Everything announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023. If you’re in the UK and have sensed a massive disturbance in The Force, don’t panic. That’s not Alderaan being blown up. That’s Star Wars Celebration in London. From April 7 to April 10, fans from across the globe celebrated a galaxy far, far away.
You don’t have to be there to learn about all the new Star Wars movies and TV series being announced, though. We sent our own intrepid reporter down to celebration, and she brought you all the Star Wars news that was fit to print. So strap in. Here’s everything that was announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023.
Everything announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023
More Star Wars movies are on the way
After a rather long hiatus, we’ve finally got confirmation that more Star Wars movies are in development. The three new films will be directed by James Mangold, who’s currently working on Indiana Jones 5; David Filoni, the brain behind the popular Star Wars series Clone Wars; and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who directed Ms Marvel.
The three movies will explore different parts of the Star Wars timeline, with Mangold going back thousands of years to “the dawn of the Jedi”; Filoni meanwhile will focus on the New Republic and tie together the current Star Wars Disney Plus shows; finally Obaid-Chinoy is working on a science fiction movie set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker.
And finally, the big one… the rumours are true – we found out at the panel that THREE new #StarWars movies are on the way, each at different points of time in the SW timeline #SWCE2023 #StarWarsCelebration pic.twitter.com/aJ3TIk1a9e
— The Digital Fix (@thedigitalfix) April 7, 2023
The new Star Wars timeline
At the announcement, the president of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, showed a diagram which seemed to spell out the new Star Wars timeline.
The timeline now starts at the Dawn of the Jedi and goes through the Old Republic, High Republic, Fall of the Jedi, Reign of the Empire, Age of Rebellion, New Republic, Rise of the First Order, all the way to the New Jedi Order.
Presumably, all the new Star Wars projects will be set within these different eras of a galaxy far, far away, although that’s speculation on our part for now.
Finally, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s #StarWars movie will take place 15 years after ROS and establish of a new Jedi Order … led by none other than REY SKYWALKER with a returning DAISY RIDLEY!!!! #SWCE#StarWarsCelebration pic.twitter.com/VL7VKdnqvw
— The Digital Fix (@thedigitalfix) April 7, 2023
Rey Skywalker returns
Daisy Ridley will reprise the role of Rey in Obaid-Chinoy’s movie focused on the New Jedi Order. The film will reportedly be set 15 years after the events of Rise of Skywalker and will see Jedi Master Rey attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order.
The Ahsoka trailer, release window, and casting announcements
We got our first proper look at Rosario Dawson in the upcoming Ahsoka Tano series. You don’t need us to tell you what happened in the trailer, though. You can watch it below but be warned, the Heir to the Empire is on the rise.
We also now know that Star Wars: Ahsoka will officially be released on Disney Plus in August 2023, and Dawson teased that we may get a second season if we’re lucky.
That wasn’t all, though. They confirmed which Star Wars character Mary Elizabeth Winstead is playing. Winstead is Hera Syndulla, who was last seen in Star Wars: Rebels.
First things first, Andor season 2 will be coming in August 2024 – we got a first-look glimpse at the season, and here's the 411: News of the rebellion is spreading, and things are heating up… #StarWarsCelebration #StarWars #SWCE2023 pic.twitter.com/SMHyzo6zYq
— The Digital Fix (@thedigitalfix) April 7, 2023
Lars Mikkelsen returns as Grand Admiral Thrawn
Perhaps most excitingly on the Ahsoka front, Lars Mikkelsen will be playing Grand Admiral Thrawn in live-action in the upcoming series.
For years fans have been clamouring to see Thrawn in live-action, and played by Mikkelsen no less. So, a major win-win.
An Andor season 2 release window
The Andor season 2 release date just got closer, as it was confirmed that the team behind the show are aiming for an August 2024 release. Series creator Tony Gilroy also confirmed that the series started filming in November and is about halfway through shooting at this point.
The Acolyte plot details
While we didn’t get The Acolyte release date, they shared some plot details. Series creator Leslye Headland confirmed that the show would be told from the bad guy’s perspective and added that she pitched it to Kathleen Kennedy as Frozen meets Kill Bill.
“It’s the High Republic near the beginning of the prequels and an exciting part of the timeline. This is when the bad guys are outnumbered,” Headland explained. “They are the underdogs. I’m really excited for you guys to see things you haven’t seen in live-action yet.” Being set in the High Republic era, Jedi Vernestra Rwoh (from the High Republic novels) was confirmed to join the series too.
Okay, onto #TheSkeletonCrew – the exclusive teaser streamed at the event revealed that Jude Law (who was there in the flesh, by the way) would be playing a Jedi #SWCE #StarWarsCelebration pic.twitter.com/WfpT0bDZvZ
— The Digital Fix (@thedigitalfix) April 7, 2023
The Skeleton Crew trailer
The Skeleton Crew trailer dropped as well, but they haven’t made it publicly available yet, so we can’t share it with you, I’m afraid, nor did we learn the Skeleton Crew release date. That said, the series lead Jude Law turned up and explained how excited he was to work on a Star Wars show, and it was announced that Kerry Condon had joined the cast.
“I was six years old when this galaxy, this world gripped me, blew my mind. I feel like I’ve been in preparation ever since,” Law said. It was a total pleasure. I think one of the highlights was working with the incredible, talented people working behind the scenes. It was a true dream come true.”
Return of the Jedi anniversary re-release
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, Return of the Jedi will come back to theatres on April 28, 2023. Many fans will have their very first chance to witness Vader’s redemption on the big screen.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Indiana Jones 5 also got another exciting trailer which you can watch below.
Tales of the Jedi season 2 confirmed
Dave Filoni offered up confirmation that anthology series Tales of the Jedi will be heading back to Disney Plus. The first season focused on Jedi from the prequel era, and featured such starry voice talent as Liam Neeson and Bryce Dallas Howard, telling short stories featuring different Jedi. Here’s everything we know about Tales of the Jedi season 2.
The Bad Batch season 3 confirmed
The Bad Batch is returning for a third — and final — season in 2024.
Announced at The Bad Batch panel on Monday, April 10, the news was accompanied by an exclusive teaser trailer telling fans what to expect from the new season. The trailer revealed that members of the Bad Batch Omega and Crosshair remained in Imperial custody, and also teased the return of characters like Emperor Palpatine and Star Wars bounty hunter Fennec Shand.
BREAKING: “The story is far from over” – #TheBadBatch is returning for a third and final season. Now, we’re being treated to an exclusive trailer for season 3. #StarWarsCelebration2023 #StarWars pic.twitter.com/xV5ITUdcHO
— The Digital Fix (@thedigitalfix) April 10, 2023
Star Wars Visions Volume 2 release date and trailer
Following season 1 of the acclaimed animated series, Star Wars Visions Volume 2 was revealed as having a May 4, 2023 release date. Each episode of the anthology series, of which there are nine, is to be produced by a different animation studio from around the world. The aforementioned studios are Studio Mir (South Korea), Studio La Cachette (France), 88 Pictures (India), Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), Punkrobot (Chile), Aardman (UK), El Guiri (Spain), D’art Shtajio (Japan), and Triggerfish (South Africa).
A trailer was also released for the series, which you can watch below.
Star Wars Celebration 2025 announced
Star Wars Celebration 2025 was announced at this year’s Closing Ceremony on April 10. The event, which is set to take place between April 18 and April 20 2025, will be returning to Japan for the first time since 2008, and be held once again at the Makuhari Messe.
see you in Japan #StarWarsCelebration pic.twitter.com/bhhskcQ0eK
— Star Wars (@starwars) April 10, 2023
If you want to know more about what went on at Star Wars celebration, check out our Twitter here, where we reported live from the event all weekend. Or, learn more about the new Ahsoka villain Baylan Skoll. If that’s not enough, we’ve also got a list of all the new movies coming in 2023 and a breakdown of the best movies ever made for you to enjoy.
