William N. Law Blog: Star Wars Bits: New Star Wars Land Rumors, a Great Mark Hamill Q&A, and ‘Star Wars’ Goes VR

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Star Wars Bits: New Star Wars Land Rumors, a Great Mark Hamill Q&A, and ‘Star Wars’ Goes VR

Welcome to today’s especially jam-packed edition of Star Wars Bits, which features the following:

Star Wars actor Drewe Henley has passed away.
Mark Hamill engages (and teases) fans in a long and fascinating Q&A.
Marvel’s Poe Dameron comic is already doing quite well.
New Star Wars Land details/rumors emerge.
The Star Wars saga goes VR with Trials on Tatooine.
The ridiculous Darth Vader toothpick dispenser you’ll want to own.
A description of the next big Star Wars novel.
Footage from the latest Star Wars: Battlefront DLC.
And more!

A few years ago, artist Eric Tan created a series of posters for the two Star Wars trilogies and the results were stunning. He recently re-shared his work on his Tumblr, placing the entire series side-by-side so you can fully appreciate how each design echoes the others. The internet is full of great Star Wars art, but these belong in the upper tier. Top 1%? I’d say so.

Actor Drewe Henley, best known for playing “Red Leader” in the original 1977 Star Wars, has passed away at the age of 75. Although Henley worked steadily through the ’60s and ’70s, appearing mostly on British television, his role in this science fiction classic was one of his last performances before he retired. He spent his final years running a bed and breakfast with his wife. He may have played a minor role in Star Wars, but every piece of the saga is important in its own unique way. He will be missed.

Mark Hamill’s full Q&A at the Oxford Union has appeared online, which means you can now parse through his comments about Rey’s parentage and examine his facial tics for any subtle clues! In all seriousness, it’s a fun discussion. Hamill is an interesting guy and he drops a few tidbits of information about the production of The Force Awakens and Episode 8. Still, the big thing here is still him accidentally referring to Daisy Ridley/Rey as his daughter. Whether this is an accidental spoiler or just him referring to the general vibe of their offscreen relationship remains up in the air.

Marvel has announced that the first issue of the upcoming Poe Dameron comic book miniseries has reached 200,000 pre-orders…which is huge. To put that in perspective, a successful comic book these days generally moves about 50,000 copies a month. To be fair, it’s unlikely that Poe Dameron’s series will continue to sell 200,000 copies a month (that would be astro-freaking-nominal), but that’s one heck of a start.

Making Star Wars has compiled a bunch of rumors concerning Disneyland’s upcoming Star Wars Land and it all sounds pretty amazing. Maybe a little too amazing (expectations need to be kept in check here), but the chance to actually get drunk in an alien cantina sounds like a dream come true. Here’s what they’re reporting:

Word is there might be some kind of big deal event for the construction of Star Wars Land ground-breaking like they did for Avatar.

A behind the scenes feature for the Star Wars Launch Bay has been put together for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

The Marvel area above the Star Wars Launch Bay is being removed and the rumor is it may house a Star Wars Land preview area of some kind and additional Star Wars content.

Right now the plan is for the cantina in Star Wars Land to serve alcohol, which is a big deal in the Disneyland park.

You won’t be able to see any visual elements of the Star Wars area until you enter so it’s complete immersion. You’ll exit Critter Country and enter a narrow tunnel, coming out of it seeing massive buildings and X-Wings setting a dazzling tone.