What to Expect From Star Wars Celebration 2023
Fans of a galaxy far, far away are gearing up for one of the most exciting weekends of the year as Star Wars Celebration 2023 is almost upon us.
Taking place in London’s ExCeL from April 7 to 10, Lucasfilm will be making its biggest announcements of the year for all manner of Star Wars films, TV shows, games, books, comics, and more.
Thanks to the galaxy growing constantly, and now more than ever, there are already a ton of Star Wars projects we’re expecting to see over the weekend. Though nothing is confirmed yet, here’s everything we’re expecting to see at Star Wars Celebration 2023.
The 2025 Film
Let’s cut to the chase: it’s surely time for Disney and Lucasfilm to unveil the next Star Wars film. It’s already been more than three years since The Rise of Skywalker, and though the franchise is now spread across just about every media form possible, Star Wars is a film franchise at its core. We already know the next movie is premiering on December 19, 2025, but we don’t know which of the several unnamed projects it will be.
Taika Waititi’s film is one of the frontrunners, though even its development has been shaky at best. Confirmed to be in development almost three years ago, it’s set to cover characters far, far away from everyone we know already. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said in May last year that she expected the film to premiere by the end of 2023 (and this is practically impossible now), but just a month later Waititi himself said he’s no idea if it will even be made.
That being said, Disney has been cleaning up its vague list of upcoming Star Wars projects, as reports emerged last month that both Kevin Feige’s and Patty Jenkins’ films had been scrapped. Waititi’s wasn’t mentioned here though, meaning it’s presumably still moving forward.
Other changes have been happening behind the scenes too, as Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof and co-writer Justin Britt-Gibson have reportedly left an untitled project directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight will reportedly write the script instead, with sources saying a full reveal will happen at Celebration.
Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, especially since these changes are happening so last minute, but we’re hoping to see Disney and Lucasfilm make one concrete announcement about the 2025 Star Wars film, even if it’s just a title.
Ahsoka Disney+ Series Trailer and Premiere Date
As a star of The Clone Wars, and having since appeared in several other series including Rebels and The Mandalorian, Ahsoka is finally getting a Star Wars show all about her.
First announced in December 2020, Ahsoka has been teased, and teased, and teased, so should finally be due a concrete premiere date and trailer at Star Wars Celebration.
It’s already confirmed for 2023, and with a glaring gap in the adult Star Wars TV schedule after The Mandalorian Season 3 wraps later in April, Ahsoka is a perfect candidate to take on the mantle.
Skeleton Crew Tease
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is also scheduled for a 2023 premiere despite only being announced at last year’s Celebration. We know that it stars Jude Law and was created by Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, and revolves around a group of children trying to find their way home during roughly the same time period as The Mandalorian.
But outside of that, Disney has said almost nothing. We’ve learned through various sources that it’s wrapped filming, and has an episode directed by Everything Everywhere’s Daniels Duo, but that’s really it.
We’re definitely expecting Skeleton Crew to make an appearance at Star Wars Celebration, though it might just be an explanation of the show and maybe a teaser trailer rather than a full blown premiere date like Ahsoka.
TV Show Maybes
While the Skeleton Crew seems to have been fast-tracked by Disney, the same can’t be said for some other floating Star Wars shows. Both the Lando Calrissian series and first live action High Republic show The Acolyte have been quiet for a while.
Lando was first announced over two years ago in 2020 but we haven’t heard anything since. Given that Disney has announced some Star Wars cancellations and this wasn’t on the list, however, we have hope that we’ll find out more soon.
The Acolyte was revealed a little later in January 2021 with a lot of excitement behind it as the first live action show set during the High Republic era. This is a relatively new saga of books, comics, and more that tells brand new stories from around 200 years before the Skywalker Saga, at the height of the Jedi and the Republic’s power.
Production began in November, so we’re again hoping for an update, or at least a release window for The Acolyte, and Celebration would of course be the perfect time to re-introduce all of these shows to the world.
As 2023 is expected to include Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew, a release window of 2024 will perhaps be announced for these ones.
We’ll also likely see some last minute trailers for Young Jedi Adventures and Visions Volume 2, which are both right around the corner. Visions in particular still has plenty room for some reveals, as we don’t know too much about the upcoming shorts outside of episode titles and the studios and directors making them.
Jedi: Survivor Final Trailer
This one may not be as exciting as a drop of completely fresh information, but with Star Wars Jedi: Survivor launching in just a few weeks, it’s likely we’ll see a final look at the game during Celebration.
Respawn Entertainment recently dropped a story trailer showing off Merrin and Greez in the sequel for the first time, but we’re still due the big, flashy, and dramatic trailer that’ll hold TV spots and such.
As for anything beyond this, don’t get your hopes up. The original Jedi: Fallen Order didn’t really receive any DLC, meaning Survivor will likely be the same, especially as we know director Stig Asmussen wants to make Cal Kestis’s story a trilogy.
Hunters Release Window
Hunters, which is Star Wars’ take on Overwatch (or at least the squad based PvP shooter genre), was quietly delayed into 2023 in July last year and has since remained off the radar.
Developer Zynga said it was delayed to “meet the high expectations we are setting for fans globally and ourselves as developers,” but promised it was “working tirelessly to achieve our vision”. It was originally due to launch in 2021 though, and is even available to some players through a soft launch, so an official release date shouldn’t be too far away.
Though fans may not be eyeing this one as much as some other Star Wars projects in development, a release window or date being announced at Celebration, and maybe even a beta, would be sure to get some players excited.
Eclipse or Knights of the Old Republic Remake Updates
Now onto the games that Star Wars fans are super excited for. We don’t want to get our hopes too high (and know that Disney will likely want to save some big gaming announcements for E3 season), but still think at least one major video game update will come out of Celebration.
Eclipse, the High Republic game coming from Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream, and the Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) Remake, which will bring the fan-favourite from 2003 to the modern (and Canon) era, have both been quiet for a while after their official reveals.
The former was revealed in late 2021 and, outside of a couple of smaller comments from its development team, hasn’t had an official update since.
The KOTOR Remake, on the other hand, has been a little messier, with development reportedly switching studios following a disappointing presentation to Lucasfilm and Sony.
An update on either of these games would therefore be very welcome to fans. This likely wouldn’t be a release window announcement, perhaps not even a year, but a development update or short teaser would likely go a long way.
Hopefully a Few More Surprises
Despite having so many films, TV shows, books, games, and more already at our fingertips, Star Wars fans will always want more. Celebration is the place to give us that, and some surprise reveals are guaranteed to get the crowd in London going.
IGN will have you covered on every one of these announcements, with tons of breaking news, analysis, commentary, and more throughout the entirety of Star Wars Celebration 2023 weekend.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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