Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars) was released May 25, 1977, meaning that the franchise celebrates its 40 year anniversary next month. Thus, this year’s Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida was certainly a significant one, with the release of the first trailer for Episode VIII: The Last Jedi and the appearance of many of the cast members from the originals, the prequels, and the new sequels. Check out some of the biggest highlights from each day of the celebration below.
Thursday, April 13
The Celebration kicked off with a “40 Years of Star Wars” panel, hosted by Warwick Davis. Near the opening of the panel, Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, welcomed George Lucas himself to the stage. The panel also featured Harrison Ford, Dave Filoni, Ian McDiarmid, Hayden Christensen, Billy Dee Williams, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, and Mark Hamill. Quite a collection of Star Wars legends!
Lucas and Davis discussed the origins of the films, and Lucas made a point about his vision for the series. “It’s a film for 12-year-olds,” he said, noting that all of the movies carry themes of “friendship, honesty, trust, and doing the right thing.” Lucas remained onstage throughout the panel, discussing the creation of characters, the casting of the original films, and the legacy of Carrie Fisher. Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd also spoke about Fisher’s love for Star Wars, and a touching tribute video to Fisher was presented. The panel was then closed by a performance from John Williams and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra.
Friday, April 14
Day two of the Celebration included the highly anticipated Star Wars: The Last Jedi panel, hosted by Josh Gad and featuring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Mark Hamill, and Kelly Marie Tran. Ridley explained that the upcoming film will explore Rey’s story more deeply, although she definitely wasn’t giving away any real details! A new character played by Kelly Marie Tran was also introduced at the panel: Rose, a maintenance worker on the side of the Resistance who ends up getting sucked into the fight. And of course, the panel included the first unveiling of the teaser trailer for the movie. I could go on about that for weeks, probably, but I’ll just focus on a few points. We see Rey apparently training to use her powers on the island where she found Luke, and we get shots of Kylo Ren holding his lightsaber. Most powerful of all, though, is when we finally hear Luke Skywalker speak. “It’s time for the Jedi…” he says, “to end.” Speculation about what this means has, of course, been rampant.
Saturday, April 15
Saturday featured new additions to the ever expanding entity that is the Star Wars franchise with the release of trailers for both Star Wars Rebels Season 4 and Star Wars: Battlefront II. Rebels is set before Rogue One, detailing the rise of the rebels; season four will be the show’s final installment. Battlefront II comes after its predecessor received criticism from fans and critics alike, and it seems like maybe the game will make up for the original’s shortcomings. It will feature characters and settings from all three installments of the series and includes a single-player story mode, which is something the previous game lacked. The game is set to be released November 17th.
Sunday, April 16
The Celebration closed on Sunday, but not before a panel that solely focused on Mark Hamill, appropriately titled “Hamill Himself.” Hamill talked about the making of Star Wars films old and new, and he also talked quite a bit about the lasting impact of Carrie Fisher on both himself and others. Hamill also spoke to his role as Han Solo in the recent Bad Lip Reading of The Force Awakens, which is wonderful, and his involvement in other future projects. When asked by a fan about his dream role, Hamill immediately answered that he would love to play George Lucas in a movie about his life. Yes, please!
There’s no doubt that this year’s Celebration was a success, full of unexpected guests, long anticipated releases, and general awesomeness. Now all that’s left to do is engage in endless speculation and troll the depths of the official Star Wars website until December finally rolls around. May the Force be with us, and also with our patience.