Star Wars Celebration - Day 1

          Day 1 of Star Wars Celebration felt like a Star Wars Appreciation Day over anything else. This made me incredibly happy. I wasn't able to keep up with the livestream today as I had to deal with school all day, but just reading the reactions on Twitter to what today offered fans made me smile. Today seemed like a nice little warm-up to the convention before the big announcements in the next few days, and I feel like it's necessary to have every once in a while. Lucasfilm pulled out an amazing 40th Anniversary panel to start the day in order to show its fans just how much they mean to the company and the future of Star Wars. If it weren't for the fans, we wouldn't even have this amazing convention. By being able to bring out George Lucas and the various actors from both the original trilogy and prequels, they were able to cater to all fans and have fun with the wonderful people who have actually worked on the Star Wars property. This, along with the Carrie Fisher Tribute and John Williams' surprise appearance, made it an amazing panel to sit through. Honestly, I'm not ashamed to say that I cried when George Lucas came on stage because we, as fans, were able to truly show him just how much he meant to us as a whole. The constant love he got from the fans in attendance made me hope that he would see how much he meant to us given how none of this would be possible without his amazing idea of a space opera. All the hate he got for making the prequels was uncalled for at times, and it's understandable to see how hurt he would have been since he is human after all. I can only imagine how he would have felt receiving that criticism, so I'm just happy to see that he did end up attending the panel.  
          From there, it was amazing to see all the amazing interviews the "Star Wars Show" was able to get with all of its hosts, including having George Lucas and Harrison Ford on their stage. I enjoyed the Dave Filoni and Pablo Hidalgo panel, but I ended up stopping my viewing of it since the live stream didn't show some of the concept art they were talking about, so I'll have to watch that somewhere else online that has the concept art up. I was able to see that Cad Bane and Boba Fett clip online, which was incredible! I wouldn't mind seeing a bounty hunters animated series that is willing to go darker than Rebels, but we'll see if they'll go that route. The Ray Park panel was nice to watch because he really is amazing to fans. He goes all out with them and enjoys interacting with them. His lightsaber teaching moment was fun to watch as well as his skit with Warwick Davis. He's one of the more overlooked actors from the films since he's known more for his lightsaber fighting skills than his acting, but I still love watching that guy have fun at Celebration.  

          Probably the most overlooked aspect of Day 1 may be Warwick Davis. He is an incredible host and moderator! His banter, wit, and comedy make for hilarious moments during panels he's on. His fun jokes about Harrison Ford's flying was a moment I'll never forget, and his skit with Ray Park was entertaining to watch. I can't wait to see what else he has in store this weekend, along with the rest of the panels and events.  

My Star Wars Celebration Wishlist

Star Wars Celebration is finally here. Now, we can finally watch the highly anticipated Last Jedi trailer, learn about the upcoming season of Rebels, and the future release schedule Star Wars has in store for us in terms of books and comics. So, I've decided to come up with a wishlist of what I maybe expect and would like to see announced, especially when you consider that we won't be having another Celebration until 2019. 

1. The end of Star Wars Rebels. The way it's been shaping up being relatively close to Rogue One and with the rumors the last few months about this show only lasting four seasons, I feel like there's credence to the idea that this is it. There's not much else you can do with the Ghost Crew after A New Hope since it would be likely they would no longer be the main rebel characters we follow once the main three join the Rebel Alliance, and it begs to question whether they are willing to strike controversy by having our two current Jedi of Kanan and Ezra survive past Episode IV.  
2. A new animated series as well as a live-action TV series. What this new animated series would revolve around is difficult to predict, however, I feel like their best option would be to start a series based after The Empire Strikes Back. I don't think it would be a great idea to touch the era in between Episode IV and V considering how the current Star Wars comic run is filling that gap in. I wouldn't think that Lucasfilm would want to muddy the water of that timeline by having too much going on. With the live-action series, it would be interesting to see if they continue the idea of a Level 1313 by having them show the darker parts of the Star Wars universe with the criminal elements and bounty hunters. It would be a great way to explore popular characters like Boba Fett and Cad Bane without having to spend the money on a solo Boba Fett movie. Honestly, I really want to see more Hutts on-screen in terms of a Godfather-like show where it gets deep into the different criminal organizations and their relationship with the Empire and the entire galaxy. 
3. Kenobi. I feel like it's time for Lucasfilm to address whether Ewan McGregor is going to get that solo film we've all been wanting to see. My hopes were almost entirely dashed ever since Maul was brought onto Rebels since it was always obvious how he was set up to confront Kenobi in the end. I would just like some sort of announcement that clearly says he will or won't. If they were to announce a book or a comic series, it wouldn't be bad, but it's not what I'm hoping for. I'd love to read that material, but I just feel as if Kenobi could have had one more mission during those years on Tatooine that could have resulted in him dealing with an Inquisitor, another Jedi (maybe Quinlan Vos's on-screen death?), or a situation that shows that his destiny was always to watch over Luke instead of going off to face the Empire. 
4. Luke...I'm tired of all the mystery. There's too much in the new canon that doesn't explore his history enough. I want something that can give us details about his training in between Episode V and VI, how he got his green lightsaber considering how the Empire uses kyber crystals to power the Death Stars, and anything after Episode VI. 
5. Lost Stars 2. PLEASE!!!!! 
6. The next book trilogy. Given the reception and sales of the Aftermath trilogy, it would make sense to start the next trilogy series. This could take place in a variety of places during the timeline and I can only imagine what that would cover. Overall, I feel like we need a new trilogy to follow now that "Empire's End" is finished. 
7. Blu-rays. This is unlikely, but how loud would the place be if they were to announce the theatrical blu-ray editions of the original trilogy. I, for one, do not care if they released the unaltered versions as I never really grew up with them, but it would be nice to have, nonetheless. This would also be a great surprise for fans given how it is the 40th anniversary. 
8. Who Shot First? Given how the Han Solo movie comes out next year, I feel like it would be appropriate to announce a companion novel to the film. This would be like the "Journey to the Force Awakens" and "Catalyst" precursors to their respective films whereby readers would learn some new information before watching the movie. It would also make sense given how Catalyst basically served as the, almost literally, placeholder for the opening crawl for Rogue One, so the same can be done with this before the Han Solo movie would come out. 
9. Besides the aforementioned books, I would still like to see the upcoming release schedule for any books, comics, and short stories that Lucasfilm has planned. The "Tales From a Galaxy Far, Far Away" series is an interesting one given the fact that a volume one compilation is out, but there has been no new information on a volume 2. I would also like to see if there are any plans to release the Star Wars Insider short stories and Rebels side comics into a compilation as well. 
10. Lastly, what has Ahsoka been learning on Malachore? We see her walking back into the Sith Temple, so it just makes me wonder what she's actually doing there. This is especially confusing considering how Sith or Dark Side users are the only ones that should be able to open Sith holocrons.