Rogue One trailer topples the Olympics. Lando Calrissian is a Gambino (maybe). Dave Filoni does as a Dave Filoni does. RIP Kenny Baker.
By Mike Audette // It was an up and down week for Star Wars. Rogue One’s latest trailer blew minds. Rumors of Lando coming to the Han Solo standalone crept up. An extended interview with Dave Filoni will leave you speechless. RIP Kenny Baker, R2-D2, who has become one with the Force.
Rogue One gets a new trailer
Thursday night was a doozy. Overshadowing Michael Phelps and all his Gold medals, Rogue One’s latest trailer brought the house down. It was shown last Sunday the new trailer would be airing on Thursday during the Olympics coverage. It wasn’t a full theatrical trailer that will be coming later, most likely in October. That didn’t take away any of the excitement from this trailer though. So many amazing things! X-Wings! Star Destroyers! Death Star! DARTH VADER! There wasn’t much gleamed of the story from this trailer which is a good thing in my opinion. We know the standard background, no specifics though. This film is going to be out of this world good. I can’t wait until December. As usual the RetroZap bullpen got together for reactions. Read em and weep!
Young Lando to match Young Han
Rumors swirled this week that the Han Solo standalone will get a little more stylish. It seems that the baron administrator of Cloud City will be making his way alongside Han. According to sources, Donald Glover, also known as Childish Gambino in the hip-hop community, is first in the clubhouse to play a young Lando. Glover who is most known for his role in Community, is an extremely talented performer who has had multiple careers. From acting to stand-up comedy to even releasing multiple rap albums. Glover is an excellent choice to play Lando if this does come to fruition. Nothing has been confirmed by any sides at this junction but it is still early in the film’s production process.
What kind of story should the Han Solo film be? It’s tough to say what exactly tale there is to tell for Han. There are numerous Legends stories of his exploits prior to A New Hope and it’ll be interesting to see what Chris Miller and Phil Lord come up with in conjunction with Lawrence and Jon Kasdan. Those two are pretty genius when it comes to comedy so I think Solo will have a great feel to it.
Dave Filoni
On the Star Wars Show this week, Andi had a sit down with Dave Filoni. The part that aired on the show was only a snippet and it was promised that the extended interview would be posted later on. The interview showed up on the Star Wars YouTube channel Friday night and it did not disappoint. If you’ve ever had the chance to chat with Dave before you know exactly how much he can talk while constantly being engaging and effortlessly smart. The extended interview above is almost an hour long and goes into great details about not just Star Wars for Dave but how he started his career, what it was like getting hired at Lucasfilm, and working with George Lucas. The Star Wars fandom should consider itself lucky Dave is one of the most brilliant creators in storytelling today.
RIP Kenny Baker
On Saturday morning, news broke on the passing of Kenny Baker. Baker was the actor who played the famous droid R2-D2, as if you didn’t already know that. While Baker wasn’t as famous as his onscreen counterparts, that doesn’t do anything to disparage his performances throughout the films. The English actor had a lengthy career beyond just playing his role in the Star Wars saga. Most noteworthy he had roles in classics like Time Bandits and Willow. Baker is the first main actor from the Original Trilogy to pass away and hopefully the only one for a while. My deepest condolences to the Baker family.