Give Me Those Star Wars 39: Phase 2 Announcements

Do we finally know what Star Wars: The Disney Years Phase 2 is going to look like? It sure seems like that was the point of Kathleen Kennedy's presentation of Lucasfilm's upcoming slate of projects during Disney's Investor Day on December 10, 2020. On this special episode of Give Me Those Star Wars, Ryan Daly and new guest Chris Zegunis discuss all of the new Star Wars projects scheduled for Disney+ and theatrical release, including two series spinning off of The Mandalorian, new animated series and features, long-awaited event series for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Lando Calrissian, and new films by Patty Jenkins and Taika Waititi. All that, plus listener feedback from last episode.

Let us know what you think! Leave a comment or send an email to: RDalyPodcast@gmail.com.

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9 responses to “Give Me Those Star Wars 39: Phase 2 Announcements

  1. Nice discussion guys. Yesterday on his Disney Dish podcast, Disney insider Jim Hill said he heard Lando may also feature Bill Dee Williams in a narrator type role, where he’s telling adventures of his younger days, which will of course feature Donald Glover. I hope this is the case, as I would love to see Billy Dee get some more love as well.

    I’m actually pretty excited for all of this stuff. I have heard some scoff at the announcement as being overkill, etc., but again, it’s over several years, and who knows if some of these will actually come to pass?

    I wonder if Rangers of the New Republic may involve Timothy Olyphant’s Marshall Cobb Vanth? He would be a great choice, especially if Cara Dune (or the actress) is going to be too radioactive to build a series around. The Rebels thing may be part of it too, especially if speculation comes true about who Grogu’s Jedi call reached.

    Ahsoka’s appearance on the Mandolorian and the announcement of her series has sent my daughter on a binge of The Clone Wars, to be followed by Rebels. So good on you, Lucasfilm, you are insuring Star Wars lives on past us old farts.

    Chris

  2. Loved your discussion, gentlemen. I’ve been rereading Stackpole’s X-wing series. So, I was primed for the Rogue Squadron movie announcement. Just listening to Ryan recap the teaser video made me feel giddy. An article on the Star Wars website (https://www.starwars.com/news/future-lucasfilm-projects-revealed) states that “[t]he story will introduce a new generation of starfighter pilots as they earn their wings and risk their lives in a boundary-pushing, high-speed thrill-ride, and move the saga into the future era of the galaxy.” That quotes leads me to believe that this may be a post-sequel trilogy timeline movie.

    I’m also up for anything in which Dave Filoni is involved. I consider him the heir apparent to Lucas’ vision of the Star Wars universe (i.e., Filoni just seems to get what Star Wars is all about). Like Chris’, my daughter is a big Ahsoka fan (her second favorite Star Wars character next to Padme). So, I’m looking forward to her reaction to the Ahsoka series announcement. I haven’t told her yet, because we’re planning to watch The Mandalorian over the holidays, and I want Ahsoka’s appearance in that series to be a surprise.

    Finally, I was excited to hear that Children of Blood & Bone will be coming to the big screen. In the early months of the pandemic, I read and enjoyed both Children of Blood & Bone and the follow up novel, Children of Virtue & Vengeance. I’m all for seeing more inclusion in the (traditionally Eurocentric) fantasy genre, and this story should be a worthy contender.

  3. Wasn’t Chris an enthusiastic chap!

    Good coverage of an avalanche of announcements. I do worry that there are too many projects in the hopper. I’m not sure the casual viewers will have the appetite for more than 2 Star Wars shows at once. Time will tell.

    I must admit I’d feel better about this if Disney weren’t being absolute pricks to people like Alan Dean Foster. Anyway, Yay massive corporations!

  4. Except for members of the toxic side of fandom, this has to be an embarrassment of riches in terms of content. You don’t have to like it all, but I have to think there’s a something for any Star Wars fan.

    I just finished watching Rebels and Clone Wars Final Season just before Mandalorian Season 2 started, which was great and unintentional timing with the ties between all of those shows, so *that* was lucky! Those all make me very excited for Ahsoka’s series. She was a gem of the animated series, and I totally agree with Chris, the finale of Clone Wars was phenomenal. It (mostly) laid to rest my overarching problem with Clone Wars: knowing the tragedy that this is all leading up to. That foreknowledge colored the experience of watching that series too much. But the final episodes? It all worked beautifully.

    Finally, I haven’t read any EU books or comics. But even so, I’d heard the name “Rogue Squadron” plenty of times and knew the concept. So watching the Patty Jenkins trailer, I felt a surprising amount of excitement. I have no nostalgia for RS, and I am totally on board! Now, gotta say, I’m also sorry that Ms Jenkins possibly had to do a trailer like that to “establish her SW cred”, which should not be necessary, but we all know which “fans” will complain about her inclusion. But it was so well done, emotional and personal, I have no complaints about the trailer itself. Love!

    Wonderful discussion, gents!

  5. Thanks for breaking down all these great announcements! This was a fun show with your guessings and opinions about all the new Star Wars content coming down the pipe. I agree with you that “Investor’s Day” seems like a really weird brand for these announcements. In fact, first blush, I thought they meant this was for investors/stockholders but it got leaked to the internet. Now on to my two cents……

    Rangers of the New Republic – Do you think this could be the Tombstone version of Star Wars? With the different marshals out there and the different “frontier” (Outer Rim) towns? I didn’t know about all the Gina Carano backlash. I thought she worked great as Cara Dune but I can see why Disney would want to distance themselves from the negative publicity.

    Ahsoka – Agree with both of you that Ahsoka is the best non-movie character. As much as I have a ton of love for Mara Jade, Admiral Thrawn, Kyle Katarn, etc., Ahsoka had an amazing character arc over the course of the Clone Wars and I’m probably most excited for this series.

    Andor – Of all the series announced, this is probably the one I’m looking forward to least. As Chris mentioned with the prequel movies, I don’t think this story is needed as you got to know most of what you needed to know about Andor in Rogue One. Though, if it’s got more Alan Tudyk as K-2SO, I’m in.

    Obi-Wan Kenobi – Aside from Ahsoka, this is probably my next favourite announcement. I’m also excited to see how Hayden Christensen fits into this series. I agree with you guys that Hayden isn’t a bad actor but was put into a terrible position. Having said that, I thought he did a great job trying to show how this young kid, who has the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders with expectations, can implode.

    The Bad Batch – My kids loved these guys. I think this announcement is directed solely to them!

    Star Wars Visions – I actually hadn’t heard about this one until you talked about it. It should be fun if it’s anything like those fan anime X-Wing Vs. Tie Fighter clips I’ve seen on YouTube.

    Lando – This will probably be the most fun, out of all the series announced. I would like to see more stories with him and L3-37. Perhaps like mentioned above, Billy Dee Williams can narrate the journal/diary that Lando was keeping in Solo. It would almost be a visual memoir of Lando’s adventures.

    The High Republic – I’m very excited for this as well just because I have such great memories of playing Knights of the Old Republic. If they make this era anything like that game, I’m totally on board.

    A Droid Story – Like Ryan, I’ve got a soft spot for all the droid characters in Star Wars. Whether that’s original R5-D4, mouse droids, GNK droids or the newer BB-8 and BB-9E (the E stands for evil!) droids, I will be interested to see where this series goes.

    Taika Waititi Project – I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve seen him make or be in, so I expect more the same.

    Rogue Squadron – With Patty Jenkins on board, this should be a non-stop thrill ride! I really enjoyed Wonder Woman (haven’t yet seen WW84 yet) so I’m hoping she can bring that same excitement to Star Wars!

    This was really fun and it’s one of the best parts of Star Wars fandom…. speculating what comes next!

    Keep up the great work!

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