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More and more, as the Disney+ Star Wars series continue, the importance of the animated series comes to the fore. From Cad Bane showing up in The Book of Boba Fett to fan-favorite Ahsoka Tano getting her own live action show, the more Dave Filoni creates, the more connected it will be. In her debut in The Mandalorian, Rosario Dawson’s live-action version of Ahsoka confirmed she still hunts the evil Grand Admiral Thrawn. This confirmed that the end of Star Wars Rebels leads directly into Ahsoka. This became even more of a fact on Saturday at Star Wars Celebration; other Rebels characters Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla, and Chopper will be on hand.

During a panel with Filoni and Jon Favreau, the pair showed clips of season three of The Mandalorian, and then showed little bits of Ahsoka. That series has only had three weeks of shooting, so it wasn’t much. However, they confirmed a long-rumored recasting of another animated favorite character. Australian actor Natasha Liu Bordizzo took the stage to talk about bringing Mandalorian warrior Sabine Wren to life.

“I know how much Sabine means to you,” Bordizzo told the stoked audience. “And after watching Star Wars Rebels, she means so much to me as well.”

Bordizzo wasn’t alone; the practical version of the Chopper droid also took the stage. The sassiest of all droids will also appear in Ahsoka, as will, evidently, Hera Syndulla. During the sizzle reel, the audience saw the back of the Twi’lek ship captain’s distinctive silhouette. No announcement on who will play Hera.

The final episode of Star Wars Rebels had Grand Admiral Thrawn and young Jedi trainee Ezra Bridger going through a wormhole to parts unknown. Ahsoka and Sabine vowed to track down their friend. Rumors have abounded about who might play Ezra, but no word there either. So the search is on for both Ezra and Thrawn. Thrawn was easily the best villain of the pre-Disney Star Wars Legends era who got a reprieve from de-canonization in Rebels.

For years, it was only The Clone Wars keeping the Star Wars legacy alive. It remained the only non-movie in the canon after the Disney purchase of Lucasfilm. Since then, Filoni’s animated universe has only gotten more important in the Disney+ shows. Obi-Wan Kenobi deals directly with the aftermath of The Clone Wars; Bo-Katan is a major character on The Mandalorian; and now in Ahsoka, fans will get the continuing live-action adventures of more favorites of the animated ilk.

Ahsoka will premiere some time in 2023.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Instagram and Letterboxd.

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Writer: Kieron Gillen / Artist: Esad Ribic / Marvel

I don’t know what Gillen has been sipping, but I want some of that writer juice ASAP. In the first three pages of Eternals #12, the whole history of Marvel changes in a flash. Well, maybe not the whole history, but surely the roots of the Marvel tree have been altered significantly.

The Real Origins of the Marvel Universe

Back in issue #5 of Jason Aaron’s Avengers run, Loki gave us the lowdown on how these beautiful, messy heroes came to be. The Progenitor landed on a young Earth. Not because Earth was the selected land for greatness, but because it was sick infected by the Horde and coincidentally fell to our primordial planet and spewed its necrofluids God’s guts, pus and whatnot into it as the Celestial died. Necrofluids that seeped into the planet and its eventual inhabitants, which became the catalyst that eventually birthed our loveable crime fighting homies. But that’s a tale many Marvel fans now know and accept. 

What we didn’t know was that there was a huge variable at play that allowed earth life forms to flourish into the flying, energy beam blasting, mind reading legends they’ve become. That variable was Deviants. Much to Ajak’s chagrin, Eternals are not the all-important entities they were led to believe, but the counterpart to the creatures that helped to create “strange” stable life forms who eventually became those Savage Avengers and modern-day Avengers we all know and love.

So that was a lot, but ever important if you call yourself someone who values canon and a proper origin story. Could all of what was has happened in Eternals #12 be wiped away with the sweep of a new writer pen in 2025? Sure. Hell, Hickman could come outta left field and demand to write a new origin story of all existence tomorrow, and this info could be cleansed quicker than you washed your hands during the height of 2020 Delta variant. But for now, “the Deviants…they are the important ones” and Celestials are now left to ponder their purpose moving forward.

Wait, Isn’t There a Mad Titan to Kill?

Your boy Thanos, the barbarian philosopher, first of his name is also first of his kind. On the journey through his father’s mind, he is disgusted by how breezy it is to bypass the psychic blocks and traps A’lars put into place to protect such a precious secret. Thanos and Druig essentially have a walk in the park to get to Thanos’ design, and the follow up conversation between these two and Domo provides Thanos with even more credence. The ensuing battle between Thanos and the Eternals was a fun little skirmish that had nothing to do with the eventual death or dominance of Thanos. That was a much more calculated outcome. That all readers should have the pleasure of reading and witnessing themselves. 

It’s really spectacular to witness a good writer and impeccable artist bring a fire comic with Thanos and his unfuckwittable one liners at the center of the story to life. Eternals #12, the final issue of this Hail Thanos story arc, was a good one, but it also set up the highly anticipated conflict between the Eternals and the X-Men and I am hypeeee for all that smoke! Judgement Day is coming!

9 Mothers of the Age of Marvels out of 10

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During this year’s Star Wars Celebration, happening this week, an eye-opening panel featuring Solo director Ron Howard and Solo writer Lawrence Kasdan, unveiled the new documentary series Light & Magic. The series uncovers how visual effects have shaped the entertainment industry, most notably within the Star Wars universe.

The panel also featured Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, Joe Johnston, Rose Duignan, and Lynwen Brennan.

The panel took a deep dive into the world of ILM, also known as Industrial Light and Magic, which is the visual effects studio based in San Francisco that is responsible for all the Lucasfilm movies we have come to know and love. For ILM, the key to stagecraft is putting actors into virtual worlds. ILM is also described as an organic trading of ideas.

Kasdan got COVID-19 and couldn’t attend the panel, but he was there virtually to discuss his participation in the documentary as well as his work at ILM. “ILM is a house of geniuses,” he says. According to Kasdan, ILM created a place that is unmatched as the greatest special effects house in the world. “At first no one knew how it was going to work,” he says. The storyteller described it as an environment where geniuses help geniuses. 

“When the actors are more connected, that’s a great leap,” says Howard.

The series explores the origin of properties we as fans of Star Wars have come to know, such as Joe Johnston’s concept drawings of the X-Wing. Such drawings are discussed in the documentary. According to Johnston, Star Wars director George Lucas was very vague about asking for different designs because he wanted choices. Tippett, a creatures and stop motion expert, said he rarely read scripts. He would spend days drawing, and Lucas would respond well to three-dimensional structures. The team at ILM was also an environment that allowed creative liberties. There was a form of management working that Lucas employed that allowed creative people to invest and just run with it. 

Johnston was asked about the creation of the original STAR WARS logo. He drew with a ruler with black ink and stacked the STAR on top of the WARS which is how the logo got made.

If you’re engaged in the story, you forget that these props and visual effects are not real and that you are enthralled in what the director is trying to tell you, and that is what ILM and Lucasfilm have brought to audiences over the past 47 years and continue to do through their current slate of films.

Light & Magic, a six-part documentary series, starts streaming July 27 on Disney+.

Writer: Al Ewing / Artist: Stefano Caselli / MARVEL

It was basically X-Men release week with all of the dope mutant content that was put out on Wednesday. X-Men Red set itself apart by upping the ante after their hot start, diving into some scarcely touched on mental issues, and allowing its characters to be unfettered versions of themselves. The latter two being warring sides of one mutant, making for even more intriguing Summers’ family content.

Vulcan gets the feature of X-Men Red #2, and it’s Al Ewing doing an absolutely marvelous job of painting a picture of a man’s mental state and how he deals with the unwelcome helping hands reaching out to help him. It’s a great fantastical take on mental health that I’m not confident could’ve been pulled off if Hickman didn’t lay out the blueprints and Ewing erect the full story.

Sooo, is There an X-Men Red Team or Naa?

I kid, but not really. If you’re anything like me, you might have been under the impression that the cliffhanger introducing the new Brotherhood at the end of X-Men Red #1 (more on that later) was going to be the only major team that we get blessed with in the series, but you’d be wrong!

Abigail Brand, ever the intergalactic opportunist, picks up the scraps of the most recent Vulcan expulsion of emotions energy, and I continue to shake my head how easily she is finessing the entire island nation and their leaders. But let’s not give her too much credit just yet, as there is always the possibility of Emma, Charles, or Jean being aware of her shady moves and preparing for an eventual counterattack. But back to the focus at hand.

There’s an interesting new team of X-Men on the planet, and, if I’m keep it a hunnit, they didn’t seem too thrilled or convinced of this new role…at least as far as Manifold is concerned. Shout out to Ewing for utilizing this aboriginal mutant to call out the imperialistic mindset of their fearless leader, Ghengis Brand. It’s rare to see writing so on the nose, but Ewing been had the sauce and continues to remind us why.

Brotherhood of Arrako is Born

Digging into his bag of creations, Ewing brings the Progenitors back to wreak havoc on Mars and set the stage for the final arc of this book. X-Men Red is called on to show what they can do but in the end, it was all a test. A test with a extra credit question that is nigh invincible. What do you do when another team containing 2 Omega level Mutants shows up and stunts on your whole squad? You recognize your inequality and let them handle the threat and get casually put in your place by the most formidable woman on the planet (save, maybe Isca).

I really enjoyed the writing pace, surprises, and action of X-Men Red #2. Stefano Caselli creates some beautiful artwork to accompany the script that doesn’t disappoint. The Progenitors look cool, Storm continues her punk rock badassery, facial expressions stay on point, and the landscapes of Mars and space all look right. I’m excited to see how Tarn will play a role in the upcoming books, after seeing what he can do in that battle with the Regent of Sol. X-Men Red is certainly one of, if not the most exciting new X-Book on the market.

8 Vulcanic Explosions out of 10

Enjoying X-Men Red? Check out BNP’s other reviews here.

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