Star Wars Bits: Chuck Wendig’s Sequel Trilogy, Project Luminous, Knights of the Old Republic, A Kobe Bryant Easter Egg in The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Resistance Series Finale, and More!

In this edition of Star Wars Bits:

Chuck Wendig’s version of the Sequel Trilogy
What the hell is Project Luminous?
A new Knights of the Old Republic game in the works?
Tour a Los Angeles mansion’s Star Wars-themed basement
The series finale of Star Wars: Resistance
A Kobe Bryant easter egg in Star Wars: The Clone Wars
And more!

Chuck Wendig’s Sequel Trilogy

On his personal blog, Terrible Minds, author Chuck Wendig has written a three-part series about what the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy would look like if he had anything to say about it. The author of the Star Wars: Aftermath series, as well as the Miriam Black series and Wanderers, points out all the great and not-so-great things about The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker while exploring the potential of what could have been. Here’s a taste:

“Solo and Chewie show up and say, hey, yeah, we’re stealing the Falcon back. Finn and Rey decide to go with (because they gotta escape the First Order and also, c’mon, it’s Han Motherfucking Solo), but that still means escaping a First Order blockade. One of Solo’s great skills is blockade running, so let’s see it — a return to form. And then let’s complicate it further — as the Falcon blasts into space, Ren senses the ship. And also jumping into frame are the Guavian Death Gang and Kanjiklub, both attracted by seeing a Falcon ping on their Plot-Convenient Space Radars. So, you get a crazy space battle as they have to stunt-fly the Falcon through the chaos, playing the three separate forces off one another so they shoot each other instead. Meanwhile, Hyperdrive isn’t working, so Rey has to help fix that, still showing off her mechanical skills.”

Project Luminous

My favorite line in all of Star Wars is found in The Empire Strikes Back when Yoda tells Luke Skywalker, “Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.” For me, that line entirely sums up what Star Wars is all about — that there’s something more; something intangible that transcends the physical.

And then there’s Project Luminous, The long-teased multimedia initiative that was announced by Lucasfilm publishing at last year’s New York Comic-Con. The project will span comics, books, and other forms of media to tell one cohesive story. So far, we know that Star Wars authors Cavan Scott, Claudia Gray, Charles Soule, Daniel José Older, and Justina Ireland are involved and that the story will span comics, books, video games, and — possibly — serve as the launching pad to a new era of Star Wars films and series.

Clayton Sandell — an ABC reporter and massive Star Wars fan — recently tweeted that details about the mysterious project will be unveiled at a special event on February 24. A recent rumor from Making Star Wars suggests that Project Luminous — and the next Star Wars saga — will take place during an era being referred to as “The High Republic Era,” set 400 years before The Skywalker Saga. We’ll know more on February 24, but my gut tells me that this multimedia initiative will shed light on the origins of the Jedi and the Sith and delve into the secrets of the Force, similar to previous rumors about the project Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were working on. Yoda would be a spry 500, give or take a few years, and it’s easy to see how his character could play a major role in this new era of Star Wars stories.

Revisiting Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Re-Imagining Knights of the Old Republic

Continuing our trip into the past, our friend Jordan Maison over at Cinelinx has heard that a Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake is in development. Developed by BioWare and published by LucasArts, the original 2003 roleplaying video game takes place 4,000 years before The Skywalker Saga. A massive success upon release, the game spawned an equally impressive 2004 sequel, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords. According to Maison’s sources, the game isn’t so much a remake but a re-imagining:

“It would be a Knights of the Old Republic project that would integrate elements from the first two games in order to bring certain things into the current Star Wars canon.”

Considering the wealth of material from KOTOR that has been reintroduced to the new canon, this seems like a sure bet and an easy win for Disney/Lucasfilm, considering the original games and their characters are so beloved. As much fun as I’ve had with Star Wars Battlefront II and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, I’m ready for a more immersive, long-form gaming experience in the Star Wars universe.

The Force is Strong in This Basement

Thanks to the Wall Street Journal, we can take a virtual tour of an incredible Los Angeles mansion with a 5,000-square-foot Star Wars-themed basement, stocked with life-size replicas of Darth Vader, Yoda, Greedo, and all of your favorite rowdy cantina creatures and bounty hunters. There’s even a Death Star-styled movie theater, perfect for midnight showings of the Star Wars Holiday Special. If you’re interested, the mansion is available for a modest $26.5 million and the owner, a semi-retired investor, is willing to part with his Star Wars collection for an additional fee.

Podcast: Blast Points Celebrates the Love!

Blast Points Podcast Takes on 2020 with ‘Saga Year’

Blast Points hosts Jason Gibner and Gabe Bott are celebrating one Star Wars saga film — those released theatrically in the United States — every month in the year 2020, with some surprises mixed in too. Their first episode, of course, takes a closer look at Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Together, they explore the themes of messages of the film and how they resonate throughout the saga.

Also, be sure to check out “Episode 202 – DARKSABER,” in which the dynamic duo discuss the history of the Darksaber — the black-bladed lightsaber mostly recently seen in The Mandalorian — and what the future holds for this ancient weapon. Created by Tarre Vizsla, the first Mandalorian inducted into the Jedi Order, the Darksaber first appeared way back in 2020 in “The Mandalore Plot,” the twelfth episode of the second season of The Clone Wars.

The Star Wars: Resistance Season Finale

StarWars.com has a behind-the-scenes look at the series finale, “The Escape – Part 2,” including concept art and information on which Resistance ships appear in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker!

“Among the 14,000 ships that arrive with Lando Calrissian over Exegol in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker are the Fireball, Jarek Yeager’s racer, and Torra Doza’s ship,’ says Pablo Hidalgo of the Lucasfilm Story Group. The ILM team created photo-real versions of these vessels to populate the movie’s space battle, which we’re excited to reveal here.”

Speaking of Resistance, Star Wars Explained is back with 64 fun facts, easter eggs, Legends connections, and references to be found in the second and final season of the animated series.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Features a Kobe Bryant Easter Egg

CBR.com reminded us that The Clone Wars paid tribute to Kobe Bryant with the K2-B4 droid, a droid with a purple-and-gold color scheme to reflect the NBA superstar’s career with the Los Angeles Lakers. The name of the droid was inspired by Bryant’s initials and his jersey number, 24. K2-B4, voiced by Ashley Eckstein (who also voices Ahsoka Tano), first appeared in the eighteenth episode of the third season of series, which originally aired on February 18, 2011.

New Star Wars Apparel Collection from Her Universe Available at Disney Parks and shopDisney

Now available at Disney Parks and shopDisney, the latest collection of Star Wars-themed apparel from Her Universe features t-shirts, joggers, jackets and more in a ’90s-inspired black-and-white style. If you’re unfamiliar, Her Universe is a fashion company and lifestyle brand founded by actress and entrepreneur Ashley Eckstein, who portrays Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano on the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels.

Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard Version) by Sideshow Collectibles

Now available for pre-order, Sideshow Collectibles presents their sixth scale figure of Lando Calrissian (Skiff Guard Version), as seen in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. This incredible piece includes both an unhelmeted portrait with the detailed likeness of actor Billy Dee Williams and an alternate portrait with a non-removable helmet and mask as a part of his full guard uniform. Additionally, his costume comes complete with one pair of boots and a faux leather belt with a holster for his included DL-18 blaster pistol. Calrissian also comes armed with an additional BD-1 Cutter Vibro-axe and seven hands – enough to swindle any hustler he crosses paths with. The figure is available for $245 with an estimated arrival time between Nov. 2020 and Jan. 2021.

The Force is Strong with Disneyland Paris Cast Members

And finally, to celebrate the return of Legends of the Force – A Celebration of Star Wars, Disneyland Paris cast members found the sounds of John Williams’ iconic music from the Star Wars saga in their everyday roles across the resort. Check out this fun little homage below: