Can you feel it? No, it's not a disturbance in the Force—if anything, the Force is stronger than ever right now. But what you might be sensing is the buzz for Star Wars: The Last Jedi reaching Screeching Porg levels of hype. Now that the new poster and trailer are out in the world, excitement for the next Skywalker Saga installment is at its highest point yet. Excitement for the title of the standalone Han Solo movie? Not so lofty. (Seriously, it's just called Solo: A Star Wars Story? All those months of secrecy for that?) Oh, and for those following along on television, Star Wars Rebels is back for its fourth season as well. With all that to contend with, you might be wondering what else is happening in the Star Wars galaxy. A lot, actually. Read on.
Is Luke Going to Go to the Dark Side?
Source: Internet speculation provoked by a poster, of all things
Probability of Accuracy: File this one under "probably unlikely, considering."
The Real Deal: Following the release of the new trailer and poster for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it should come as no surprise that there is a lot of online speculation about what it all means. But one particular piece caught a lot of attention: an argument in favor of Luke Skywalker being a bad guy. "In the new poster for The Last Jedi it is a giant, looming Luke positioned to the rear, taking his dear old dead cyborg dad’s place," the argument went. "Moreover, a new display for the film’s IMAX release sees two split posters based on the traditional division in the Force between dark and light. Skywalker not only appears on the light side, with Rey, Finn, Chewie and Leia, he is also on the dark side with Captain Phasma and Ren." Convinced? The argument had one fan, at least—Mark Hamill himself.
(That almost guarantees that Luke isn't a villain, really.)
Is Kylo Ren Going to Leave the Dark Side?
Source: Even more speculation, this time using the new trailer as fodder
Probability of Accuracy: If that last speculative piece seemed unlikely, this one seems like even more of a leap of faith, if not of logic.
The Real Deal: Speaking of that Last Jedi trailer, and the speculation it's provoked, some are convinced that the teaser reveals Kylo Ren is going to switch sides in the new film. The evidence is more than a little flimsy, and basically comes down to "Why else would he be holding his hand outwards as if in friendship?" OK, there are more than enough leaps in logic and supposition there to make that a pretty baseless argument. Also, that moment (watch it at 2:12 in the trailer below) could just as easily signal Rey switching allegiance to the dark side. But given director Rian Johnson's love of playing with expectations, who's to say that the villain won't turn into a good guy midway through the trilogy?
Laura Dern Is Really, Truly in The Last Jedi
Source: Laura Dern, via television
Probability of Accuracy: It's a visual reveal, so accuracy isn't really an issue, per se.
The Real Deal: Meanwhile, how charming is Laura Dern? Charming enough that, when revealing an official look at her Last Jedi character Vice Admiral Holdo on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, she actually told the audience, "See, I am in Star Wars! I told you guys!" Come on, that's ridiculously charming.
The promo for Holdo is particularly interesting in light of the new trailer for The Last Jedi, which notably featured none of the additions to the cast—not Holdo, not Paige or Rose, the newcomers to the Resistance, and not DJ, Benicio Del Toro's mysterious new character. OK, so maybe they're not trailer material, but they are in the movie, right? If Dern says she is, is it safe to say the others will show up somewhere? Fans will have to wait until December 15 to find out, apparently.
Step Into Star Wars Next Year
Source: The Void, which is actually a virtual reality company and not an existential concept, honest
Probability of Accuracy: It's an official announcement, so "Probably 100 percent accurate" seems like a safe bet.
The Real Deal: Can't wait for Star Wars Land to open in 2019? We have some good news for you: The ability to step in the world of Star Wars is far, far closer than you thought. Disneyland in Anaheim is going to be offering a VR experience called Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire starting on January 5. Created by The Void, Lucasfilm, and ILMxLab, the experience lets four people at a time go undercover as stormtroopers and … well, let's let the trailer speak for itself.
Pretty cool, huh? Early tickets are already available, and let's be honest, almost certainly sold out for months by this point.
They're … Not Dead?
Source: Solo director Ron Howard
Probability of Accuracy: This one is entirely confirmed, and also entirely awesome.
The Real Deal: If fan service is what it's going to take to get fans into Solo: A Star Wars Story, then, dammit, fan service is what they're going to have:
As teased on Twitter by director Ron Howard, and later confirmed by all involved, the comic book characters Tag and Bink will make their on-screen debut in next year's flashback movie, played by screenwriter Jon Kasdan and first assistant director Toby Hefferman. For those who aren't familiar with Tag and Bink, they're essentially the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of Star Wars, two background characters who somehow manage to be present for every big event of the first two trilogies in a series of comic books written by Kevin Rubio. This is, essentially, exactly what fans of Star Wars deep cuts need from Solo—and Rubio and Tag and Bink artist Lucas Marangon are pretty excited about it, too.
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