Star Wars

13-year-old trumpeter Bryce Hayashi got a nice surprise when he and flugelhorn player Michael Miller played an impromptu tribute to John Williams’ Star Wars theme on the lawn of the master composer’s house: Williams himself was home and came out to shake their hands and salute them on their fine playing.

We’ve known for months that Alden Ehrenreich was our new Han Solo, but the closing panel at Star Wars Celebration Europe brought the official announcement, plus a surprise appearance by the actor.

With Disney throwing a massive amount of resources behind their new Star Wars property, one of the more interesting things to come out of Star Wars Celebration was the news that Luscasfilm would not shy away from using emerging technologies like virtual reality to tell Star Wars stories. Case in point? A brand new Darth Vader virtual reality experience, which the folks at Entertainment Weekly have written up alongside quotes from the producers and crew.

Just as this morning announced the grand return of Admiral Thrawn to the Star Wars universe via Rebels Season 3, new images from the fall premiere bring an even closer look at our returning big bads. Check out the full Star Wars Rebels Season 3 poster, along with some new photos and a Maul-worthy clip from today’s big premiere!

Just when you thought Star Wars Rebels couldn’t get any bigger than to include Vader himself, Season 3 gets expanded in a major way. Not only does the first official trailer confirm Grand Admiral Thrawn as a our new villain, but also a host of Star Wars favorites like Wedge Antilles, the darksaber, what looks to be the Outrider and more!

My favorite part of any Star Wars panel like the one today at Star Wars Celebration is the terrified looks on the cast members when they’re asked to talk about their characters. They sweat and stammer, and look nervously at Kathleen Kennedy like at any moment if they say the wrong thing she’s going to end them with a Darth Vader Force choke.

That clip above is the great sizzle reel for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that just debuted at Star Wars Celebration. But if you were watching the live-feed from the convention, you know that right before the panel wrapped up, Kathleen Kennedy introduced a brand-new Rogue One trailer, that wasn’t streamed live on YouTube. If you weren’t in the room, you were out of luck.

It wasn’t too long ago that Star Wars Rebels fans eagerly theorized the arrival of Clone Wars vet Ahsoka Tano in Season 1, while the Season 2 finale left it rather vague that she survived her showdown with Darth Vader. Dave Filoni downplayed the notion thereafter, but may since have found a way to return Snips for a role in Star Wars Rebels Season 3.

It’s a great new look for a classic old location.

One of the biggest panels at this year’s Star Wars Celebration kicks off at 11AM today: the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story panel. Plenty of special guests are expected included director Gareth Edwards and plenty of members of the film’s cast. You can watch the panel streaming live above, and we’ll be updating this post with news and notes as they come in! The film’s plot synopsis:

Sorry Comic-Con, but it’s all about Star Wars Celebration this year. The biggest event in the galaxy far, far away is only days away and ScreenCrush will be there to bring you all the latest news and updates from the three-day event.

As a whole, the Star Wars prequel characters were not a particularly well-liked group. You had Anakin Skywalker, the mopey, whiny young Jedi who hated sand. There was Queen Amidala, the blank royal who endured Anakin’s moping and whining and hatred of sand. And there was Jar Jar Binks who talked like a moron and later basically helped the Palpatine seize control of the galaxy. Not exactly candidates for the Mount Rushmore of Star Wars heroes.