it doesn't even matter

For many of us, watching that final poker game in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s now ironically titled “All Good Things” was a moment of profound reflection. Seeing Luke, Han, and Leia party with the Ewoks (sans digitally included Anakin Skywalker) brought the ground-breaking space opera to a culturally significant end, and watching or reading the ending(s) of The Return of the King was a tear-filled gut punch. These were stories that gave us closure.

Now Picard is zipping around the cosmos again, The Lord of the Rings is waylaid with prequels and spin-offs, and somehow, Palpatine returned. Those closures are no longer available to us. We never know when any story might be brought back, continued, redone, or retconned. There’s no end in sight, no closing lesson for us to learn, leaving everyone with ambiguity in what we’re supposed to take away from anything. On a sociological and philosophical level, we’re simply never allowed to stop caring.

That, counterintuitively, makes it all the harder to care. As our stories don’t give us the catharsis we’re psychologically built to need, we stop investing in them. We turn to those stories that did give us closure and wonder why we don’t feel the same way about the continuations. Without knowing anything will end, we’re stuck waiting for what’s next – be that prequel, sequel, or spin-off.

There’s also just too much of it. Eternal franchises require eternal, ever-expanding content. When stories ended, you could relive them over and over, experience them in different ways, and discover new things. Part of the incredible staying power of the original Star Wars movies was that they were the only Star Wars movies (apologies to the Christmas special).

That story wasn't just important to the fandom, but society as a whole, as we watched, rewatched, referenced, and relived. It is nigh impossible for anything to do that now. Instead, our cinematic universes sprawl meanderingly, and so too does a franchise's cultural impact. We’re spread too thin, needing to connect complex infrastructures of storytelling instead of engaging in-depth with a single tale.

We're reaching a point, not just as individuals but as a whole, where we can’t let go, but we can’t keep up. Our stories must end somehow. And for many, the answer has just been to give up.

It’s something unpredictable, but in the end, it’s right

This all may sound a bit dramatic for some silly sci-fi movies and TV shows, but stories are how human beings learn, reflect, and advance. They're cultural touchstones that give us hope and guidance, and help define who we are as a society. Our stories turning into never-ending content mills is no small thing, and the impact may not be understood for decades to come. This is important.

Now that we’re all thoroughly depressed (or confused), maybe there is some hope. While we may be suffering from a current inability to let anything end, it shouldn’t be said that an eternal story is always a bad thing. For a long time, Star Trek was very much a functioning never-ending story.

The answer is to embrace the new and stop clamoring for what was. It’s also for studios to experiment with new ideas instead of building everything off the old ones. Deep Space Nine worked because it was so drastically different from TNG. Godzilla’s best outing in decades was a full reimagining of his lore. Andor succeeds because it is so incredibly not a space opera, and there isn't a Jedi within 12 parsecs. It's fine to dip into the warm waters of nostalgia every now and then, but it can't be the foundation that our future is built on.

Same universe, different story, new endings. Our favorite franchises don’t need to die; they just need to be built around stories that actually end.

Maul – Shadow Lord, the latest 'Star Wars' series from Lucasfilm Animation, is finally here. As a bridge of sorts between The Clone Wars and Rebels that runs in parallel to The Bad Batch, the show tells the story of the fallen Sith Lord as he navigates the underworld and tries to make a name for himself in the shadow of the Empire.

Ahead of the show's Disney+ debut, we had the chance to chat with Star Wars veteran Sam Witwer (Darth Maul) and newcomer Gideon Adlon (Devon Izara) about the creative team behind the project, the villain's shocking psychology, the challenges (and opportunities) that come with Star Wars, and even George Lucas' original vision for the central characters and the larger galaxy.

The following interview has been editorialized and lightly cut for better flow.

Witwer is a bit of an icon in 'Star Wars'. His long stay in the galaxy far, far away began with the beloved Legends video game The Force Unleashed, in which he starred as Galen Marek (Starkiller), the secret Sith apprentice of Darth Vader. He'd later voice The Son (a manifestation of the dark side of the Force) in The Clone Wars alongside countless additional voices across various Star Wars projects — even embodying Emperor Palpatine himself — but he's best known as the voice of the horned Sith lord, Darth Maul.

At this point, most fans consider him Star Wars royalty and wonder if he has weighty creative input, and he confirmed that was the case when he got his own show: "A little bit, yeah. They invited me to have some input to keep the character consistent and authentic... It's been really fun to have discussions about this character again, and we have endless discussions now."

Of course, co-creator and head writer Matt Michnovetz is the person guiding this ship, as Lucasfilm boss and chief creative Dave Filoni tries to oversee the entire galaxy and the second season of Ahsoka. Witwer had very high praise for the veteran Star Wars scribe and supervising director Brad Rau: "He's in charge of the writing staff. He's also the architect of the track that this roller coaster speeds down, and executing Dave's vision in terms of the structure of the show... Brad Rau also is close collaboration. I mean, he's the filmmaker," explains Witwer. "Brad is the guy with the vision on how we execute these things."

The actor also mentioned Athena Portillo's – another Star Wars animation vet – key role as producer and executive producer. This is an all-star team that's been working together for a very long time, and it shows in the final result.

In Maul – Shadow Lord, we also find two Jedi on the run who cross paths with the Sith Lord and the Empire. The padawan, Devon Izara, feels different from most Jedi; she's got an edgy and reckless side from the get-go. Gideon Adlon (Pacific Rim: The Black) – a relative newcomer to Star Wars after a small role in Young Jedi Adventures – faced the enormous challenge of bringing a new, brave Jedi Padawan to life, showcasing their struggles to resist the combativeness inside her that Maul wants to exploit.

"I think the beautiful thing about voice acting is it's just as dynamic as doing something on camera," notes Adlon. "It's almost more complicated because you can't see our faces, but we're able to move. I think the movement that we can convey with our bodies really helps with the way that we're able to perform with our voices. Being fearless in the room matches Devon's fearlessness. I know a lot of Jedi are fearless, but Devon feels particularly different because she's fearless with a wild sense of curiosity that gets her into extremely dangerous situations, but it's because she's trying to figure out her path."

"Maul – Shadow Lord" has a more limited scope and resulting focus when compared to other 'Star Wars' shows. It can be seen as an examination of who the post-Order 66 Jedi are, and how Maul presents himself is a huge part of this. He acts as a more sincere, shadowy figure than his former master, and we can't help but wonder if this is his way of pushing back against Palpatine's teachings?

Witwer seems to agree: "Maul was certainly trained by Palpatine, so he shares a lot of traits with him. But yeah, absolutely. Interestingly, he's a lot more honest than his master... In this show, he has to make himself morally distinct from Palpatine. He needs to make the declaration that he's morally superior or better, whatever you'd call him."

"That decision comes with responsibility, and the responsibility is to follow through, to have some lines that he will not cross that Palpatine would cross," explains Witwer. " And where that comes from is a rebellion from Sidious because he recognizes that he's in fact the source of all his suffering... Maul has to become kind of the anti-Sidious, but if you would ask Obi-Wan, he'd be like 'those two gentlemen are very much the same.'"

Maul inevitably attempts to corrupt the young Jedi as part of his plan to take the fight to the Empire instead of going into hiding. Whether that pans out remains to be seen, but Adlon noted the strange parallels between her character's journey with Maul and her own relationship with Witwer.

"He's absolutely become my mentor," reveals Adlon. "And we record at a studio in L.A. that I grew up going to, so the whole thing has really just felt like home. But obviously, being put into the Star Wars world puts a different weight onto somebody's shoulders. I'm very new to it. I'm still learning about it."

Adlon also remarked on Maul being a surprisingly straightforward person, adding that "I find that even as Gideon... learning about Maul through our show personally, I find him weirdly honest. The more I've gotten to know Maul, it's like you feel you can't trust him, but maybe you can, and I am really enjoying figuring out what this dynamic is and where their relationship unfolds."

Both characters' arcs are meant to play out over a long period of time, and both actors clearly know where they want those journeys to lead. Adlon said she wants to explore "Why they see such similarities in each other. Why are Maul and Devon sort of kin?" Witwer, meanwhile, remained tight-lipped: "Well, yeah, there's a lot of places a story like this could go, but we'll just wait and see."

We recently talked about George Lucas' old ideas for the future of Maul — where the Sith Lord was being considered to become the big bad in the original sequel trilogy drafts — and Witwer was kind enough to elaborate on his relationship with Lucas and his vision:

"I have had an overwhelming amount of luck when it comes to participating in Star Wars, so I always feel like I'm getting greedy when I say 'I would like to have seen me do this. I want me to do that.'" explains Witwer. "You know, I don't really think of it that way. I just turn up if they say that they need me... I always want to hear what kinds of thoughts and stories George Lucas has dreamed up. When it comes to his exploration of the original Star Wars script, he wrote, I mean, how many drafts were there, and they were also wildly different from each other? But if you look at those drafts, so many of the seeds of the things that we see now come from those scripts."

We already know how Maul's story begins and ends, but we now find ourselves in a crucial part of his middle act. Even so, Witwer would love to learn more about Lucas' thoughts on the Dathomirian Zabrak: "Anything, any notion that George has concerning this character, I'd be all ears. I'd want to know what he thinks or what he's interested in."

"Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord" slashed onto Disney+ with a two-episode premiere on Monday, April 6. Two new episodes will arrive weekly. Season 2 is already in the works.

When The Bad Batch ended in 2024, two spinoff animated shows seemed likely — a Ventress spin-off and an Omega-led show — but neither came to fruition. Instead, Disney and Lucasfilm surprised fans in 2025 with the announcement of Darth Maul's own series. Less than a year later, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord has arrived, and its first season highlights how far Star Wars animation has come.

The fallen Sith Lord's journey has been a fascinating one. He "returned" from the dead in the beloved Clone Wars show, and cameo'd at the end of Solo: A Star Wars Story — a movie set between the Clone Wars and Rebels timelines — before finally meeting his true end in Star Wars Rebels' 'Twin Suns' episode (2017). Despite his death, he cropped up again in the final season of the show, with flashbacks showing what happened to Maul when the galaxy was shaken by Order 66 and the creation of the Galactic Empire.

None of this will make sense if you haven't been watching the last decade of Star Wars' expanded universe. If you just watch the mainline movies, the last time you saw Maul, he was being cut in half at the end of The Phantom Menace. If that's you, and you need to catch up, the short version is that he survived that and eventually teamed up with his Dathomirian brother Savage Opress, becoming a crime lord. The duo tried to take on his former master, Darth Sidious (now Emperor Palpatine), only to get thoroughly spanked by Sheev, who killed Savage.

Following the death of his brother and the loss of most of his newfound allies, he went back into hiding and began plotting (again) how to get back at Palpatine. That's where Maul – Shadow Lord picks up the story.

It's a lot to digest if you're not a Star Wars diehard, but to its credit, Maul – Shadow Lord does a commendable job with smart recaps, well-placed short flashbacks, and fast comments to hit the ground running as it sets up the show's new story arc, which takes us to the Coruscant-like planet of Janix.

Tall buildings and dense lower areas evoke the familiar 'Star Wars metropolis' atmosphere veterans love, but this isn't the heart of the Empire; it's a world which "exists beyond the core" (of the galaxy), and thus isn't on the Empire's sights... for now.

The local law enforcement has been struggling with crime syndicates for a while, and things get messier when Maul (Sam Witwer) and his small group of allies (Mandalorian mercenaries included) show up to make some credits and reclaim their lost power.

Mau's reckless band of merry men inevitably leave a trail of bodies in their wake, leading police captain Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura) to investigate the criminal takeover of Janix. Lawson clearly hates the Empire as much as Maul and doesn't want to attract their attention, and there are some interesting parallels between the pair. Though they're on opposite sides of the law, both were betrayed by Imperial figures in different ways and have a troubled past they can't seem to escape.

Equally agitated are Jedi Padawan Devon Izara (Gideon Adlon) and her Master, Eeko-Dio-Daki (Dennis Haysbert). It's here where Matt Michnovetz's (head writer and co-creator alongside Lucasfilm boss Dave Filoni) extensive experience with some of the most loaded Clone Wars episodes (such as the fan-favorite Umbara arc) and Jedi: Fallen Order's story becomes more apparent. Post-Order 66 Jedi are often just lesser versions of Obi-Wan Kenobi or Yoda, skulking around in swamps and deserts, but this duo can't seem to stay away from the action.

Though Maul – Shadow Lord features notable performances across the board, it's the leading duo (Maul and Devon) that, rightfully, steal the show. Witwer is no stranger to mining the once one-dimensional Sith for gold, and with more space to maneuver in his own series, the fragmented psyche and shocking earnestness of the character provide a fantastic hook that previous animated Star Wars works didn't really have.

It's a performance that also benefits the show's dirtier tone and darker writing. Sure, previous animated shows have skewed towards older fans, there's almost nothing here – except maybe the cop droid Two-Boots (Richard Ayoade) – built with kids in mind.

Similarly, Devon isn't a retread of other plucky Jedi leads. There's an edge to her that's instantly captivating, and the sincere doubts that Adlon's voice work delivers sell plot beats that could be eyebrow-raising with a lesser performance.

Perhaps more impressive than the fresh story, though, is the gorgeous animation. There's a visual maturity to Maul's series, which is a crystal-clear evolution of past works, from the dynamic camera work to the stronger focus on close-ups that underline the more emotional and subtle character moments. Its most striking (and recognized) element, however, will be the "grungier" and painterly flourishes.

Watercolor-inspired backgrounds make Janix's cityscapes dream-like at times, and there's an edge and suddenness to lightsaber duels and action scenes that intentionally add a fitting edge to a show that must feel dangerous at all times.

To quote Luke Skywalker: "This is not going to go the way you think." Maul – Shadow Lord Season 1 might end up where we expected it to (we weren't allowed to see the last two episodes ahead of release), but the path it takes is full of twists and turns that we didn't see coming. Maul and Devon's relationship is an entertaining tug-of-war; Lawson is a caf-loving lawman best described as well-meaning, but out of his element; and the inevitable arrival of Imperial forces (including two Inquisitors) quickly threatens disaster for both sides.

Maul – Shadow Lord has more in common with Andor than with its cartoon predecessors in tone, and that's a lofty compliment. The deeper focus on internal struggles, thanks to the limited scope of the larger story, helps the overall package and the lead actors' interpretations of their complicated characters.

It's not quite at that level, though; the show's structure can feel messy and redundant at times – Lucasfilm Animation's shows typically are during their first outings – but it's a propulsive ride that ends up justifying its serial approach as opposed to the Clone Wars, Rebels, and Bad Batch's laid-back episodic storytelling.

That, alongside a nagging sensation that Maul and other Clone Wars-adjacent elements may be overstaying their welcome, makes it easy to see why some fans might choose to skip this one, but empty fan service, it isn't. The age of Maul has fangs, and the dark side of the Force is tempting.

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord slashes into Disney+ with a two-episode premiere on Monday, April 6. Two new episodes will arrive weekly. Season 2 is already in the works.

Can you imagine a world without the Star Wars sequel trilogy? Creator George Lucas could, which is why he declared soon after 2005's "Revenge of the Sith" that Lucasfilm would be focusing on TV instead. But with the long-in-development Star Wars Underworld years away, many were wondering if it really was the end of seeing Star Wars on the big screen.

In a surprise move that ultimately scuppered Lucas' vision for the franchise, Disney would buy Lucasfilm in 2012, and a whole new sequel trilogy was created instead. Retrospective reactions to these are still mixed, especially "Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker" thanks to its uneven plot points, disappointing ending to the saga, and the iconically bad line, "Somehow, Palpatine returned." To say the Skywalker Saga on a disappointing note would be an understatement.

But before the House of Mouse took the reins, Lucas revealed in The Star Wars Archives that he had been working on a new sequel trilogy of his own. Some interesting plot points have leaked since this revelation, but the most surprising one was of Darth Maul being the big bad throughout these movies. Having been ‘killed’ by Obi-Wan in Star Wars: Episode I, then revived in the Clone Wars animated series as a spider, the exiled Sith has seen it all, and then some.

He’s also appearing in a new animated series airing on Disney+ in April, called "Maul: Shadow Lord". Set a year after the "Clone Wars" ending, the show will see him build up his criminal empire while trying to find and train an apprentice.

And with the benefit of hindsight, we're glad things shook out this way. The Skywalker Saga might have been disappointing, but Maul's criminal empire is a way better fate for the Sith Lord than becoming the star villain of his own trilogy.

Seeing red

Details are still scarce, but Lucas’ idea for his Sequel Trilogy would rediscover Maul as a Crime Boss, based in Coruscant, along with his apprentice, Darth Talon.

In a book called The Star Wars Archives: 1999-2005, Lucas outlined his vision for how Maul would work in the movies. “VII, VIII, and IX would take ideas from what happened after the Iraq War. Stormtroopers would refuse to give up when the Republic won after VI. They want to be Stormtroopers forever, so they go to a far corner of the galaxy, start their own country, and their own rebellion.”

Lucas continues, explaining how Maul and others would take advantage of this power vacuum. “Gangsters, like the Hutts, are taking advantage of the situation, and there is chaos. The key person is Darth Maul, who had been resurrected in the animated Clone Wars series - he brings all the gangs together.”

“Darth Maul trained a girl called Darth Talon, who was in the comic books, as his apprentice. She was the new Darth Vader, and most of the action was with her. So they were the two main villains of the trilogy. Maul eventually becomes the godfather of crime in the universe because, as the Empire falls, he takes over.”

It’s an interesting concept, as Lucas’ vision potentially shows another side of the Star Wars universe that was never seen in-depth, especially with the Underworld TV Series being put on hiatus around 2009.

Lucas also disclosed that Luke would be training a new generation of Jedi, whilst Episodes VIII and IX would reveal Leia to be the Chosen One, eventually leading the New Republic as Supreme Chancellor. This part isn't a million parsecs away from where the actual sequel trilogy ended up, and while Lucas’ ideas for a trilogy would have been an interesting watch, we don't think Maul would have worked as the central villain.

A Mauling?

Maul is one of the most iconic (and coolest) villains in Star Wars history, so why are we poo-pooing the idea of him as the primary antagonist? His stint in the Clone Wars animated series, for one thing.

Don't get us wrong, his arc across the series is phenomenal. Maul’s return in Season 3 of Clone Wars in 2011, by being revived by witches called Nightsisters on Dathomir, was well-received by fans. Voiced by Sam Witwer, who has an impressive understanding of the Star Wars universe, Maul is thoroughly insane upon his revival, and this thread of madness carries through to where we last saw him, in the final episodes of Clone Wars.

He’s broken, rageful, calculating — all attributes that make sense for his arc here — but he never gives off the main villain energy required to carry three movies. Ultimately, Maul works for himself, and his attempts to take control of the galaxy with his brother Savage, blew up in his face. It felt more like a tragic soap opera than everything proceeding as foreseen. He was given new depth in the Clone Wars, but it was rooted in hate towards Obi-Wan, rather than a connection to the Skywalker legacy.

There's also the issue of homework; a lot of Star Wars fans simply have no interest in watching the animated series and other spinoffs required to keep up with Maul's character arc. To them, the last time they saw Maul was watching his bifurcated body tumbling into oblivion at the end of Episode 1.

Even with his cameo at the end of "Solo", asking audiences to accept his silver screen return, complete with his fleshy legs back in place, would have been as ridiculous as expecting them to buy Palpatine returning… somehow.

Look at the Scarlet Witch debacle in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. To understand 2022’s Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness, you had to watch 2020’s WandaVision TV show to find out why she was crossing many universes to find her children. This spiraling interconnected web of plotlines had been the downfall of the MCU post-Endgame, and it's not a strategy Star Wars should be repeating. And yes, we say this while giving some serious side-eye to The Mandalorian and Grogu, the upcoming Star Wars movie that requires you to watch several Disney+ shows to know the plot going on.

Sustaining the attention of viewers is harder than ever in 2026. They want to sit down and watch something without feeling required to absorb other content to understand some context.

Beyond all that, though, Maul’s canon ending is perfect in the "Star Wars: Rebels" episode Twin Suns. Set five years before "Episode IV: A New Hope", the episode sees Maul finally get his showdown with an older Obi-Wan.

Maul’s story didn’t need to carry on in a Sequel Trilogy, for the sake of a narrative rhyme; it wouldn’t have worked. His place is in the shadows, an angry ex-Sith, finding his place in the world, his path winding, until it took him right back to where we first saw him, in a deadly battle against a Jedi Master.

The Disney sequel trilogy was an admittedly mixed affair, and the disappointment of Episode IX can’t be overstated, but the story of the mainline Star Wars movies is about the Skywalker family, and not the rogues' gallery they encountered along the way.

With any luck, this is what we’ll see when the show drops next month, and that’s the right move. As Maul himself once said, "Every choice you have made has led you to this moment."

We look forward to seeing the choices he made that led him to that fateful night on Tatooine when "Maul: Shadow Lord" releases on Disney+ in April.

Available for purchase on April 1, Lego is releasing a Tintin Moon Rocket set, which is the toy brick manufacturer's first-ever Tintin set. Consisting of 1,283 pieces, it will include six minifigures (including Snowy the dog), all in spacesuits and helmets, and is largely designed for display purposes rather than play. Currently it's only listed on the Lego store site, but we anticipate launching on regular retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target, too.

Naturally, we hope to get our hands on it and review it, so we can determine whether it's among the best Lego space sets out there. Standing at approximately 19.5 x 8 x 9 inches / 50 x 20 x 23 centimeters (H x L x W), it's going to stand out wherever you choose to display it and from initial looks, it looks like a fantastic nod to the iconic-looking rocket from Tintin's "Destination Moon" and "Explorers on the Moon" comics.

On release, this set will cost $159.99, which does seem quite a lot for a set containing 1,283 pieces — but this set is quite large, being designed for display, and does come with six minifigures. If this isn't quite right for you, you can always check out our other pages on the best Lego Star Wars sets, best Lego Marvel sets and best model rockets.

Naturally, we don't have much more information on the set outside of its proposed release date, key specs and a few images. However, our initial thoughts are that it would be a cool standalone model, or as part of a space collection, as Lego doesn't currently have any other Tintin sets available.

The set features the red and white paneling of the rocket from the Tintin comics, and there's more to it than meets the eye. You can remove the rocket's cone to reveal an internal control room, packed with detail, which has enough room to pose a minifigure inside.

This rocket is a nod to the Tintin comics, where Tintin, his dog, Snowy and others travel to the moon and explore the lunar surface. The six minifigures included are: Tintin, Captain Haddock, Thomson and Thompson, Professor Calculus and Snowy. And, while you can't currently preorder it, or put it in your basket, it will be available to buy from April 1 and we expect it to be popular.

We're hoping that the release of the Tintin Moon Rocket set continues a trend we like with Lego. We recently saw Lego release its first-ever Star Trek set, the U.S.S. Enterprise, and now, with its first-ever Tintin set, we hope to see more Lego firsts for franchises and titles it hasn't previously made sets for.

Following the striking first trailer in January, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is doubling down on its reworked art style and darker tone with a second trailer that harkens back to The Clone Wars' best episode arcs.

The Sam Witwer-led show was announced as a surprise at Star Wars Celebration 2025. The series will follow Darth Maul post-Siege of Mandalore, filling in the gap up until his confusing Solo: A Star Wars Story cameo.

As it turns out, he went back into the shadows and built up a crime syndicate known as Crimson Dawn, but that didn't happen overnight, and Shadow Lord aims to elaborate on that and more. At least that's what the second (and probably final) trailer promises.

Maul is a dirtier, grungier imagining of the Star Wars universe, leaning into the darker moments of shows like The Clone Wars and Rebels. The art style is messier than those shows', with an almost Claymation-meets-live-action look. Maul is seen slicing and dicing cops and criminals, and some scenes look like they came straight out of a slasher flick.

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord is set to debut on April 6 with a two-episode premiere, with the rest of the ten-episode season releasing weekly after that. This release leaves the May the 4th slot potentially wide open for another surprise anthology series that may or may not happen. Feast your eyes on the stunning new poster below, too:

Alongside Witwer – a Star Wars animation (and video game) legend – Gideon Adlon co-leads as the Jedi Padawan Devon Izara, who seems to be getting too close to the dark side for comfort.

Master Eeko-Dio Daki (Dennis Haysbert) is also on the run and not willing to lose her padawan to the fallen Sith. Meanwhile, Captain Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura) and his droid partner, Two-Boots (Richard Ayoade), will begin to look into Maul's criminal spree before it's too late.

This is all happening under Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader's noses as the Empire begins to grow, so don't be surprised if they show up one way or another. We haven't heard about Season 2 plans yet, but we're not expecting a 'one and done' kind of deal, especially when Star Wars' TV future seems thinner and most creative efforts are movie-oriented again.

Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord was co-created and developed by Dave Filoni (now co-president and creative honcho at Lucasfilm) and Matt Michnovetz, a Star Wars vet with both animation and Star Wars Jedi game experience. Brad Rau (The Bad Batch) is once again serving as supervising director.

The Hutts are back, and in a big way.

The last two times we witnessed ads for the upcoming "The Mandalorian" spinoff feature film, "The Mandalorian and Grogu," it was either a short uninspiring teaser that told us nothing about the plot, or a surreal Budweiser Super Bowl commercial narrated by Sam Elliott showing Mando and Baby Yoda being pulled through the thick Hoth snow by a team of tauntauns.

But all good things come to those who wait as Disney/Lucasfilm just released the second trailer for the latest chapter in the galaxy far, far away and it's packed with an absolute menagerie of aliens, robots, creatures, droids, and monsters, including those vile crimelord gangsters, the Hutts.

This fresh peek also delivers far more about the overarching storyline and gives us glimpses of some of the heroes and villains we’ll be joining as Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu planet-hop working bounty hunter jobs and encountering a wide range of nasty nefarious outlaws.

Scheduled for a May 22, 2026 release and directed by Jon Favreau, the $166 million space opera also stars Sigourney Weaver, Steve Blum, Hemky Madera, and Jonny Coyne. It's produced by Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Ian Bryce. Ludwig Göransson, the original composer for "The Mandalorian," returns to lend a rousing old-fashioned score for the film.

Set five years after "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi," the storyline finds Mando and The Child taking on lucrative mercenary gigs for the New Republic tracking down scoundrels and killers.

Here in the latest preview we're treated to sunset shots of X-wing fighters, a great look at Jabba the Hutt's son, Rotta, portrayed by "The Bear's" Jeremy Allen White, Din Djarin sans his iconic helmet, a gladiator battle with a Hutt, some sort of albino dragon serpent, and "Star Wars Rebels" fan favorite, Zeb. Finally, we're introduced to "The Clone Wars'" dome-headed bounty hunter named Embo, a clever fiend destined to be the film's formidable antagonist for our heroic pair.

It’s almost difficult to fathom that this latest "Star Wars" entry will be the first theatrical film in that storied franchise since 2019’s "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," and we all know how that one turned out. Nearly seven years is a long time for fans to have waited and there's a definite risk that the bloom is off the rose, so to speak, when it comes to attracting audiences back into theaters for what seemed like an extended episode of the Disney+ TV series.

However, perhaps time heals all and "The Mandalorian and Grogu" might be a true Lucasfilm savior after all. Is this is the way?

It's one of the most instantly recognizable scenes in cinematic history: Luke Skywalker gazes at a double sunset to the haunting melody of a mournful French horn. And while "Star Wars" may take place in a galaxy far, far away, planets orbiting binary stars actually do exist in the Milky Way. Yet mysteriously, there are not as many as scientists expect — and new research might explain why.

Of the thousands of single-star systems in our galaxy, around 10% are known to have planets. Scientists thus expected about 10% of the 3,000 known binary star systems in our galaxy to have them, too. But of the more than 6,000 confirmed exoplanets in the Milky Way, just 14 confirmed planets have been found around pairs of stars.

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, and the American University of Beirut suggest the culprit might be Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity.

In most binary star systems, two stars orbit each other in elliptical paths. A planet caught in that dance feels gravitational forces from both stars, causing its orbital orientation to slowly rotate in a process known as precession. Meanwhile, the binary stars' own orbits also precess due the rules of general relativity. As time progresses, tidal forces between the stars can draw them closer, accelerating their precession and causing an orbiting planet's precession to slow.

When the precession rates align, the planet's orbit becomes highly stretched. According to lead author Mohammad Farhat of the University of California, Berkeley, this resonance can destabilize the planet's path. "Either the planet swings too close to the stars and is torn apart, or its orbit is so perturbed that it's ejected from the system," he said in a statement.

The team's models suggest that in tight binaries — those with orbital periods of a week or less — such disruptions are common. These systems also happen to be the ones most likely to be monitored by missions like NASA's Kepler and TESS, which detect planets by watching for starlight dimming as a planet passes in front of them. That could partly explain the surprisingly low number of circumbinary planets in observational data.

Ultimately, there might be hundreds or thousands of Tatooines in the Milky Way — we just aren't sure how to look for them yet.

The team's findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on December 8, 2025.

Feeling unruly? An official prequel novel to 2024's "Star Wars Outlaws" is coming next month entitled "Star Wars Outlaws: Low Red Moon." Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft's third-person, open-world sci-fi adventure game, "Star Wars Outlaws," launched back on Aug. 30, 2024, for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

Gamers were introduced to the rogue scoundrel named Kay Vess and her BX-Commando droid partner as they prepared for one of the "biggest heists the Outer Rim has ever seen." The video game was set sometime between the events of "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" and "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi."

Now, an engaging backstory for "Star Wars Outlaws" named "Star Wars Outlaws: Low Red Moon" by author Mike Chen ("Star Wars: Brotherhood") is being published by Random House Worlds Feb. 3, 2026, to fill out the darker corners of the "Star Wars" Universe. The 384-page hardcover focuses on the game's main antagonist, crime lord Jaylen Vrax, and his intimidating assassin droid ND-5.

Here's the official synopsis:

"Jaylen Barsha, heir to his family’s immense power and wealth, had his life charted out for him neatly and meticulously by his parents, even though he suspected his neglected half-brother Sliro would be a better fit for the bright corporate future his parents envisioned. Then the Empire stripped it all away on trumped-up charges of conspiracy against his family. Before he can reach Sliro for help redeeming the Barsha name, a battle droid arrives at the family compound with a mission to kill every last member of the Barsha clan. Jaylen manages to fend off the attack as the sole survivor, but realizes the droid, who he reprograms, is his only chance to stay alive. But he can no longer be Jaylen Barsha—he’ll have to live now as Jaylen Vrax.

"Former Separatist battle droid ND-5 knows he should be scrap metal, all things considered. He was a proficient contributor to the Separatist cause, but what is a soldier without a war?

"With the threat against the Barsha clan still shrouded in mystery, the pair has no choice but to leverage the chaos and disappear. They find sanctuary in the anonymity of the underworld, building their reputation among scoundrels, bounty hunters, and crime syndicates. But when their latest score gives the first real clue in years to who sent ND-5 after Jaylen’s family, their biggest opportunity presents a new kind of risk. Do they give up this chance at the wealth and power Jaylen was denied to pursue answers? Or will ambition and the weight of the past shatter their unlikely partnership?"

"Star Wars Outlaws: Low Red Moon" arrives on Feb. 3, 2026.

We'd known since April 2025 that 'Maul – Shadow Lord' was the next animated Star Wars show coming to Disney Plus, but a trailer hadn't been made public yet. That has just changed, and we now have a release date too.

The two-episode premiere of 'Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord' has been set for April 6, possibly leaving the May the 4th slot open for another surprise anthology series should Disney and Lucasfilm choose to keep the tradition going. In any case, we'll be getting 10 episodes of Force-powered action and intrigue spread across five weeks following the debut, according to the official news post, with executive producer Matt Michnovetz teasing it's "a super fast-paced series."

Star Wars veteran Sam Witwer returns as the voice of Darth Maul, with Gideon Adlon co-leading as troubled Jedi Padawan Devon Izara in a post-Order 66 timeline. The Sith, led by Darth Sidious (aka Emperor Palpatine) and Darth Vader, sit at the top of the food chain, but Maul still dares to build a criminal empire in the shadows. Meanwhile, police detective Brander Lawson (Wagner Moura) and his droid partner Two-Boots (Richard Ayoade) are on the hunt for the fallen dark lord.

Long-time Star Wars animation fans will quickly notice the studio's signature style has seen some changes, with “painterly brushstrokes” and jagged edges giving this darker story an artistic voice of its own — an approach that also defines the series' first poster:

At the center of this season is the all-new planet Janix, characterized by a “gritty cityscape” that evokes Coruscant's underworld (though some key architectural differences can already be spotted). Michnovetz admitted it's “one part Gotham, one part Metropolis and a hundred percent Star Wars with all these different levels and layers.” It's the perfect scenario for a story about subterfuge, Jedi on the run, and criminal investigations.

Maul will be clashing with the Empire's Inquisitors, stormtroopers, and Lawson's police force, but the wildcard here might be Devon, a young Jedi who needs to adapt after the Empire has taken over. Will she fall to the dark side of the Force as Maul seeks to gain new allies?

We'd bet on that, but impossible to see, the future is.

After a lackluster past few years that saw dwindling interest, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland in Southern California is finally adding original "Star Wars" characters to the 14-acre park expansion that first opened back in 2019.

According to a Disney press release, starting on April 29, 2026, Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland will expand its timeline to embrace more "Star Wars" eras like the Galactic Civil War and New Republic, in addition to the Age of the Resistance and First Order.

Darth Vader, Princess Leia Organa, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker will officially land on Batuu this spring, joining Stormtroopers wandering the Outer Rim outpost to mingle with crowds.

Instead of the land's experimental in-universe droid chatter, town radio announcements, marketplace voices, and machinery noises, musical selections from John Williams' "Star Wars" film scores will now be piped in for a tribute soundscape as we close in on the 50th anniversary of "Star Wars" in 2027.

When Galaxy's Edge was introduced to the iconic park six years ago, it was conceived as a colorful galactic trading post filled with restaurants, shops, and attractions that featured heroes and villains lifted from the recent era of Disney "Star Wars" that kicked off with 2015's "The Force Awakens."

Visitors explored Black Spire Outpost on the planet Batuu in a land-meets-storytelling adventure where "Star Wars" faithful experienced rides like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run. To add to the immersion, well-known characters such as Rey Skywalker, Kylo Ren, Chewbacca, The Mandalorian, Ahsoka Tano, and Boba Fett roamed the area.

These new additions are only joining the California park, with the sister expansion at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida, which opened Aug. 29, 2019, sticking to the sequel era for now.

This welcoming of nostalgic legacy characters addresses an obvious oversight in the design and development of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, allowing for fans of different eras to enjoy the attraction.

It's not enough, though. Add Jar Jar, you cowards!

As the classic crooner Andy Williams once sang, "It's the most wonderful time of the year," and that means snowmen, reindeer, sleigh bells, mistletoe, and Good 'Ol St. Nick.

But it also means checking off your holiday gift list with sparkling literary treats for all your geeky friends and loved ones whose tastes include superheroes, galactic adventure, roaring rockets, starry skies, human spaceflight, queries from the cosmos, and excursions to the magical galaxy far, far away. Of course, if you're looking for last-minute gifts, you should check out our guides to the best Fallout gifts, best space stocking stuffers and 10 best gifts under $100 for kids.

The authors of many of these 12 books, which are all perfectly appropriate for the season of giving, have been interviewed by us to deliver an added touch of insight into their creative process. So come on, fill the glass and send 'round the song as we present a dozen delightful choices for the most discriminating of yuletide revelers!

Gemini: Stepping Stone to the Moon, the Untold Story

• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Author: Jeffrey Kluger
• Grab it on Amazon with a 24% discount.

If it weren't for the Gemini Program that taught NASA astronauts how to walk in space and maneuver spacecraft for docking procedures, America would never have made it to the Moon.

Told in his butter-smooth style and punctuated with expertly detailed accounts of the historic mid-'60s missions, New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Kluger ("Apollo 13") brings back all the guts and glory of those heady days when the final frontier was still an unexplored environment fraught with innumerable perils.

You can read our exclusive interview with Author Jeffrey Kluger on this new book.

Just Visiting This Planet

• Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
• Author: Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Grab this book on Amazon to save 10%

Here's the engaging sequel to last year's Merlin's Tour of the Universe from celebrity astrophysicist and New York Times bestselling author Neil deGrasse Tyson, which contains 200 more space science questions and answers compiled from readers that first appeared in a column in The McDonald Observatory's StarDate Magazine.

This newly updated 350-page hardback has been fully refreshed since it was first published in 1998, and collects a constellation of fun responses to queries about planets, stars, comets, black holes, moons, gravity, galaxies, space travel, and more, all told through the wise and wonderful Merlin, a timeless cosmic traveler from Planet Omniscia.

You can read our exclusive interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson on this book in full.

Final Orbit

• Publisher: Mulholland Books
• Author: Chris Hadfield
• Save over 10% on this book when you grab it from Amazon

From one of the most seasoned astronauts who ever left Earth, Chris Hadfield spins an involving yarn centering around NASA flight controller Kaz Zemeckis and China's clandestine role during the space race in the third installment of his The Apollo Murders series.

The plot unfolds in 1975 when a fresh Apollo mission blasts off to rendezvous with a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a new era in Soviet-American friendship, when a shocking orbital accident alters the course of this cooperation. Complicating the matter is the launch of China’s first astronaut, Fang Kuo-chun, whose own flight steers him on a perilous path intersecting with the Apollo crew.

Check out our exclusive interview with author Chris Hadfield in full.

Gemini and Mercury Remastered

• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal
• Author: Andy Saunders
• Save over 45% when you get this book on Amazon

Imaging expert and NASA historian Andy Saunders (Apollo Remastered) follows up his ambitious photographic account of our Apollo Program with this deluxe 320-page edition chronicling the Gemini and Mercury flights with hundreds of restored images curated from the archives of our storied space administration.

His newest masterwork was years in the making and delivers an insider's peek into these vital missions that provided the foundation for the success of our later trips to the moon. Project Mercury and Project Gemini revealed key questions regarding space travel, the human condition, and the limits of their fragile spacecraft in the most hostile of environments. Saunders' restoration process blesses us with never-before-seen photos that fully expose the mission dangers and awe-inspiring vantage points in astonishing clarity and color.

You can read our exclusive interview with the author, Andy Saunders, in full.

Star Wars: Master of Evil

• Publisher: Random House Worlds
• Author: Adam Christopher
• Save over 25% when you grab this book on Amazon

Veteran Star Wars author Adam Christopher spins a harrowing yarn from the events following Revenge of the Sith as a raw and vengeful Darth Vader yearns for the arcane mysteries of life and death while being scrutinized by Emperor Palpatine.

Consumed by the addictive elements of the Dark Side, Vader must make a pilgrimage to the scorching planet of Mustafar, where he endeavors to perform a necessary ritual by bleeding a kyber crystal to create his personal lightsaber. The energies unleashed in this unholy ceremony allow for a frightful glimpse into the horrors of the Force. Joined by the Emperor's scarlet-clad Royal Guard and its leader Colonel Halland Goth, the. Sith Lord will travel to the fringes of the galaxy where a strange shaman dwells.

You can check out our recent exclusive interview with the author, Adam Christopher.

Doug Chiang: The Cinematic Legacy (Volume I) & The Star Wars Legacy (Volume II)

• Publisher: Abrams Books
• Authors: Alexandre Poncet, Gilles Penso
• Grab it on Amazon with a 23% discount.

If you're lucky enough to score this two-volume, 800-page behemoth showcasing the work of Lucasfilm's visionary artist and designer Doug Chiang this Christmas, please drop me an email and let me know how I can join your family!

Chiang's Oscar-winning conceptual work is a revelation and this deluxe set not only reveals his creative work on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, but also Attack of the Clones, The Force Awakens, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Last Jedi, Solo: A Star Wars Story, The Rise of Skywalker, and The Mandalorian.

Volume 1, The Cinematic Legacy, presents Chiang's work prior to joining forces with Lucasfilm and includes designs for Back To The Future Part III, Alien 3, T2: Judgment Day, The Mask, Jumanji, and many more.

The Art of The Fantastic Four: First Steps

• Publisher: Marvel Universe
• Author: Jess Harrold
• It's currently 40% off on Amazon.

Marvel's First Family came wonderfully alive in full retro-futuristic style this past summer as directed by Matt Shakman and produced by Marvel Studios.

The smash movie can be fully re-experienced in this 288-page deluxe slipcase edition, delivering a bounty of imaginative concept art designs, sketches, character profiles, superhero vehicles, costumes, environments, and behind-the-scenes peeks into the movie-making process. Also included is a companion volume breaking down Reed Richards' scientific gadgets, trinkets, toys, and inventions that make up his superpowered team.

The Launch of Rocket Lab

• Publisher: Blackwell & Ruth
• Author: Peter Griffin
• Get it for 25% off on Amazon

This inspiring title follows Rocket Lab's remarkable journey from tiny VC start-up to a global juggernaut in direct competition with Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

It contains a wealth of behind-the-scenes photos and original interviews with founder Sir Peter Beck, his expert team, loyal investors, and industry experts that provide a colorful look at one of the major contenders in the current space race as they continue to grow as a force to be reckoned with.

Rocket Lab is currently the fastest company to launch 50 rockets into space, with a market cap of $13.63 billion, a planned mission to the Red Planet, and even aspirations to launch a mission to Venus someday.

Dune: The Graphic Novel: The Complete 3-Book Boxed Set

• Publisher: Abrams ComicArts
• Authors: Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson
• Grab it on Amazon with a 12% discount

Just in time for some sweet sci-fi gift-giving, here's the complete 3-book Dune graphic novel adaptation of legendary author Frank Herbert for the 60th anniversary of the book's original publication in 1965.

This premium box set, written by Frank's son, Brian Herbert, with collaborator Kevin J. Anderson, contains vivid illustrations by Raul Allen and Patricia Martin that perfectly capture the galactic turmoil and mysticism that's enthralled readers for decades as one of the greatest interstellar sagas ever conceived.

You can read our exclusive interview with Kevin J. Anderson in full, too.

Nanocosmos: Journeys In Electron Space

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Author: Michael Benson
• Get it, while it's 40% off on Amazon

The sublime beauty and mystery of the microscopic world are presented here by author, artist, and film historian Michael Benson. Now, in this six-pound, 320-page coffee-table book, Benson takes us all on a mindblowing trip into the realm of extreme magnification using the might of scanning electron microscope (SEM) technologies.

It's an ideal gift for space and science lovers as it offers a shocking glimpse of these tiny worlds that surround us daily. The images were captured from SEM scans Benson took over the course of six years at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Quebec, including radiolarians, dinoflagellates, and diatoms, as well as multiple types of insects, microscopic flowers, and even lunar samples obtained from Apollo 16.

Be sure to check out our exclusive interview with author Michael Benson, too.

Superman: The Art and Making of the Film

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Author: James Field
• This book is currently over 40% off on Amazon

It's up, up and away with this beautiful concept art book from director James Gunn's Superman, which landed in theaters this past summer and raked in a comfortable $585 million.

Now, acolytes of the Man of Steel can witness how this superhero spectacle was created by a small army of Hollywood technicians and artists in this 176-page edition that whisks readers behind the scenes for DC Studios' blockbuster.

Writer James Field (The Art of The Batman) records every stage of the movie's production, beginning with Gunn and DC Studios co-chairman Peter Safran's initial brainstorming chats to casting, costumes, set design, and post-production VFX. It includes an intro from writer/director James Gunn and a David Corenswet foreword.

Cellarius Atlas

• Publisher: Taschen
• Author: Robert Van Gent
• You can pre-order this book on Amazon right now

The wonders of the cosmos come alive in a bold new edition of the classic collection of constellation maps from famed Dutch-German mathematician and cosmographer Andreas Cellarius (c. 1596 ? 1665) that unveils these celestial atlas masterworks in unprecedented detail.

Initially published in 1660 in Harmonia Macrocosmica, this revised volume in a larger prestige format contains the complete 29 double-folio maps. These striking plates showcase sublime adorned skies, decorative borders and breathtaking constellations in this astonishing seven-pound reprint measuring 11.42 x 1.57 x 18.9 inches that restores academia's most stunning depictions of the heavens.

December 18, 2015 (December 17 in the UK) will be a day long remembered. It was the day "The Force Awakens" first arrived in theaters, when "Star Wars" icons Han Solo, Leia Organa, and (eventually) Luke Skywalker made their long-awaited return to the big screen, and continued their fight against the dark side.

The Skywalker Saga's seventh instalment was a critical and commercial success, and made Disney's $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012 look like a very smart piece of business.

Since then, there have been four more movies and the franchise's first-ever adventures in live-action TV, but — while it's undoubtedly been a lucrative endeavor — this new "Star Wars" era hasn't always been plain sailing.

We're celebrating the 10th anniversary of The Force Awakens with its own retrospective, but here we're casting the net wider, exploring the ups and downs of the first 10 years in Disney's version of a galaxy far, far away.

And to keep things fun, we're taking Disney back to school and giving each Star Wars project a letter grade. Starting with...

The Skywalker Saga

The "Star Wars" sequel trilogy was the holy grail of Disney's Lucasfilm purchase. Fans — and numerous spin-off novels — had been pondering what happened after "Return of the Jedi" for decades, and now they'd get to see it on the big screen. With Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher returning as the holy trinity of Han, Luke, and Leia.

Hiring a director who'd recently had success resurrecting the other major "Star" franchise proved a smart move. Lucas's weird, out-there story treatments (ultimately jettisoned by Disney) would have made for intriguing movies, but JJ Abrams' crowd-pleasing approach (co-scripted with "The Empire Strikes Back" writer Lawrence Kasdan) was what the franchise needed. Yes, "The Force Awakens"' plot was essentially a remix of "A New Hope" but it also told those gen-X fans who'd moaned about the prequels that Disney knew how to make their kind of "Star Wars". It remains the only film in the franchise to top $2 billion at the global box office.

While "The Force Awakens" played it safe, follow-up "The Last Jedi" (2017) took some big swings. The resulting film became the most divisive in the entire saga.

For some — this writer included — writer/director Rian Johnson's choices were wonderfully bold and unexpected: Luke's disillusionment with the Jedi, Rey's "nobody" parentage, and Snoke's shock death all delivered on the trailer's promise that "this is not going to go the way you think". Other sectors of the fanbase, however, saw these as negatives, along with the very slow starship chase, the detour to a gambling planet, and accusations of excessive wokeness. (The deeply unpleasant online abuse directed at members of the cast and crew, particularly Kelly Marie Tran, highlighted the dark side of fandom.)

Then came "The Rise of Skywalker" (2019)…

Mistakes were undoubtedly made in both "The Force Awakens" and "The Last Jedi" — most notably, passing up the opportunity to reunite Han, Luke and Leia on screen — but "The Rise of Skywalker" was a bona fide catalogue of errors.

With Leia reportedly set to take a leading role in "Episode IX", the sad passing of Carrie Fisher in December 2016 threw the filmmakers the most tragic of curveballs. But when original writer/director Colin Trevorrow ("Jurassic World") departed the project less than two years ahead of its planned release— "we have come to the conclusion that our visions for the project differ," said a Lucasfilm statement — returning director Abrams found himself in a race against time.

He wasn't helped by the Skywalker Saga's ad hoc approach to plotting, strangely reminiscent of Consequences, the old parlour game where players have to continue each other's unseen stories. It turned out there'd been little overarching grand plan for the new trilogy, as each creative team riffed on their predecessor's ideas.

While this narrative flexibility had arguably worked in Johnson's favor, Abrams and co-writer Chris Terrio made some really odd choices. They didn't shy away from those aforementioned big swings, but resurrecting the long- (and very) dead Emperor Palpatine — while revealing he'd been pulling the First Order's strings all along — made the "Star Wars" galaxy feel very, very small, undermining everything that had made "The Last Jedi" memorable.

The retcons — such as Rey being anything but nobody (hey everyone, she's Palpatine's granddaughter!) — were utterly nonsensical, as were the cheap, easily undone shock moments like Chewbacca's "death". Questions posed in "The Force Awakens" about the origins of the Knights of Ren and how Maz Kanata obtained Luke's lightsaber remained frustratingly unanswered. And then there was Carrie Fisher's posthumous appearance as Princess Leia, an unsatisfying blend of unused footage and CG recreation. In hindsight, it would have been better to have this beloved character die off-screen.

"The Rise of Skywalker" remains a very expensive ode to that old proverb that "those who fail to plan, plan to fail". It's still, by some distance, the worst film in the franchise, and ended (for now) the Skywalker Saga on a downer. It was also the fifth "Star Wars" movie released in the space of four years — it's telling there hasn't been another in the six years since.

Standalone movies

"Rogue One" (2016) shouldn't have worked. This was a standalone movie inspired by a couple of lines from "A New Hope"'s opening crawl (about the Rebels stealing some famous Death Star plans), featured an ensemble of unknown characters, and was the result of a famously troubled production, where "Michael Clayton" writer/director Tony Gilroy came on board to oversee extensive reshoots. The full extent of his involvement is still shrouded in secrecy.

And yet the film turned out to be one of the best in the entire franchise. It was a dark, gritty war movie, where themes about sacrifice (everybody dies!) sat side-by-side with the unashamed nostalgia of OG X-Wings and TIE Fighters dogfighting.

The second "Star Wars Story", "Solo", was less successful. Going back to the origins of everyone's favorite scoundrel, Han Solo, may have felt like a no-brainer — especially with Kasdan on board as co-writer — but the film never felt like an essential addition to the rapidly expanding canon.

As with "Rogue One" there was trouble behind the scenes, as original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller ("The Lego Movie") left the production — "different creative visions" were blamed for the departure once again. Ron Howard, owner of two of the safest hands in Hollywood, was hired to shepherd the production over the line.

But, whether or not you feel Alden Ehrenreich was up to filling Harrison Ford's boots, the film's biggest problem was its concept. "Solo" was less a story than a succession of answers to questions you never needed to ask, from recreating the Kessel Run to confirming the origins of the Solo name — he's travelling alone, geddit? Little did we know that this "fill in the canonical blanks" approach to storytelling would later become integral to the "Star Wars" galaxy….

Television

The launch of Disney+ in November 2019 gave "Star Wars" the chance to take its first step into a larger world. Sure, there had been plenty of animated series already (including the brilliant "The Clone Wars"), but nothing live-action, despite Lucas's best efforts on the abandoned "Star Wars: Underworld".

Jon Favreau's "The Mandalorian" (2019) was the right show at the right time, a welcome nod to the franchise's space-western roots in which a bounty hunting loner became surrogate dad to the cutest kid in the galaxy. It looked as good as a movie, but also made the most of its episodic structure. For the first time in its history, the most exciting place in the "Star Wars" galaxy could be found on TV.

Subsequent Disney+ shows have been more inconsistent. The galaxy's most infamous bounty hunter had come close to headlining his own movie in the 2010s, but ultimately became the lead in "The Mandalorian" spin-off, "The Book of Boba Fett" (2021). Fett's efforts to take control of the late Jabba the Hutt's crime empire lacked the crucial Grogu factor, however, and — somewhat ironically — the seven-part series' two best episodes were "The Mandalorian" outings in all but name.

This post-"Return of the Jedi" period in the "Star Wars" timeline has proved particularly fertile ground for the franchise, with "Ahsoka" (2023) (which has been renewed for a second season) and "Skeleton Crew" (2024) (which has not).

Co-created by "Spider-Man: Homecoming" director Jon Watts, "Skeleton Crew" was a fun, refreshing effort to recreate "The Goonies" in outer space. "Ahsoka", meanwhile", gave former Lucasfilm animation overlord Dave Filoni (now Lucasfilm's chief creative officer) the chance to continue the stories of characters and storylines established in "The Clone Wars" and "Star Wars Rebels". It's as lore-heavy as anything in "Star Wars" — arguably too much so for casual viewers — and adheres closely to the "plug those gaps" formula established by "Solo".

Along with the functionally titled "Obi-Wan Kenobi" miniseries (2022), "Ahsoka" marked an important shift in the franchise's strategy. While the first batch of Disney-era movies went all-out to push the nostalgia buttons of older fans who'd grown up with Han, Luke, and Leia, Lucasfilm started to acknowledge that the kids who'd grown up on the prequels were now adults buying Disney+ subscriptions of their own. Anakin Skywalker (played by the returning Hayden Christensen) was their hero, while the Ewan McGregor incarnation of Obi-Wan was the Jedi Master they'd always known.

"The Acolyte" (2024) (the brainchild of "Russian Doll" creator Leslye Headland) became "Star Wars"' first screen outing set outside the Skywalker era. Unfortunately, the Jedi/Sith action of the High Republic era — roughly a century before the events of "The Phantom Menace" — didn't feel significantly different from what we'd seen before, and the show was axed after a single season.

As on the big screen, it's Lucasfilm's biggest TV swings that have been the most successful. From various Lego spin-offs to "The Bad Batch" (2021), there's been no shortage of "Star Wars" animation over the last decade, but "Star Wars: Visions" (2021) has been the most radical. While it's undeniably hit and miss, the anthology series has allowed animators around the world to put new and varied spins on a universe that's nearly half a century old.

And, of course, there's "Andor" (2022), the "Rogue One" prequel that redefined what "Star Wars" can be. Without ever forgetting that it's set in a galaxy far, far away, Tony Gilroy's complex political thriller felt chillingly relevant, as a small band of Rebels risked everything to mobilize against crushing Imperial brutality. Forget Darth Vader and the Emperor, the Empire has never been scarier than it was here.

"Andor"'s two seasons are the standout of the Disney era, a reminder of "Star Wars"' impressive versatility. Of course, not everything has to be so dark and gritty, but — if the powers-that-be have been paying attention — they'll realise that any stories they want to tell could and should be on the (Sabacc) table. Even a "Lower Decks"-style comedy.

The future

In 2018, following the disappointing box-office performance of "Solo", Disney CEO Bob Iger issued a mea culpa to the Hollywood Reporter. Referring to the breakneck pace of Disney's early "Star Wars" release schedule, he admitted, "I think the mistake that I made — I take the blame — was a little too much, too fast."

And over the last decade, it's been hard to escape the feeling that — to paraphrase Indiana Jones, Lucasfilm's other timeless movie icon— they're making this up as they go. "Star Wars" has certainly suffered in comparison to Disney stablemate Marvel, whose MCU — despite some recent stumbles — remains the gold standard for all shared universes.

Projects come and go at every major studio — and more eyes are on "Star Wars" than most — but the sheer number of movies and TV shows that have fallen by the wayside is mind-boggling.

Josh Trank's Boba Fett project, Patty Jenkins' "Rogue Squadron", a Lando Calrissian film, and potential big-screen projects from "Thor" director Taika Waititi, Marvel boss Kevin Feige, and "The Last Jedi"'s Johnson have all been discussed, but — for various reasons — never made it out of the development pipeline. "Rangers of the New Republic", another proposed "Mandalorian" spin-off, was also spiked. Stories teased by "Solo" (Maul’s new career as a crime lord) and "The Acolyte" (the arrival of Palpatine's master, Darth Plagueis) were frozen in carbonite, plot threads left hanging by shifting plans and cancellations.

But now, a decade on from "The Force Awakens, Disney may finally be finding some balance in the Force. Dave Filoni (a man steeped in "Star Wars" lore after serving as Lucas's Padawan on "The Clone Wars") feels like a wise appointment as chief creative officer, and hopefully, he'll be able to shape Lucasfilm's output as Feige has Marvel's. A much-needed slowdown in output should also give everyone — fans included — a chance to regroup.

The only major TV releases on the immediate horizon are "Ahsoka"'s second season (date TBC) and the animated "Maul: Shadow Lord" (2026). And, six years after "Star Wars" last graced movie theaters, the big screen is finally back on the agenda.

Upcoming Star Wars movie announcements about Rey's return in a post-"Rise of Skywalker" "New Jedi Order" film, and a Jedi origins tale from "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" director James Mangold, both got the internet buzzing. But it's the continuation of a TV show that'll be first out of the spaceport, as "The Mandalorian and Grogu" get ready to land in multiplexes in May 2026. At some point, we're also expecting a big-screen finale to the interweaving stories told in "The Mandalorian", "The Book of Boba Fett" and "Ahsoka".

And then there's "Starfighter" (2027), "Star Wars"'s first-ever attempt to sell a movie on established A-list talent, as "Deadpool & Wolverine"'s Shawn Levy directs Ryan Gosling. The Force could be very strong with this one…

You can find a galaxy of "Star Wars" movies and TV shows on Disney+.

There's a saying: no one hates "Star Wars" more than "Star Wars" fans. While the river of abhorrence flows freely through the deluge of online forums and social media now, it feels like everyone was genuinely excited about the release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" in 2015.

There was something in the air during this time. The Force was strong as audiences packed theatres, wearing Jedi robes and raising their lightsabers in unison as the famous opening crawl scrolled across the screen. And why shouldn't they have been excited? It had been 10 years since "Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith" and this marked the beginning of the next chapter in the Skywalker Saga. A new new hope, so to speak, under Disney's controversial umbrella, but that's a story for another day.

At the helm was filmmaker J. J. Abrams, who had successfully rebooted the "Star Trek" movie franchise years earlier. Everyone knows Trekkies are just as passionate as "Star Wars" fanatics, so if anyone could carry the space opera into a post-George Lucas future and keep the fans happy – well, for the most part – it was Abrams.

Much like how Goldilocks liked her porridge, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" turned out to be neither too hot nor too cold; it was just right. The film treads safely and reads like a greatest hits of everything "Star Wars," but it also finds the appropriate balance of leaning on nostalgia and preparing for the future.

It's something Abrams also confirmed to Wired. "We wanted to tell a story that had its own self-contained beginning, middle, and end, but at the same time, like 'A New Hope,' implied a history that preceded it and also hinted at a future to follow," he said.

The new hero is Rey (Daisy Ridley) – a goodhearted nobody who gets pulled into this seemingly never-ending battle between light and dark. But who is she, really? That promises to be revealed later on. She's joined by the fresh additions of pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), former Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega), and the cute-as-a-bug droid BB-8. Each of them offers a hint of how they will aid Rey on her journey of discovery, but they also have their own unique backstories that beg to be unravelled and explored further in subsequent movies.

That isn't all, though, as the legacy characters return. Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), C3-PO (Anthony Daniels), and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) feature in several ways. Rightfully so, Abrams keeps Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) off-screen for most of the film, raising the anticipation for when Luke and Rey finally meet and he assumes the Yoda role.

Then, there are the villains – arguably, one of the most important elements of any "Star Wars" film. Snoke (Andy Serkis) positions himself to be the new Palpatine, manipulating and scheming in the shadows as the leader of the First Order. Serving Snoke is the Darth Vader of "The Force Awakens", Adam Driver's Kylo Ren aka Ben Solo. He has the Skywalker bloodline running through his veins, but broke bad at a point in his life. The question is, will he or won't he turn his back on the dark side like his grandfather did many moons before? Well, that lightsaber through his father Han's chest suggests not – at least not in this movie.

If one were to dissect "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," you'd find it tends to follow the formula of the original film, "A New Hope": A reluctant hero emerges and they're aided by a motley crew of companions as they embark on a mission of restoring hope to the galaxy. They encounter the Big Bad and quickly discover how ruthless they are, losing a beloved mentor in the process. However, this chosen one finds the inner strength to win the battle – not the war – setting up the stakes for a sequel.

As the first entry in the latest trilogy, "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" effectively accomplishes its primary task: it establishes the premise, introduces new characters into the universe, and teases the future storyline. It also received mostly positive reviews from fans and critics, and brought in a mouth-watering $2 billion at the box office.

Unfortunately, all this good work gets undone by the sequels that lack any creative cohesion or forethought. Legacy characters fall to the wayside. Finn and Poe become insignificant in the story. Snoke dies unceremoniously. Rey is revealed to be nobody significant, only to be retconned and related to Palpatine, who somehow returns.

Oh, and Kylo Ren has a come-to-Jesus moment, turns to the light side of the Force, and falls in love with Rey, because… who knows. Probably not even the filmmakers or actors. If anything, 2019's "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" proves that everyone is just winging it at this point and hoping for the nightmare to end.

So, what went wrong here? The biggest issue is that Lucasfilm hired three filmmakers for the trilogy. The original plan was that Abrams would tackle the first film, Rian Johnson would do the second, and Colin Trevorrow the third. Trevorrow departed after creative differences, ironically. Abrams returned and attempted to pull a rabbit out of a hat, but grabbed a turkey instead.

There was supposed to be some semblance of an outline of where they were going overall, but that's debatable when you watch the seismic jump from "The Force Awakens" to "The Rise of Skywalker."

It's to be expected, though. When you throw three different filmmakers into a universe, they will each have their own visions of what they want to do. It's like asking three chefs to make potato salad. One might make it the traditional way with boiled potatoes and mayonnaise, while the other chucks ghastly boiled eggs into the mix, and the final person decides it needs sausages too. At some point, this potato salad turns into a stew that no one asked for.

What's frustrating about "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is how it's an easy-to-follow blueprint, but it gets wiped out in "The Last Jedi" like it's the second coming of Jar Jar Binks. Johnson turns everything on its head, cutting the story threads introduced by Abrams and heading off in his own unexpected direction. Now — even though this upset the fans at the time — it would be okay if there were a final pay-off in "The Rise of Skywalker," but there wasn't. It's a perfect example of what happens when films are made by committee and by people who don't understand "Star Wars," something that George Lucas has said about Disney's handling of the trilogy.

While "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" doesn't compare to the best Star Wars movies, it's certainly the best of the sequel trilogy and glimmers with potential. The only problem is when Han says, "I got a bad feeling about this," he was not only predicting his own fate but also that of the future films. Maybe they needed more sand here… or just better creative leadership.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is available to stream on Disney+.

Astronomers have discovered a planet beyond the solar system that orbits its twin parent stars closer than any ever seen before in a binary. The twin stars in the sky over the newly-found extrasolar planet, or "exoplanet," likely bear a resemblance to the twin stars over Tatooine, the home planet of Luke Skywalker, when viewers first meet the young hero at the beginning of Star Wars: A New Hope.

This exoplanet is six times closer to its parent stars than any previously directly imaged binary system exoplanet, yet despite this relative proximity, it still has a year that lasts 300 times as long as an Earth year.

The discovery of this planet, designated HD 143811 AB b (referring to the fact that it orbits the stars HD 143811 A and HD 143811 B in the system HD 143811 AB), and located 446 light-years away from Earth, is an exciting find for scientists. That is because planets are very rarely detected around binary stars, meaning HD 143811 AB b offers a rare chance to study how stars and planets orbit together, while also investigating planet formation mechanisms.

"Of the 6,000 exoplanets that we know of, only a very small fraction of them orbit binaries," team member and exoplanet imaging expert Jason Wang of Northwestern University said in a statement. "Of those, we only have a direct image of a handful of them, meaning we can have an image of the binary and the planet itself. Imaging both the planet and the binary is interesting because it’s the only type of planetary system where we can trace both the orbit of the binary star and the planet in the sky at the same time.

"We're excited to keep watching it in the future as they move, so we can see how the three bodies move across the sky."

A new discovery from decade-old data

This exoplanet may be new to astronomers, but it isn't actually a new observation. Wang and colleagues discovered HD 143811 AB b in archival data collected almost 10 years ago by the Gemini South telescope and its Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) instrument. GPI captured images of exoplanets by blocking out the overwhelming glare of their parent stars using a coronagraph, an instrument that acts almost like the artificial equivalent of an eclipse. The instrument then used adaptive optics to sharpen the images of these faint planets around their bright stars.

GPI operated from 2014 to 2022, when it was removed from Gemini South and transferred to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana to undergo a major upgrade of the whole system called GPI 2.0. Next year, once upgrades are completed, GPI 2.0 will be moved to the Gemini North telescope atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii.

This discovery came about when Wang and colleagues decided to revisit the GPI data ahead of its new life as GPI 2.0. "I didn’t think we’d find any new planets," Wang said. "But I thought we should do our due diligence and check carefully anyway."

"During the instrument's lifetime, we observed more than 500 stars and found only one new planet," Wang said. "It would have been nice to have seen more, but it did tell us something about just how rare exoplanets are."

Team member Nathalie Jones of the Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) assessed GPI data gathered over three years between 2016 and 2019, cross-referencing it with data collected by the W.M. Keck Observatory. This led to a tantalizing discovery, a faint object following the motion of a star.

"Stars don't stand still in a galaxy; they move around," Wang explained. "We look for objects and then revisit them later to see if they have moved elsewhere. If a planet is bound to a star, then it will move with the star. Sometimes, when we revisit a 'planet,' we find it's not moving with its star, then we know it was just a photobombing star passing through. If they are both moving together, then that's a sign that it’s an orbiting planet."

Astronomers can determine the difference between light coming directly from a star and light being reflected by a planet, meaning they can also look at data and compare it to what it would look like if a mystery object is indeed a planet. These tests allowed Jones to determine that HD 143811 AB b is indeed a planet that was first captured by GPI in 2016 but was subsequently missed by astronomers. This conclusion was also arrived at by an independent team of astronomers from the University of Exeter in the UK.

Astronomers were also able to learn a lot more about HD 143811 AB b, discovering that this planet is a whopper, at around six times the size of Jupiter. The planet was also determined to be around 13 million years old, which may sound ancient until you consider the Earth is 4.6 billion years old.

"That sounds like a long time ago, but it's 50 million years after dinosaurs went extinct," Wang said. "That's relatively young in universe speak, so it still retains some of the heat from when it formed."

It isn't just the planet that is relatively close to its binary stellar parents; these stars are also quite close together, taking just 18 Earth days to orbit each other. Yet, despite its proximity to the stars compared to other planets found in binary systems, HD 143811 AB b still takes 300 Earth-years to complete just one orbit.

What the team doesn't yet understand is quite how this planet formed around its binary stars.

"Exactly how it works is still uncertain," Wang said. "Because we have only detected a few dozen planets like this, we don’t have enough data yet to put the picture together."

Answering this question could require the team to further study HD 143811 AB.

"I'm asking for more telescope time, so we can continue looking at this planet," Jones said. "We want to track the planet and monitor its orbit, as well as the orbit of the binary stars, so we can learn more about the interactions between binary stars and planets."

In the meantime, Jones intends to continue hunting through archival data to discover more planets. "There are a couple of suspicious objects, but what they are, exactly, remains to be seen," Jones concluded.

The team's research was published on Thursday (Dec. 11) in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Let's not mince words: Darth Vader is one of the best fictional characters ever created (after Batman!) so it's with great anticipation that New York Times best-selling novelist Adam Christopher ("Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith") heads back to the galaxy far, far away to deliver a macabre new Sith Lord tale in "Star Wars: Master of Evil."

Arriving on Nov. 11, 2025, courtesy of Random House Worlds, this 384-page hardback takes place after the events of "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith," where a freshly forged Darth Vader seeks out the arcane secrets of life and death under the enveloping gaze of Emperor Palpatine.

We've got an exclusive chapter excerpt below to share with our readers.

The official synopsis reads: "In the wake of Emperor Palpatine's rise to power, the true nature of his most sinister enforcer remains a mystery. Darth Vader is a dominant yet illusive figure: the shadow cast by a malignant Imperial regime, unknowable to even its top officials. But as his humanity gives way to myth, Vader remains haunted by the promises of the dark side, seeking the ultimate power that his master has hinted at but withheld — the power to conquer death itself.

"On the volcanic world of Mustafar, Vader undertakes a dark ritual, bleeding a kyber crystal to forge his lightsaber. This act unleashes a power far greater than he anticipated, giving him a glimpse into the limitless potential of the Force.

"Vader is determined to follow this vision, even if it means defying his master's orders. Yet he finds the Emperor suspiciously supportive of his mission, even sending Vader to the Diso system to investigate rumors of a Force-wielding shaman able to raise the dead. At his side are a cadre of the Emperor’s scarlet-robed Royal Guard, led by Colonel Halland Goth — a decorated soldier with a very personal interest in Vader’s mission.”

Exclusive excerpt from "Star Wars: Master of Evil":

Colonel Halland Goth, an honored member of the Emperor’s personal guard, has been contacted by the Imperial Security Bureau to observe and report on the Emperor’s strange new enforcer, Darth Vader. Now on assignment, Goth meets Vader for the first time and finds the experience … unsettling.

Colonel Goth took a deep breath and focused his attention on the Emperor, sitting on his throne before the huge window of the office. The room was silent, save for the heavy, mechanized breathing of the huge man in black armor standing to one side of the throne dais.

Lord Vader himself. The man Goth was supposed to watch. But here, in his actual, physical presence, Goth could do nothing but stand to attention and swallow as he fought to control the almost visceral reaction he had to the imposing figure.

Goth might not have known who Vader was, but he had seen him before, just ... not this close. It had been at the celebration marking the eradication of the Jedi Order, where the lightsabers of the traitors had been burned. From afar, he’d glimpsed this nightmare in black standing by the Emperor’s side, watching the proceedings from a high balcony overlooking the steps of the Jedi Temple. Now, up close, Goth was impressed not just by the technology of the man’s suit but also by the design itself, the skull-like mask and flared neck protector clearly designed to instill fear in those who dared to face him, the exaggerated volume of the mechanical respirator another feature that would impress, if not terrify.

As his nerves began to settle, Goth allowed himself a tight smile, trying very hard to keep the expression as neutral as possible. But he was pleased to be part of this, whatever it was. Fear was how the new Empire kept control. Not terror, as such. Nor indeed austerity or hardship or punitive measures — although each had its place, he knew that — but fear. People responded to fear, and they responded well. He had seen that himself when accompanying the Emperor as a Royal Guard. The full ceremonial uniform he and his men normally wore, with its elongated cowl-like mask and enveloping red cloak, was designed not just for pomp and circumstance but also to elicit a certain kind of reaction from those who saw it.

Oh yes, appearances were everything in the new order.

There was the sound of footsteps entering the office. Still standing to attention, eyes front, Goth waited patiently, wondering who the newcomer was, not aware that anyone else had been invited to the briefing. An Imperial adviser perhaps, one of the slightly odd old men who seemed to have the Emperor’s ear from time to time.

Goth realized who it would be just as the newcomer came into his field of vision, and he found his mood deflating a little.

ISB supervisor Desler walked in and bowed low to the Emperor before turning and, quite casually, glancing over the Royal Guard. Goth’s gaze met the supervisor’s piercing blue eyes, and once again he was caught by the fire he saw within them.

Then the supervisor smiled, and Goth realized that the fire he had seen was starlight glinting off ice.

Desler moved to stand beside the Emperor’s throne and stayed there, hands clasped behind her back. The way she had just walked in, the way she had made herself part of the proceedings without saying a word ... Goth wasn’t sure he would ever get used to the ISB, the way they seemed to think they were not part of the regular hierarchy, apparently free to wander around the buildings and facilities of the Federal District, going about their own business without much regard for the rest of the military apparatus. Of course, the Emperor had invited her — Goth’s new mission had come from the throne, after all — but still. It was unsettling. The ISB was clearly a powerful entity.

Then it occurred to him: the ISB ... or COMPNOR?

It was Lord Vader who broke the silence in the Emperor’s office.

"I need no bodyguard."

His voice was deep and resonant — enhanced, of course, by the vocalizer built into the impressive mask. When he spoke, the sound of the mechanical respirator continued uninterrupted. Interesting, thought Goth, as his eyes fell on the square control panel on the front of the man’s chest. Red and green lights shone brightly, as they did on his belt, among a series of switches and buttons.

Life support?

"That is not your decision to make, Lord Vader," said the Emperor calmly.

There was confirmation, from the Emperor’s own lips. Lord Vader — one of Palpatine’s advisers? Part of his inner circle, certainly. But ... that suit. Goth looked at it again. Not just armor, not just a ceremonial demonstration of the Empire’s might. There was more to it. He listened carefully for a moment to Vader’s steady respiration, his eyes falling again to the lights on the chest panel —

And then Vader turned, his long cloak swirling as, without another word, he left the office and the Emperor’s presence. Goth allowed himself to break out of line for just a moment — he was the ranking officer in the room, after all — and watched him go, then turned back to the Emperor.

The Emperor waved a hand. "You are now under Lord Vader’s command," he said. "Accompany him to Diso. You have your orders. Go."

Goth snapped to attention, then gave the Emperor a deep bow. As he stood, he saw Desler move closer to the Emperor, the thumb and forefinger of her right hand playing with a signet ring on her left.

Goth straightened and presented the supervisor with his full attention. Desler smirked and gave him a small nod, which Goth returned. Then Goth turned on his heel and marched out, his Royal Guard sweeping in silently behind.

In the lobby outside the office, Goth ordered the guards to return to barracks and prepare for departure. As they filed away, Goth turned to look back into the Emperor’s office. He caught a glimpse of the ISB supervisor talking closely with the Emperor just before the doors to the office slid closed.

Clearing his throat, he headed back to his quarters to prepare for the mission, absentmindedly rubbing his chest with one hand. Stepping into an empty turbolift, he started coughing and didn’t stop until he stepped out one hundred levels below.

Reprinted from "Star Wars: Master of Evil" by Adam Christopher. © 2025 by Lucasfilm Ltd. Published by Random House Worlds, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Using NASA's planet-hunting spacecraft TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), astronomers have discovered three Earth-size worlds orbiting around twin stars.

It has previously been theorized that binary systems are hostile to the formation of complex planetary arrangements, meaning this discovery could change how we think about planet formation and the stability of worlds after formation. What makes the planets of TOI-2267 even more exciting is they also break some previously held exoplanet records.

Furthermore, the binary star nature of this system, located around 190 light-years from Earth, means these exoplanets could experience dual starsets reminiscent of the famous scene in Star Wars: A New Hope in which Luke Skywalker gazes dreamily out at the stars of his homeworld, Tatooine.

"Our analysis shows a unique planetary arrangement: two planets are transiting one star, and the third is transiting its companion star," Sebastián Zúñiga-Fernánde, study team member and a researcher at the University of Liège (ULiège), said in a statement.

"This makes TOI-2267 the first binary system known to host transiting planets around both of its stars."

Record breakers!

Binary star systems come in a range of shapes, sizes and arrangements. TOI-2267 is a "compact binary." This means the stars that comprise this system orbit each other in close proximity. This closeness causes gravitational instability that existing planetary formation models have suggested should result in an environment unsuitable for planet formation.

Yet, planets have formed in TOI-2267.

"Our discovery breaks several records, as it is the most compact and coldest pair of stars with planets known, and it is also the first in which planets have been recorded transiting around both components," Francisco J. Pozuelos, study team co-leader and a researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC), said in a statement.

Pozuelos and colleagues got their first hints about these three distant Earth-like worlds when they examined data from TESS using their detection software, SHERLOCK. This early indication of planets in the TOI-2267 system prompted the team to get ready for more observations with several other observatories. This included SPECULOOS, a network of robotic telescopes comprised of SPECULOOS Southern Observatory at the Paranal Observatory in Chile and SPECULOOS Northern Observatory at the Teide Observatory in Tenerife, and a pair of telescopes in Belgium called TRAPPIST (Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope).

These facilities are specially adapted to investigate small exoplanets around cool and faint stars, meaning they were vital in allowing the team to characterize TOI-2267, and thus, discovering its surprising nature.

"This system is a true natural laboratory for understanding how rocky planets can emerge and survive under extreme dynamical conditions, where we previously thought their stability would be compromised," Pozuelos said.

The queries raised regarding planet formation by this system could be an investigation that is right in the wheelhouse of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) as well as the next generation of ground-based observatories. These instruments should allow astronomers to precisely measure the masses, densities and possibly even the atmospheric chemistry of the newly discovered planets of TOI-2267.

"Discovering three Earth-sized planets in such a compact binary system is a unique opportunity," Zúñiga-Fernández concluded. "It allows us to test the limits of planet formation models in complex environments and to better understand the diversity of possible planetary architectures in our galaxy."

The team's research was published on Friday (Oct. 24) in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

A new contender for the throne of "best star pilot in the galaxy" is heading our way, as "Star Wars: Starfighter" streaks into multiplexes in May 2027. Here's everything we know about the Ryan Gosling-led Star Wars movie.

We haven't had a Star Wars movie in theaters for a long time, with the last entry being 2019's polarizing installment, "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker", so it's great to see the franchise returning to the big screen. Starfighter won't actually be the next Star Wars movie, though — that honor goes to "The Mandalorian & Grogu," which premieres in 2026.

The break was probably for the best, as Star Wars fatigue had set in pretty hard after the barrage of new movies and streaming shows that marked the latter half of the 2010s (seven live-action series, eight animated series, and four "Lego Star Wars" specials, in case you weren't counting). Now, though, we're ready for another adventure in a galaxy far, far away, and Starfighter looks like it's taking things in an exciting direction.

Starring Ryan Gosling and directed by Shawn Levy, "Star Wars: Starfighter" will be set five years after the events of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker", meaning it will be the furthest forward live-action offering in the Star Wars timeline. Gosling has prior experience among the stars, having played legendary moonwalker Neil Armstrong in 2018's "First Man", and he's also starring in 2026's "Project Hail Mary". Beyond the cast and that brief synopsis, though, details are pretty scarce right now.

Still, it's never too early to plunge into the details of the next original Hollywood "Star Wars" film, so secure your astromech, buckle up, and let's unpack everything we know about "Star Wars: Starfighter!"

When is the Star Wars: Starfighter release date?

Currently, "Star Wars: Starfighter" is officially slated for arrival on May 28, 2025, barring any unforeseen delays caused by reshoots or a reshuffling of the Disney/Lucasfilm schedules.

It will launch exclusively in theaters, but we obviously expect that it will land on Disney+ several months later, in case you'd rather check it out from the comfort of your own home.

If you end up travelling abroad and still want to watch all the Star Wars goodness on Disney+ (along with all the other top sci-fi shows on there), then you can do so with the help of a VPN.

Who is in the cast for Star Wars: Starfighter?

Back on Aug. 28, 2025, Lucasfilm celebrated the start of filming on "Star Wars: Starfighter" by announcing the full cast roster. This includes:

• Ryan Gosling
• Flynn Gray
• Aaron Pierre
• Simon Bird
• Jamael Westman
• Daniel Ings
• Amy Adams
• Matt Smith
• Mia Goth

While no official character names or descriptions have been unveiled yet, we do know that Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray will be the protagonists of the movie, while Matt Smith ("House of the Dragon," "Doctor Who") and Mia Goth ("MaXXXine," "Frankenstein") play villains chasing them.

What is the plot of Star Wars: Starfighter?

The precise plot elements are still shrouded in mystery but there are a few clues that we've collected. It's being billed as an original, stand-alone adventure taking place in the timeline five years after the events witnessed in "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker."

This is total virgin storytelling territory in any live-action "Star Wars" production. From what can be gleaned so far, it seems to be a master and pupil-type plotline where the duo is on the run from sinister elements, with Gosling portraying an ace fighter pilot protecting the younger mentored character played by Gray.

Are there any Star Wars: Starfighter trailers?

Since this project just kicked off its production this past August, there are currently no official trailers, but there was a quick teaser of the title card revealed at Star Wars Celebration 2025, which can be seen above.

Shawn Levy also posted a watery Instagram image of Ryan Gosling and Flynn Gray somewhere off the coast of Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea during filming.

Finally, we were also gifted with the cool back-and-white image of Gosling and Gray posing with a landspeeder that you saw above.

Who is working on Star Wars: Starfighter?

Helmed by Shawn Levy ("Deadpool & Wolverine," "Stranger Things"), the sci-fi film is produced by Levy and Kathleen Kennedy. Executive producers include Ryan Gosling, Dan Levine, Mary McLaglen, and Josh McLaglen. The script for "Star Wars: Starfighter" was written by Jonathan Tropper ("Your Friends & Neighbors," "Banshee").

"I feel a profound sense of excitement and honor as we begin production on 'Star Wars: Starfighter,'" Levy revealed to mark the film's start.

"From the day Kathy Kennedy called me up, inviting me to develop an original adventure in this incredible 'Star Wars' galaxy, this experience has been a dream come true, creatively and personally. 'Star Wars' shaped my sense of what story can do, how characters and cinematic moments can live with us forever. To join this storytelling galaxy with such brilliant collaborators onscreen and off is the thrill of a lifetime."

When considering some of the most recognizable Hollywood movie posters over the decades, no greater name comes to mind than artist Drew Struzan, so it is with great sadness that we deliver news of his death on Monday, Oct. 13, at the age of 78.

We all grew up with Struzan's striking advertising concoctions for our favorite sci-fi, fantasy, and horror flicks. He brought a new level of artistic achievement with his bold collage one-sheets for the 1997 remastered "Star Wars" Special Editions, and earlier works like the official posters for Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" and John Carpenter's "The Thing."

"It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that Drew Struzan has moved on from this world as of yesterday, October 13th," close friend and collaborator Greg Aronowitz announced on his Instagram account. "I feel it is important that you all know how many times he expressed to me the joy he felt knowing how much you appreciated his art."

The Oregon native attended Pasadena's ArtCenter College of Design in the late '60s before getting a job at Pacific Eye & Ear in Los Angeles, where he began designing album covers for Earth, Wind, and Fire, Black Sabbath, The Beach Boys, and The Bee Gees.

His first gig for the galaxy far, far away came in 1977 for the 1978 re-release of "Star Wars." Struzan partnered with artist Charles White III for 20th Century Fox to create the old-fashioned one-sheet that perfectly captures the spirit of classic Saturday matinee serials.

A stellar career conjuring up hand-painted film posters followed.

Amid the acclaimed artist’s prolific portfolio was advertising art for films like Steven Spielberg's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," Robert Zemeckis's "Back to the Future," Richard Donner's "The Goonies," John Carpenter's "Big Trouble in Little China," George Lucas's "Star Wars" Prequel Trilogy, and many, many more.

"Drew made event art. His posters made many of our movies into destinations … and the memory of those movies and the age we were when we saw them always comes flashing back just by glancing at his iconic photorealistic imagery," wrote Spielberg on Struzan's death. "In his own invented style, nobody drew like Drew."

Welcome to the galaxy's ultimate trivia showdown!

From the sands of Tatooine to the forests of Endor, we're diving deep into the lore, legends, and battles that span generations in this 'Star Wars' quiz.

Since it's premiere, 'Star Wars' has captured imaginations with its epic storytelling, unforgettable characters, and iconic moments.

Whether you're loyal to the Rebellion, the Empire, or just here for the droids, there's something in this quiz for every kind of galactic traveler.

Try it out below and see how well you score!

It's been six long years since a "Star Wars" movie lit up theater screens, not counting this past summer's "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith" rerelease to salute its 20th anniversary, so it's high time fans were given a proper space fantasy from the empire that George Lucas built.

Director Jon Favreau's "The Mandalorian and Grogu" aims to be that cinematic salvation, and it arrives in theaters on May 22, 2026, carrying with it a "new hope" for the ailing franchise. But is it enough?

"The Mandalorian" TV series lasted for three seasons on Disney+, plus an adjacent miniseries, "The Book of Boba Fett", which was effectively season 2.5. The spinoff movie was initially revealed at Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, Japan, back in April. Now the first full trailer has launched, and while it's jam-packed with awesome scenes, it doesn't give us much more of a clue as to what the overall plot might be.

Starring Pedro Pascal as the Beskar-clad assassin Din Djarin, "The Mandalorian and Grogu's" official teaser is more of a loose collection of snippets that don't exactly form a clear picture of the film's narrative through-line. Sure, it's cute to see Mando and Grogu staking out an Imperial installation and the little green creature doing his curiosity thing with objects, but we challenge anyone to formulate a cohesive answer as to what this movie is really about.

There are shots of a shiny new Razor Crest, Din Djarin kicking butt in a bar, Baby Yoda swimming, "Star Wars Rebels"' Zeb, a gladiator arena, brutish robot enforcers, and an AT-AT falling off a snowy ridge. Plenty of trailers spoil too much of the movie they're advertising, but we can't help but feel Disney has gone too far in the opposite direction for this one.

Sigourney Weaver is the only human we recognize in the trailer, wearing what seems to be the uniform of a Rebel Alliance commander, and along with some kid-friendly cameos by Anzellans.

With a family-style screenplay courtesy of Favreau and Dave Filoni, this next "Star Wars" installment also stars Jeremy Allen White as Jabba's son, Rotta the Hutt, and Jonny Coyne as an Imperial warlord.

Honestly, we're still not totally convinced we needed a Mandalorian and Grogu movie after 24 episodes of the armored bounty hunter and little Baby Yoda galavanting around the galaxy far, far away.

Apparently, Lucasfilm decided against a fourth "Mando" season and instead took director Jon Favreau's ideas for another outing and molded them into a feature film project. Would we have been better off with a "Knights of the Old Republic" movie, maybe an adaptation of author Alexander Freed's "Alphabet Squadron Trilogy," or even an animated anthology following IDW's "Star Wars: Tales From Vader's Castle" comic book series?

Perhaps. While this is a puzzling first trailer, we'll reserve final judgment for a proper, longer preview. After all, this is the way.

Ready or not, Disney/Lucasfilm's "The Mandalorian and Grogu" blasts into theaters on May 22, 2026.

Artifacts from "Star Wars," the grandest pop culture franchise on the planet, are going for stratospheric prices at auctions these days, as evidenced by the record-breaking $3.6 million selling price for a rare, authentic Darth Vader lightsaber prop at a Propstore event last week.

This slightly worn, screen-matched hero prop was wielded by David Prowse and the legendary stuntman Bob Anderson in 1980's "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" and 1983's "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi," and was expected to fetch between $1 million and $3 million, according to most pre-sale estimates.

The eye-watering winning bid was a cool $2.9 million ($3.6 million including the buyer's premium), which makes it the most credits ever paid for any "Star Wars" prop, costume, or memorabilia.

The official catalog describes it as, "constructed from a vintage British press camera flash handle that was transformed into Vader’s infamous weapon through the fitting of dressing components such as plastic grips, calculator bubbles, and cosmetic wiring. This specific prop was further modified with a custom blade-mounting system that facilitated the installation of a wooden rod; the rod served as the blade during the choreographed fight scenes and made the physical, on-camera dueling possible. It also later served as a guide for visual effects artists to add the hand-animated glow for the final shots."

Propstore’s Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction for Lord Darth Vader's wicked weapon was held last Thursday for in-person, online, absentee, and old-fashioned phone bidding at the Peterson Automotive Museum in L.A., where the total sum of $3,654,000 became the final hammer price for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to own perhaps the Holy Grail of all "Star Wars" treasure.

Hopefully, the lucky buyer (or buyers) who now own this remarkable piece of "Star Wars" history will take a little cue from Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones and place it on display in a museum for global fans to marvel at.

Earlier this year, we learned Destiny 2 was getting new updates beyond 2024’s The Final Shape, despite shakeups at the studio, including the delay of the upcoming Marathon reboot. This summer, The Edge of Fate kicked off a mysterious new storyline, and now we know the surprising collaboration with Star Wars titled Renegades isn’t a non-canon cosmetic content drop.

The new expansion will be released on December 2, 2025, for PC, PS4/5, and Xbox consoles. To fully unveil what’s included in this new content pack, Bungie gave fans an in-depth look at Renegades’ Lawless Frontier on September 9 with a 10-minute documentary.

The latest press release confirms “Guardians will experience becoming part of a crew of underdogs rising to challenge a powerful Cabal faction, the Barant Imperium, whom the Drifter suspects have a connection to the Nine.” This means Renegades is a direct canon continuation of plot threads established in The Edge of Fate instead of an IP-centric what-if scenario connecting the Destiny 2 universe to Star Wars. Expects many nods, though.

For starters, the Lawless Frontier mode is an all-new co-op experience in which Guardians “take on high-risk, high-reward jobs to complete contracts – smuggling, bounty hunting, and sabotage – either solo or with a fireteam.”

These missions take players to three planets (with six maps) inspired by Star Wars locations like Hoth or Tatooine. Of course, with a strong focus on the criminal underworld of the Destiny 2 universe, the ‘Invasion’ feature exclusive to this mode doesn’t come as a surprise: The most daring Guardians will be able to gain better rewards by allowing enemy players to invade their Lawless Frontier matches.

Other Star Wars-inspired elements include Tharsis Outpost, a social hub that’s pretty much the Mos Eisley cantina we all know and love, the Blaster weapon type (sound FX included), lightsabers (Destiny 2 already has swords, so of course we’re getting them), and all sorts of cosmetics that feel brought over from the galaxy far, far away. Even the usual alien troops are getting makeovers that fit the familiar-yet-new locales.

Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate and Renegades are part of the Year of Prophecy pass, but can also be purchased separately. Renegades pre-orders include, among other things, an X-Wing exotic ship.

You'd better have a "most impressive" balance in your bank account if you're going to be buying this behemoth Lego Star Wars Ultimate Collector's Series Death Star that was just announced to purchase for a cool $999.99. This enormous price tag classifies it as the most costly Lego set ever brought to the market.

It's an incredible wallet-busting release that will eclipse all other Lego Star Wars products in your collection, so clear an ample amount of room to display this colossal armored space station. Containing a total of 9,023 pieces and 38 individual minifigs, Lego's ultra-deluxe Death Star is suitable for ages 18 and above and measures H: 28" (70cm), W: 32" (79cm), and D: 11" (27cm).

Lucky Lego Insiders can score one of these beasts on Oct. 1, 2025, and all other eager souls can haul one home on Oct. 4, 2025. The Lego Death Star will be available from the official Lego Store.

Minifigs recruited for this fantastic Lego Death Star include: Admiral Piett, C-3PO, Chewbacca, Colonel Yularen, Darth Vader, Director Krennic, Emperor Palpatine, Galen Erso, General Tagge, Grand Moff Tarkin, Han Solo, Han Solo (Stormtrooper Disguise), Hot Tub Stormtrooper (The Skywalker Saga), Imperial Crew Member (x2), Imperial Dignitary, Imperial Gunner, Imperial Navy Officer, Imperial Navy Trooper (x2), Imperial Officer, Imperial Royal Guard (x2), Imperial Shuttle Pilot, KX-9A-1, Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker (Jedi), Luke Skywalker (Stormtrooper Disguise), Obi-Wan Kenobi, Princess Leia, R2-D2, R2-Q5, and Stormtrooper (x6).

What's ingenious about this brick-built Death Star is the revealing cross-sectional design, showcasing certain memorable rooms, rather than just being a single gigantic globe that opens like a cabinet. Collectors who throw down the fat stack of cash will also receive an Imperial Shuttle with Imperial Hangar Rack set as a free gift, so you won’t feel quite so bad for cracking open all your piggy banks!

As seen in our image gallery above, the Death Star's many nooks and crannies include familiar locations seen in the three original "Star Wars" movies such as the Vader vs. Obi-Wan duel corridor near the hanger bay, a crushing trash compactor, communications control center, the Emperor's throne room, and Princess Leia's containment cell where she’s introduced to Vader’s torture droid!

The Lego Star Wars Death Star crowds into our orbit for all on Oct. 4, 2025.

Academy Award-winning "Star Wars" legend Roger Christian, mostly known for his detailed, "lived-in" universe production designs he created for George Lucas's seminal space opera, is a true cinematic artist whose pioneering work in set dressing and prop mastery goes far beyond building iconic creations like R2-D2, Han's DL-44 Blaster, the Millennium Falcon interior, and Jedi Knight lightsabers.

After his involvement helping to launch "Star Wars"' galaxy far, far, away, Christian signed on with Ridley Scott in late 1977 as his primary art director to further that same rusting, leaking, steaming aesthetic for the filmmaker's sci-fi horror project, "Alien."

Fast forward to today, and it's obvious the legacy of this worn-out look is being carried on in Noah Hawley's "Alien: Earth," now streaming on FX/Hulu. "I art directed commercials for him so I knew Ridley and his brother," Christian tells Space.com. "And Tony [Ridley's brother] was my eldest son's godfather. So I knew Ridley as a visionary."

Noted Lucasfilm editor and author J.W. Rinzler, who was a personal friend of Christian's and wrote "The Making of Alien," considers these two projects to be "one of the greatest back-to-back Hollywood design accomplishments ever." On "Alien," Christian prowled British junkyards for scrap aviation parts, old jet engines, PVC piping, and sewer drain pipes for his unique set artistry and was present right beside Scott for the entire UK-based shoot outside London.

"'Alien' in some ways was similar to 'Star Wars.' It was essentially the first R-rated science fiction movie. They cut $600,000 out of our budget and where does that go? Off the art department because there were no stars in it. The moment I was asked to go they'd already built the wooden structure on two stages at Shepperton. I was on 'The Life of Brian' and couldn't do 'Alien,' but it got cancelled and I was in London sitting the producer's office when the phone rang and it was Ridley. He said, 'Get your a$$ down here to Shepperton.'

"That was because I knew how to work this kind of grungy used world. Michael Seymour who did his commercials wasn't a science fiction designer. As soon as I walked in the office they gave me the script. Around the wall were six Giger paintings and I thought, God, with Ridley's eye I knew what he was going to do."

Christian recruited three prop makers he'd trained for "Star Wars" to construct the Millennium Falcon sets and his team got to work on the entire interior of the Nostromo towing vessel. Those designs are plainly mimicked in "Alien: Earth."

"If ever there's a movie where I got everything right, it was 'Alien,'" Christian admits. "Ridley wanted claustrophobia and the sets were built over two stages so if you went into a little gap in the wall, you were in the Nostromo and you couldn't get out! We were aging it down and putting on oil stains and layering all these greeblies in it. I think Ridley's words were, 'Can you build me a space truck?' And that's what we did.

"I was there on the fourth day of filming when the producers were asking why he was taking so long. He punched a hole through the ceiling in anger and frustration of them harassing him. I kept telling the producers, 'have you seen the rushes? This is insane. You're going to have such a hit on your hands.' He struggled throughout, but Ridley is very Newcastle-tenacious and wouldn't give up. I stuck by his side on it the whole way through."

Since "Alien: Earth" is set just two years prior to the events in "Alien," the spaceship interior designs needed to match up closely to what was seen by audiences over 45 years ago.

"I'm seeing the pictures and images of it and it looks like our original 'Alien,'" he adds. "They've been allowed to do it so I'm looking forward to that a lot. All that used look, everyone wants that back and it's coming again. I'm excited about this series, no question."

The MU/TH/UR computer room in "Alien: Earth's" USCSS Maginot is identical to the one aboard the USCSS Nostromo, something Christian was thankfully not required to finish off due to his labor-intensive job creating the Nostromo.

"Sitting with [concept designer] Rob Cobb and going through designs, I realized I didn't have to dress anything for Mother. It was a relief for me. Getting that bridge built took up my days and nights and time. It was such a huge set to make and get right. So Ron did all the drawings for the computer room and they just built it and added the electronics and special effects."

Regarding some of his proudest work witnessed in "Alien," Christian's narrow ribbed corridors adorned with junk pieces of broken jet engines and tubing set the standard for the genre that's often been replicated but never surpassed.

"The corridors were particularly impressive to be in them," he notes. "I loved that big set. That to me was the pinnacle of all science fiction ships ever, much as it drove me nuts! [Art director] Michael Seymour and his crew built it and then Ridley asked them to lower the ceiling. I was party to all this and was agreeing with them and they did it I think six times. It was a nightmare for construction and the designer who'd storm off the set. But Ridley wanted that down in the camera because he was on anamorphic lenses. He wanted claustrophobia and you needed to see that ceiling. That bridge set to me is one of the finest sets I ever was involved in."

It's inconceivable, but "Alien's" Space Jockey set was nearly never constructed due to the strict studio budgetary slashes and mounting financial concerns.

"That was another huge round of 'not happy' meetings with 20th Century Fox and Peter Beale who was in charge of the budget. That was cut out and Ridley pleaded, we all did, for it to be in there. You had to have that scale. So the compromise was to build it on a turntable and only build half of it. Then Ridley could use the same background and turn it round on the turntable."

As "Alien: Earth" reveals its gruesome horrors, the question naturally arises of why does the "Alien" franchise endure? How has it inspired a fresh generation of filmmakers delving into its primal mysteries to mine new chills in this resurgence of interest in the property for film, TV, comics, and video games?

"There is a deep mythology behind 'Alien' that resonates with people," adds Christian. "Most horror films touch on phobias that we have and 'Alien' really touched on a big one and it helped to establish it and that world. It all goes back to campfires where you can sit around together and be scared in a community. This goes back to original Man probably talking about the biggest sabretooth tiger they’d ever seen that came and killed friends of theirs.

"These fears are there in us as humans in the modern world. 'Alien' personified all that. So there is a kind of mythic quality and reasoning. Any of these movies, 'Star Wars' in particular, are written and made to penetrate your subconscious. 'Alien' did that as well as anyone or anything has ever done. But it also was a horror film you could all go and experience. It crossed that barrier where it became a mainstream movie. You could go and be scared and it was okay."

NEW YORK  — Of all the expansions to the "Star Wars" universe since Disney Plus began streaming adventures from a galaxy far, far away to televisions everywhere, "Star Wars Visions" may be among the most unique.

The anthology series of animated shorts offers a wild range of "Star Wars" stories told through just-as-wildly artistic animation styles, and judging from a sneak peek at its third season — which launches Oct. 29 — that trend isn't about to change. In a special panel here at Anime NYC 2025 on Friday (Aug. 22), Lucasfilm and Disney Plus unveiled an art preview of what to expect in "Star Wars: Visions" Volume 3, including a glimpse of "BLACK" by david productions, which promises to meld images and music into "a psychedelic battle between past and present, light and dark, and life and death in the haunted psyche of an Imperial stormtrooper on the cusp of defeat," according to a description.

"We really got down into some fine details for this film. There's the Death Star … The setting is really super detailed, and the stormtroopers, drawing out the action in the battle scenes, it was really quite an arduous task for the animators," director Shinya Ohira ("Akira," Spirited Away," Kill Bill: Vol. 1") said in a pre-recorded video, according to StarWars.com.

"So that was painful, but it was worth it, and the end result really speaks for itself," Ohira added. "It's really kind of something nobody's ever seen before." (Full disclosure: I couldn't make it into the "Star Wars Visions" panel, but when I spoke to one lucky fan afterward who did manage to get into the packed presentation in Anime NYC's main stage, he assured me "it was awesome!" during a later "Dan Da Dan" panel.)

"BLACK" will feature music performed by singer Sakura Fujiwara set against a stormtrooper's fateful battle on the Death Star. In addition to directing the installment, Ohira is also a character designer and key animator for the short.

“We wanted to offer a film that was mainly based on Sakura Fujiawara's singing voice set against these visuals of intense battles. That was our vision as we made the film,” Ohira said. "As for the interpretation of the story, the viewers, the people watching it, we kind of wanted to leave it up to them … so that's how we made it."

One surprise from the Anime NYC panel included Lucasfilm's reveal of the key art for the nine-episode "Star Wars: Visions" Volume 3, a poster featuring some familiar faces from seasons past.

"Newly-unveiled key art showcases the broad range of storytelling and visual design in Volume 3, including the broken armor of the nightmarish troopers seen in “BLACK” and the return of Ronin from "The Duel," F from "The Village Bride," and Lah Kara from “The Ninth Jedi,” three shorts available in Volume 1 streaming on Disney+," Lucasfilm wrote in its recap. The first three episodes will be sequels to those Volume 1 stories, according to media reports.

"The Duel" (by Kamikazi Douga) was the first episode in the first season of "Star Wars: Visions," and features a wandering ronin protecting a village from bandits — with a red lightsaber, no less. In the fourth episode, "The Village Bride" (Kinema citrus Co.), a Jedi known as F on the run from the Empire intervenes during a wedding to save a village from a droid army run by raiders; and in the fifth episode "The Ninth Jedi" (Production I.G.), a lightsaber-smith works to help resurrect the Jedi order by reforging their weapons, only to have an unlikely wielder answer the call.

"Star Wars: Visions" Volume 3 will include shorts by the studios ANIMA, david production, Polygon Pictures, Project Studio Q and WIT Studio — all newcomers to the series — along with series veterans Kamikaze Douga (which also worked with AMINA), Kinema citrus Co., Production I.G. and TRIGGER.

"Star Wars: Visions" Volume 3 premiers on Disney Plus on Oct. 29.

With its family-friendly tone, wry humor, geeky callbacks, and hilarious mashup antics featuring multiverse versions of your favorite "Star Wars" characters, Disney+'s "Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy" was conceived for the 25th anniversary of "Lego Star Wars" and first debuted to much fanfare as a four-piece miniseries on Sept. 13, 2024.

Created by Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit ("Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem"), it turned the prime "Star Wars" world backwards and upside-down in the most joyous of ways. Now, a new trailer has dropped for its sequel, "Rebuild the Galaxy - Pieces of the Past," landing on Disney+ as a four-episode event on Sept. 19, 2025.

It's more of the same mixed-up mayhem with the original voice cast returning, plus added surprise guests, to conjure up fresh "Lego Star Wars" magic with names like Gaten Matarazzo (Sig), Tony Revolori (Dev), Bobby Moynihan (Jedi Bob), Ahmed Best (Darth Jar Jar), Billy Dee Williams (The Landolorian), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Matt Sloan (Jedi Vader), Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka Tano), Alan Tudyk (K-2SO), Dan Stevens (Solitus), Cameron Monaghan (Cal Kestis), Ben Schwartz (Jaxxon), and many others.

As seen in this riotous new trailer, the sequel picks up where the original series left off. Prepare for a fleet of Porg/Purrgil starships, Mega Chewbacca, a villain named Solitus that looks like Darth Revan, Baby Yoda, Spider-Legged Darth Jar Jar, and the lop-eared Lepi, Jaxxon. Yeah, it's going to be a wild ride!

Written and executive produced by Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, and directed by Chris Buckley, "Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy – Pieces of the Past" arrives on Disney+ Sept. 19.

It might not be the big anime-style birthday remake some "Star Wars" acolytes were hoping for, but "Star Wars: A New Hope" will be blasting back into movie theaters to celebrate its landmark 50th anniversary starting in April of 2027.

The sprawling space opera is set to hit the silver screen again with a special limited-edition theatrical run beginning on April 30, 2027, and aptly running through the official Star Wars Day holiday on May the 4th. This will be the planet-wide event too, so international Star Wars fans won't miss out.

But which version of Star Wars: A New Hope will it be? That's the million-credit question, and we don't know the answer at the moment.

There is a sliver of hope for purist fans that perhaps Disney might pull out an untouched archival print — the original version of the sci-fi sensation that first hit theaters on May 25, 1977 — but it's unlikely that Disney would risk upsetting creator George Lucas. Instead, we'd expect a freshened-up 1997 20th anniversary print to be the star attraction.

Back in June, the British Film Institute blessed audiences with a rare virgin 1977 print of "Star Wars" on the opening night of the Film on Film Festival in London. It was presented "exactly as experienced by audiences on its original release, screening from one of the precious handful of dye transfer IB Technicolor prints produced for the first British release."

On its initial release over that historic summer of 1977, "Star Wars: A New Hope" collected a domestic box office total of $307 million, an astonishing sum for the time, and has since gone through multiple re-releases to gather a global tally of $775 million off of an estimated $11 million budget.

Stay tuned to Space.com for ticket sales info and more "Star Wars" 50th anniversary news as it's announced. And of course, if you want to watch Star Wars from the comfort of your own home, check out Disney+.

Miraculously appearing at public auction for the first time ever is perhaps the Holy Grail of all "Star Wars" collectibles in the form of Darth Vader's screen-matched hero lightsaber prop wielded by actor David Prowse and famed stuntman Bob Anderson in "Star Wars" saga finale fight scenes.

To say that this is a momentous occasion for sci-fi collectors is a supreme understatement, as this is the main dueling lightsaber used during the shooting of two Star Wars movies — "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" and "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi."

It will be presented as the premier item in Propstore's upcoming Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction in Los Angeles, launching from September 4-6, 2025.

Pre-sale estimates for the incredible film-used weapon of the intimidating Sith Lord are running between $1,000,000 - $3,000,000, but it could go even higher if a heated bidding war erupts.

The lightsaber can be seen held by the performers in the dramatic third-act clashes between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker in both director Irvin Kershner's 1980 sequel and director Richard Marquand's 1983 follow-up to close out the space opera trilogy.

Per the official catalog description, "It is constructed from a vintage British press camera flash handle that was transformed into Vader’s infamous weapon through the fitting of dressing components such as plastic grips, calculator bubbles, and cosmetic wiring. This specific prop was further modified with a custom blade-mounting system that facilitated the installation of a wooden rod; the rod served as the blade during the choreographed fight scenes and made the physical, on-camera dueling possible. It also later served as a guide for visual effects artists to add the hand-animated glow for the final shots."

Slight damage to the iconic prop's hilt identifies it as the primary lightsaber filmed in those historic cinematic sequences. According to Propstore, this is very likely the only hero lightsaber prop ever emerging from the original "Star Wars" trilogy with bona fide screen use and has been kept in a single private collection.

"I grew up deeply inspired by 'Star Wars,'" Propstore COO Brandon Alinger tells Space.com.

"It wasn't just a movie, it was the movie of generations. The original trilogy is what sparked my lifelong fascination with filmmaking and screen-used props. The lightsaber, especially, holds a near-mythical place in my imagination. The fact that this exact lightsaber still exists, and that it screen-matches those iconic moments, is extraordinary. To see it and even hold it, you can feel the gravity of what 'Star Wars' means to millions of people. And now, for the first time ever, this legendary artifact is heading to public auction, ready to find a new home where it can continue to inspire."

Vader's deadly lightsaber will also be on display for the public when it's sent out on a multi-city press preview tour next month, along with other highlights from Propstore's September Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction. Cities involved in the road show are: London (August 6), Beverly Hills (week of August 18), and New York City (week of August 25).

For more info, visit the Propstore website.

The vast galaxy of Star Wars merchandising out there has something for everyone, and that includes costumes and outfits that you don't need to make from scratch. The Force might be powerful with many cosplayers, but not all of us have the time, credits, and/or expertise required to go handmade.

We've jumped to hyperspace to find the best Star Wars costumes for kids and adults that you can get right now, all without having to borrow money from the Hutts. Some are full costumes ready to be used if you're in a rush; others are more like collector's items you can sporadically use as part of costumes too.

The list below has been put together in no specific order, and we've tried to find a sweet spot between cost, quality, and coolness. They all should be available to buy now and in the near future. If your pockets are full of extra credits, you may want to take a look at the best lightsabers and best Lego Star Wars sets available as well.

The Quick List

First Order Stormtrooper Costume For Kids

Something is alluring about the dark side of the Force, and stormtrooper costumes have become and remained super famous over the decades. When the Star Wars sequels kicked off in 2015, stormtroopers got a modern refresh as the First Order rose to power and began fighting the New Republic and the Resistance.

This costume for children of all ages (if the Force is with you when it comes to stock) is a quick and hassle-free way to let your kid become one of the bad guys just for one day; just make sure to bring them back to the light once they're done having fun. It contains a bodysuit, the iconic helmet mask, a detachable belt, and shoulder pauldrons. It's made to be flexible, durable, and easy to use, which is exactly why you shouldn't expect top-notch quality from this one. This is a traditional children's costume.

We'd also have liked to see a toy replica of a Stormtrooper blaster included, but if you're looking for one, we think the Star Wars Nerf Episode VII First Order Stormtrooper Deluxe Blaster is a great fit (you can get it on Walmart).

• Buy on Disney Store.

R2-D2 play story dress for kids

Another Star Wars character you can't go wrong with is R2-D2, but cosplaying as an astromech droid is... difficult to say the least. You can, however, evoke the iconic design of our favorite blue-and-white droid hero with the right clothing, and Disney's R2-D2 "play story" dress for kids gets the job done perfectly, at least for children.

This princess-like dress has a cute face & metallic control panel design on the chest section. Together with some nice trims and extra details evocative of R2-D2, it's the rare sort of costume-like piece of clothing that can be worn casually. Mind you, this isn't an actual Star Wars costume, but if your kid wants something that shouts "I love Star Wars!" but isn't restricted to parties, Halloween, and other celebrations, you can't go wrong with this one.

Moreover, this dress is part of the "Star Wars Story Play Collection", which also includes a C-3PO dress for women available on the Disney Store, so adults are covered too.

• Buy on Disney Store.

Padme Amidala cloak

It'd be silly to put together a list of Star Wars costumes and leave Padmé Amidala's memorable wardrobe entirely out of it, which is why we've looked for something worth spending extra money on. Like or hate Episode II: Attack of the Clones, you have to admit Senator Amidala's many outfits were great.

This cloak is directly based on one of her many looks in that movie. Although it's not the full costume you might be looking for, we think it's a pretty awesome piece of Star Wars clothing that can be part of a fancier costume or just a more expensive addition to your collection that you can wear whenever. Get ready to put extra credits down for this one, though.

Per the description (and as seen in the pictures), the fabric is voluminous, especially when walking, and the hood is slightly oversized for extra coolness. This isn't a cloak inspired by Star Wars clothing. It is Star Wars clothing, and we believe there are huge market opportunities in that space if Disney wants to go down that path in the future.

• Buy on Disney Store.

Clone Trooper voice changing helmet

Clone troopers are also among the coolest characters introduced into the Star Wars canon by the prequels, and diehards have a hard time keeping track of every clone trooper group that battled for the Republic during the Clone Wars until the day that Order 66 came into effect. Everyone knows the clones that served alongside General Obi-Wan Kenobi on Utapau, though.

If you're a big fan of the 212^th clone trooper battalion or simply love the Grand Army of the Republic, this voice-changing helmet for adults is an awesome collector's item that can also be part of an expensive cosplay, if you're into spending all the time and money to become a real-life clone trooper.

It's a full-scale replica that looks just like the model seen in Revenge of the Sith, and you might be surprised to learn it includes a 60-second voice-changing effect, pre-recorded character phrases, and a padded interior which makes it comfortable to wear if you're more of an aspiring trooper that likes to run around with the armor on. It also comes with three AA batteries, which are required to power the helmet.

• Buy on Disney Store.

Rey (The Force Awakens) costume for adults

Another Star Wars character we can't ignore, if we're talking costumes, is the Skywalker heir, Rey from Jakku (or Palpatine if you're following her bloodline). The last Jedi and new hope for the Order are said to be key to the future of the franchise, so she won't be going out of fashion anytime soon.

We've seen plenty of both stunning Rey cosplays and cheap costumes for almost a full decade now, but complete pre-made costumes that don't look terrible have been a bit harder to find. Luckily for you, we've come across a pretty convincing option that's officially licensed and is just slightly expensive.

This Rey costume has everything you'd want from a recreation of her Jakku look, minus her desert staff (or the Skywalker lightsaber), and that's why we think it's worth looking into despite the steep-ish price tag. We're especially happy with the belt, mask, and bag; those elements are often ignored and/or of very poor quality in other costumes. If you don't have the time or patience required to craft a Rey cosplay from scratch, we think this is the next best thing.

• Buy on Target.

Inflatable Grogu costume for adults

We all love Grogu, don't we? Especially kids. Well, here's a twist: The best costume we've found based on our little green friend was made for adults. Goofy adults, that is.

This is yet another officially licensed costume, but it's far simpler than previous entries in its design: You just have to stick yourself into what's essentially a giant balloon. Yes, you'll be Grogu inside his hover-pram. But, of course, you won't be floating, but using your own legs to walk/run around without bumping into too many folks, hopefully.

It's hard to imagine anyone wearing this inflatable, comically oversized costume for a whole day in a warm environment, but we wanted an off-beat, surprising pick on this list, and we instantly fell in love with this item. While everyone is looking to become Din Djarin for Halloween, this is the costume that will make you the center of attention ahead of The Mandalorian & Grogu.

• Buy on Target.

Premium Jedi costume for adults

Strong with the Force or not, everyone would love to get a shot at becoming a Jedi. This costume makes living that fantasy much easier, and we dig that it's a generic Jedi outfit instead of a more specific costume based on a famous character from the movies. While the price tag is on the steep side, we love the extra details and many layers this costume has, all while leaving space for custom finishing touches you may want to add.

These are the classic Jedi robes as seen in the prequels, and every piece of clothing in this full costume is textured enough to be believable without becoming ridiculously expensive. It's not a cheap option either, but we love a good investment, and these clothes could serve you well for many years... as long as you're done growing up.

Its biggest negative? There's no lightsaber included, so you'll have to go through our best lightsabers list to complete your Jedi training and become one with the Force.

• Buy on Target.

Princess Leia costume for girls

If we're being honest, this Leia costume isn't the most detailed option around, but it's great value at under $50, and we know Star Wars fans, especially those with young ones in their family, appreciate such picks.

Things are kept really simple here: You've got the classic Princess Leia dress from A New Hope, a nice belt that's evocative enough of the one Carrie Fisher had in the flick, and a wig with the iconic buns that we weren't expecting at all. It's neither low-quality nor top-notch stuff, which makes it sort of perfect for one or two Halloween parties and other celebrations.

Again, this costume doesn't come with a blaster, so that's a separate bit of shopping that you'll have to do if you want the little Leia in your life to defend herself against the evil Imperial forces.

• Buy on Target.

The Mandalorian youth dress up box

What's better than a costume below $50? Three costumes, of course. This officially licensed three-pack from Jazwares won't blow anyone away, but if you have kids who desperately need to dress up as the most iconic masked Star Wars characters around, you won't have much to complain about. Din Djarin, Boba Fett, and a random stormtrooper are all effectively evoked by these simple outfits.

These are four-piece costumes with long-sleeved tops and simple printed designs, which is basic stuff, but also means they can be easily upgraded with extra items over time or right away. No pants included for any of these three fits, though, so make sure you've got something that goes well with them lying around.

Needless to say, you won't find any blasters here either. This is a barebones pack that will save anyone in a pickle or looking to make young Star Wars happy for a day, but look elsewhere for genuinely convincing costumes.

• Buy on Amazon.

Darth Vader premium accessory helmet for adults

We just couldn't wrap this list up without a Darth Vader item or costume, and it turns out Jazwares' Vader helmet — based on the iconic villain's look in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series — is a pretty sweet deal that would make any Sith lord excited.

Here's the thing: This Darth Vader helmet/mask isn't a one-piece, heavy replica like the ones you get from Hasbro's Black Series, but the quality of the plastic is good, and it's built in a way that makes it good for both serious cosplay and sitting on a shelf along with other collector's Star Wars items. We imagine most buyers will prioritize putting it on display versus wearing it, but it feels perfect as the key item of a complete Vader costume.

This one's aimed at adults, and while you won't be able to order different sizes, the band inside the helmet allows you to adjust it to fit your head. No sound FX bonuses either, so don't expect to magically obtain James Earl Jones' voice with it.

• Buy on Amazon.