While one director being hired to replace another who drops out ahead of principal photography is hardly uncommon, Solo’s switchover from Lord and Miller to Howard occurred after the Star Wars movie had been rolling cameras for six months. In an interview with Vulture, Howard recalled how Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy arranged for him to have breakfast with Solo producer Alli Shearmur and co-writer Jon Kasdan, which led to the following:

Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s dismissal from Solo: A Star Wars Story stemmed from creative differences, as the directing duo reportedly thought they were making a comedy movie, but Disney and Lucasfilm only wanted shades of humor. Between that, Lucasfilm not liking how Lord and Miller were frequently shooting additional takes with improvisational dialogue, and a handful of other issues, and it was ultimately decided that they were no longer a good fit for the movie. Just two days after Lord and Miller’s exit, Ron Howard was announced to be taking their place.

Though Ron Howard ultimately received sole directing credit for Solo, as he reportedly reshot about 70% of it, Phil Lord and Chris Miller were still credited as executive producers. As far as it was like on his end to take over helming duties, Howard said:

Set roughly 10 years prior to the events of A New Hope, Solo: A Star Wars Story depicted major events in the title character’s life, including meeting Joonas Suotamo’s Chewbacca and Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian, and winning the Millennium Falcon. Its lineup of new characters included Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra (whom later resurfaced in the comics), Woody Harrelson’s Tobias Beckett and Paul Bettany’s Dryden Vos. Unfortunately, Solo’s dismal box office performance resulted in sequel plans being scrapped.

At least it sounds like Ron Howard had a pleasant enough time working on Solo, even though the circumstances behind his hiring were less than ideal. And hey, if Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian movie ever gets off the ground, that could easily be a platform for Alden Ehreneich to reprise Han in a supporting role.

While fans not-so-patiently wait for upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows, more information about the last three movies is still trickling out. John Boyega has been open about his disappointments related Finn, specifically related to his use of The Force. During a panel appearance at Fan Expo Boston (via ScreenRant), the 33 year-old actor shared where he thought the story was originally going. In his words:

Well, my FOMO is through the roof. This is a huge departure from the story we saw in the sequel trilogy, but it seems like a pretty thrilling (albeit hypothetical) idea. While Adam Driver's Kylo Ren was set up to be the main antagonist of those movies, seeing Finn and Rey come to blows with a lightsaber duel would have been pretty awesome. Instead, Boyega never picked up a lightsaber after his two battles in The Force Awakens.

Throughout the trilogy it was hinted a number of times that Finn could use The Force. He took to a lightsaber quickly, and could sense where Rey was. But he never actually got trained, with Daisy Ridley's Rey being the main hero and next Jedi of the franchise. And she and Finn never turned against each other the way that Boyega assumed they would.

Personally I'm hoping that Ridley's Rey movie brings back Finn as well, and we get to finally see him starting his Jedi training. The movie is expected to follow her as she started a new Jedi Order, years after The Rise of Skywalker's ending. This seems like a great way to finally give that storyline a big payoff, as well as include another key connection to the previous movies.

Right now not much is know about what that developing project will contain, but Star Wars: New Jedi Order is currently expected to arrive sometime in the 2026 movie release list. But filming will have to start soon if that's going to happen.

I'm still bitter that Luna at least didn't get an Emmy nod for his work as Cassian Andor, even if he was unlikely to win as star of a genre series. (You can revisit Andor now with a Disney+ subscription.) So I had to celebrate when I saw that he recently won a notable award for Season 2.

Diego Luna's Award For Andor Season 2

The Critics Choice Super Awards from the Critics Choice Association are an annual event that specifically honor superhero, sci-fi/fantasy, horror, and other genre projects that are often left out of mainstream awards circuits like the Emmys, Academy Awards, Golden Globes, etc.

While The Penguin (available streaming now with an HBO Max subscription) took the most prizes on the TV front, Andor came out on top in two key categories: Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie and of course Best Actor in a Science Fiction/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Made-For-TV Movie.

Luna beat out Ncuta Gatwa (Doctor Who), Walton Goggins (Fallout), Adam Scott (Severance), Tramell Tillman (Severance), and Julio Torres (Fantasmas) for Best Actor, while Andor came out on top of Black Mirror, Doctor Who, Dune: Prophecy, Fantasmas, and Severance. The Star Wars show was also nominated in another category, with Adria Arjona up for Best Actress

While a Critics Choice Super Award isn't the same as an Emmy, Diego Luna did have a refreshing take on not being nominated. Plus, it could be a sign of things to come on the awards circuit in the coming months. Sure, Luna didn't get the nod that many Star Wars fans (myself included) believe he deserved from the Emmys, but Andor could still be honored at the next round of Golden Globe Awards and even the main Critics Choice Awards later this year.

Could Andor Win At The Emmys?

Even though Diego Luna doesn't have a shot at the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Emmy, he did take to Instagram to celebrate Andor earning no fewer than fourteen nominations, notably including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, Outstanding Guest Actor for Forest Whitaker as Saw Gerrera, and Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for Alan Tudyk as K-2SO.

Am I a little bit bitter that Alan Tudyk got a nomination for three episodes of voice work when Diego Luna didn't get one as leading man? Kind of, but not because I begrudge Tudyk. I was as excited as anybody when K-2 arrived. Forrest Whittaker definitely turned in an intense guest performance as Saw, and I was pleasantly surprised to see him get the Emmy honor after I still think Andy Serkis was robbed for Season 1. In fact, after Season 1 did get any acting noms from the Emmys back in 2023, I wasn't confident about Adria Arjona getting a nod as Bix.

But dang it, my hopes were up for the leading man of one of the shows in the running for Outstanding Drama Series would have a shot at the trophy. Maybe I should just follow Diego Luna's example and celebrate Andor getting fourteen nominations instead of focusing on the big one he didn't get! We can all find out if Andor wins in any major category when the event airs on Sunday, September 14 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze.

Beyond the short term, little is known about what Lucasfilm is planning for Star Wars on the big screen. However, a new rumor claims that there’s a plan to put together several Star Wars movies into a new storyline that is taking inspiration from The Mandalorian. It’s an idea which is certainly intriguing, but one that I’m not convinced is the right way to go.

How The New Star Wars Movies Will Take Inspiration From The Mandalorian

The rumor comes from serial scooper Daniel Ritchman (via SFFGazette) a guy who, while he doesn’t have a perfect track record, has certainly been right in the past. According to him, the plan is for the Daisy Ridley-led film, which will see Rey as a Jedi Master, set approximately 15 years following the events of Rise of Skywalker, to be the first of a series of films set in the same period. Each one would introduce new characters and stories, which would ultimately lead to a major “event” film that would bring characters back from the past.

This sounds very similar to the upcoming Star Wars movie set to be directed by Dave Filoni that we know is coming. The Mandalorian launched a franchise on Disney+ that led to spinoffs, including The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka. In addition to next year’s The Mandalorian & Grogu, we know there are plans for another movie that will act as a culmination of the “Mandoverse” that will see the heroes from all the various shows come together.

Star Wars’ Reported Plan Could Work, But I’m Not Convinced

Since it appears that all of the projects associated with this new part of the Star Wars franchise are being planned as big screen films, the idea seems like it might be more similar to Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe than it would be to The Mandalorian. That concept was absolutely successful, so it’s understandable why Star Wars might be eyeing such a thing.

However, while I’m not entirely against this as a concept, I am a bit concerned about such a plan being hammered out now, as there are a lot of reasons that it might not be the way to go. At least, not right now.

First off, even the MCU is currently struggling. It’s unclear if audiences are just done with the cinematic universe concept, or if there’s a specific problem with this universe, but considering that most attempts at serialized storytelling on the big screen have failed to do as well, there’s no guarantee that Star Wars fans, or movie fans in general, are looking for this.

Beyond that, Star Wars' track record on the big screen has been a problem. While all things seem to be moving in the right direction now, we’ve seen numerous planned Star Wars movies fall apart before they even made it in front of cameras. If that happens here, your major project could collapse, or at the very least, see such significant delays between chapters that the audience loses interest.

It also needs to be said that we have yet to see The Mandalorian & Grogu, or Dave Filoni’s big “Mandoverse” event movie. Especially given the state of theaters, we can’t guarantee those movies will be big successes. If they’re not, for whatever reason, then they clearly shouldn’t be used as models for other projects.

I’m excited to see the new Star Wars on the big screen, and anything that expands the galaxy far, far away in a way that introduces new stories, characters and worlds is ok with me. I’m not against building a cinematic universe (cinematic galaxy?), but I’m far from sure now is the right time to do it.

The latest update about Pedro Pascal’s career is that he’s in talks to star Searchlight Pictures’ Behemoth!, which comes from the mind of filmmaker Tony Gilroy. With a resume that includes writing the first four Bourne movies, State of Play and Nightcrawler, as well as directing Michael Clayton, Duplicity and The Bourne Legacy, Star Wars fans know Gilroy co-writing and directing the reshoots for Rogue One. He then went on to create the prequel series Andor, which ended its two-season run in May.

According to Deadline, “things are heading in the right direction” with Pedro Pascal coming aboard Behemoth!, which Tony Gilroy will write, direct and produce. Specific plot details are being kept secret, but Gilroy has previously said it will follow a cellist, whom I assume Pascal would play. Behemoth! will begin filming this fall, but a release date hasn’t been set yet.

It’s cool to see that these two men who worked in separate corners of the Star Wars franchise are gearing up to work together on this upcoming movie. Since The Mandalorian is set several years after Return of the Jedi, and Andor covers the last five years of Cassian Andor’s life leading up to Rogue One, there was no way Pascal and Gilroy were ever going to be able to collaborate in a galaxy far, far away. Now Behemoth! is here to bring them together, assuming Pascal is able to work out a deal with Searchlight.

This Behemoth! news follows on the heels of Pedro Pascal both earning an Emmy nomination for his performance as Joel Miller in The Last of Us and making his MCU debut as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The latter co-starred Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch. This quartet will team up with the Avengers, New Avengers, X-Men and more when Avengers: Doomsday comes out on December 18, 2026.

Before that, Pedro Pascal will return to the Star Wars universe for The Mandalorian & Grogu, the franchise’s first theatrical movie since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. It arrives to the 2026 movies schedule on May 22, and we’ll let you know once Behemoth! is slotted on the cinematic calendar too.

After playing Cara Dune for two seasons on the Disney+ subscription-exclusive The Mandalorian, Gina Carano was fired from the Star Wars TV show in 2021 over her controversial social media posts. This led to the actress filing a lawsuit against Disney and Lucasfilm in February 2024, and today, that lawsuit has come to an end. Upon looking through the details of the settlement, however, there’s an intriguing detail that caught my eye and may pertain to the franchise set in a galaxy far, far away.

While Disney and Carano were set to go to trial over this matter in September, the Mouse House and the actress have reached a settlement in her favor. No specific details about the settlement were revealed, but according to a source who spoke with Deadline, Carano is “happy with how things were dealt with.” You read the full statements from both sides in the outlet’s writeup, with Carano’s including her expressing gratitude to Elon Musk for funding her lawsuit. But in the Disney statement about having “reached an agreement” with Carano, this sentence caught my eye:

This conclusion comes after Gina Carano scored a victory with her lawsuit when a judge required Disney to hand over key documents for the case. She was ousted from The Mandalorian mere months after Season 2 premiered following backlash over comments she made about COVID-19 protocols, making claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, and sharing a post that seemingly compared being a conservative in the United States to being present in the Holocaust. Several months after Carano filed the lawsuit, Disney responded by saying it “had a constitutional right to dissociate its own artistic message from Carano's outspoken 'political beliefs.’”

But now this legal drama is over, and the fact that Disney is entertaining the possibility of working with Gina Carano again is curious. What does the company mean by “identifying opportunities” with her in the near future? Is this an indication that Carano could return as Cara Dune in the Star Wars universe? Is there even a way she could be squeezed into the upcoming Star Wars movie The Mandalorian & Grogu?

Or do Disney and Lucasfilm still have no plans to bring Gina Carano back into the Star Wars franchise, and the former is merely suggesting that she could be considered for other Disney projects? Maybe I’m thinking too much about this, and ultimately Disney and Carano don’t collaborate again. Still, it feels like the door for a Cara Dune return is at least open now rather than being completely closed like it had been these last several years.

Needless to say we’ll let you know if it’s announced that Gina Carano will reprise Cara Dune. For now, be on the lookout for The Mandalorian & Grogu arriving May 26 on the 2026 movies calendar, as well as Ahoska Season 2’s premiere on Disney+ sometime that same year.

Before Andor Season 2 becoming available to Disney+ subscription holders earlier this year, critics shared overwhelmingly positive reactions. Many series creator Tony Gilroy and co. for strongly building only the highly regarded first season in various respects. Diego Luna’s portrayal of the eponymous thief-turned-rebel also garnered major praise. Praise from fans followed on social media throughout the season and, like me, many also seemed taken aback by the snub. As explained to Ventaneando (via YouTube), he’s unfazed:

It’s a level-headed take on not receiving an award nomination if I ever heard one. It’s also worth mentioning that the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series category is filled with some heavy hitters. Adam Scott (Severance), Sterling K. Brown (Paradise), Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us), Noah Wyle (The Pitt) and Gary Oldman (Slow Horses) are all in the mix. I still wouldn’t argue with someone for thinking that Diego Luna was robbed, but know that Luna doesn’t see it that way.

Something that should be noted is that one other Star Wars show does beat Andor for the most Primetime Emmy nominations received for a single season. The first season of The Mandalorian managed to score 15 and won seven. Still that doesn’t at all undercut the Cassian actor’s enthusiasm, and he revealed the awards category that has him the most excited:

I can’t blame the Rogue One star for being so excited about the show (which he served as an executive producer on) being up for the Emmys’ drama series award. That nod is a true testament to the hard work put in by the cast and crew. Of course, as a fan, it’s also hard for me not to marvel over the 13 other nominations that the show earned. Check out the complete list down below:

• Outstanding Production Design For A Narrative Period Or Fantasy Program (One Hour Or More)
• Outstanding Picture Editing For A Drama Series
• Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score)
• Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics
• Outstanding Sound Editing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour)
• Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Season Or A Movie
• Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes
• Outstanding Cinematography For A Series (One Hour)
• Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour)
• Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance (Alan Tudyk)
• Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series (Forest Whitaker)
• Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series
• Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series
• Outstanding Drama Series

Of course, with its second season having finished amid the 2025 TV schedule, Andor’s run has come to an end. Diego Luna is at peace with the show having ended as it has, and I’m right there with him. It’s been amazing to watch Luna’s journey not just on the show but as an actor, considering there was a time where he could mostly just book “drug dealer” roles. So the fact that he was even being proposed as a possible nominee for Outstanding Lead Actor is a true win in and of itself.

Check out Diego Luna and co.’s excellent work on both seasons of Andor now by streaming them on Disney+. Also, check out the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards when they air on CBS on Sunday, September 14 at 8 p.m. ET.

For fans of that galaxy far, far away, it’s never too early to get excited about a an upcoming Star Wars movie. We’re definitely seeing that with director Shawn Levy’s developing entry into the canon, the Ryan Gosling-fronted Star Wars: Starfighter, as it’s not set to debut until May 2027. Blame it on the charismatic lead jumping into an X-Wing and blow stuff up, as he’s got quite the following. And just when you thought the hype couldn’t get any hotter, leave it to a House of the Dragon star and sci-fi alum to be tapped to play the role of this film’s main villain.

That’s right, folks, get ready for Matt Smith to finally be a part of the Star Wars galaxy, per reporting out of Deadline. Apparently the Deadpool & Wolverine helmer has been seeing candidates for some time now, with the exact role being kept under wraps. However, the grapevine has suggested that executives have selected Smith to become “the next great villain in the Star Wars universe.”

What makes this even more interesting is the fact that Ryan Gosling has worked with the Caught Stealing star before. In fact, Project Hail Mary’s lead actually cast him in his (so far) only writing/directoring effort - 2014’s Lost River. So on top of being fantastic casting, this is a reunion that could yield some pretty spectacular on-screen conflicts.

Of course, right about now is the time when Matt Smith fans like myself remember two huge casting decisions that positioned the Doctor Who alum for what seemed like sci-fi greatness - only for fate to break the other way. On one hand, I’m flashing back to how Smith’s Terminator: Genisys casting as the physical embodiment of Skynet. That was the test case that inspired me to label such examples as “important later on in the trilogy,” as those other movies were never made.

One-upping even that scenario was the time that he was almost cast in another sci-fi saga, perhaps you’ve heard of it… Star Wars? Matt Smith confirmed he was indeed cast in what eventually became The Rise of Skywalker, in a role people are still debating over to this day.

And by “debating,” I mean a lot of folks are convinced he was going to be a Palpatine clone, which became “obsolete” when Ian McDiarmid’s big bad Emperor returned in J.J. Abrams’ Sequel Trilogy capper. Though considering Star Wars: Starfighter is set five years after that picture' s events, perhaps that concept hasn't totally been ditched after all.

Regardless of what the past may have held, the future's looking pretty bright for Ryan Gosling, Matt Smith and Mia Goth's similarly villainous role - as all are looking to make up the marquee core of this Star Wars entry. Prepare to wait for the jump to hyperspace, as Star Wars: Starfighter is set to enter theaters in our galaxy, on May 28, 2027. Meanwhile, Mr. Smith will be appearing in Caught Stealing, which opens in theaters on August 29th.

I had a chance to speak to actors Garrett Wareing and Tut Nyuot about The Long Walk, and had to know how long it took them (or others) to approach Hamill and ask him what he knew about any upcoming Star Wars projects, as well as seeking out stories from his many years in the franchise. Wareing talked about how the movie's sizeable cast of youngsters followed headlines about Hamill's involvement, and was quick to pounce when they saw the famed actor arrive on set:

Mark Hamill was seemingly as kind as could be, but had to give a reminder that he was there to work more than share anecdotes. It looks like he was indeed granted that time to get into his monologue and drill down on playing The Major. He's as chilling in the trailer as anything I've seen so far, so it was quite the worthwhile rehearsal period.

Wareing had nothing but kind things to say about Mark Hamill, who was by his account, a joy to work with. He showered the actor with praise and noted that they did get their Star Wars questions asked:

Those stories about Mark Hamill's days on the Star Wars set probably were needed, given just how dark the source material is. The screenwriter has promised the movie pulls no punches, and that's apparent enough in the footage we've seen so far.

The Long Walk adaptation hails from The Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence, but the story itself predates the existence of that story, others like it, and the concept of reality television. Now, the story of a group of men all signing up to be the sole survivor in a walk that doesn't end until only one remains all for a lavish prize, doesn't just sound feasible, it feels like something we'd stream with a Netflix subscription.

It's a great premise that is relevant in modern times, though when it was written, it was an allegory about the Vietnam War and the draft. It doesn't seem as though the adaptation is going to lean on that allegory as much, but as mentioned, there's plenty more happening in society today that makes the story work in a way it might not have back then. I'm excited to watch it, as well as the rest of Stephen King adaptations on the way this year.

The Long Walk is in theaters on September 12th. I would watch the trailer first before buying a ticket if you're squeamish, but I think I'm going to be there regardless despite my weak stomach.

Neeson looked back at his career during a recent video segment for GQ. As part of that, the star of the hilarious new Naked Gun movie talked about his experience on Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. He says he loved making the movie, but he questions just how great a Jedi his character actually was due to being taken down by Darth Maul in such a way. Neeson joked…

The lightsaber battle that includes Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Darth Maul is frequently voted the best of the lightsaber fights in all of Star Wars. However, it's hard to agree with any discontentment over how it ends for Liam Neeson’s character. Maul may have a cool double-bladed lightsaber but, when it comes to a one-on-one fight between the two, Qui-Gon gets beaten pretty cleanly and fairly. It’s not like Maul did something underhanded or even particularly impressive.

Although, even if Liam Neeson doesn’t love the way his character went out, he says he still had a lot of fun being in the movie. With The Phantom Menace being the first Star Wars movie to have released in years by 1999, it was a big deal for the people who grew up as fans to become part of the franchise. Neeson says he and co-star Ewan McGregor both got excited when they first unleashed their lightsabers, saying…

There’s a long and storied history of actors making lightsaber sounds, and blaster sounds when using the iconic weapons in Star Wars movies. The same thing happened with Laura Dern during the sequel trilogy. Kudos to them for living out their childhood dreams.

As for Liam Neeson’s Qui Gon Jinn, he briefly returned during the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, which is streamable with a Disney+ subscription. However, it seems unlikely we’ll ever see more from the character beyond the potential future cameo. Regardless of how they feel about Jinn's death scene, though, fans can also go back and appreciate the strong performance Neeson gives in The Phantom Menace.

Prior to creating the Knives Out franchise (streaming with a Netflix subscription), Johnson took bold narrative swings with The Last Jedi that I personally think have aged well. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he was asked about when, chronologically, he had talks to potentially direct Episode IX. He shed light on this rumor, saying:

That does clear things up. While it sounds like there was some talks, Rian Johnson wasn't campaigning to direct a follow-up to The Last Jedi. And ultimately that's not the way that Kathleen Kennedy decided to take the final chapter in the sequel trilogy.

Later in that same interview, he was asked if the possibility of directing Episode IX affected his work on The Last Jedi. Specifically, if he had to cram in more story and twists upon realizing he wasn't going to stay on. He shut that down, instead offering:

Rather than a two-movie narrative, The Last Jedi told a more contained story that was always meant to be the second part of a larger trilogy. Rather than offer teases for upcoming Star Wars movies, instead Johnson wrapped up a number of ongoing plot lines... albeit in surprising ways. Snoke was unceremoniously killed off, Ray was (temporarily) revealed to be no one, and Luke Skywalker returned to The Force after his time in isolation.

For years after The Last Jedi's release, there were reports that Rian Johnson was getting his trilogy of Star Wars movies, but he's yet to return to the galaxy far, far away. There doesn't appear to be any progress on that point, but hopefully the timing will work out one day.

The Last Jedi is streaming on Disney+, along with the rest of the Star Wars franchise. George Lucas' beloved universe isn't expected to return to theaters until Daisy Ridley's Rey movie arrives.

And don't worry, I've included a handful of movies that are Western-adjacent that make sense for this list too.

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid

While it's not one of my favorite movies (despite loving Robert Redford and Paul Newman), there isn't a better example of rooting for the outlaws than the classic Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid from 1969. It was an era where much of society was fighting the establishment, so it makes perfect sense that the outlaws would be the heroes at the time.

Young Guns

One of the most notorious, and weirdly beloved outlaws in the Old West was Billy the Kid (Emilio Estevez in Young Guns)and his gang, which included gunslingers like Doc Scurlock (played by Kiefer Sutherland), José Chávez y Chávez (Lou Diamond Phillips), Dick Brewer (Charlie Sheen), and more. It's a defining Western of its era.

The Outlaw Josey Wales

You knew this one had to be on the list. In fact, there are a whole bunch of Clint Eastwood movies that belong here, but this one actually has "outlaw" in the name, so you know exactly what you're getting into with The Outlaw Josey Wales, a classic Spaghetti Western.

Unforgiven

Decades after Clint Eastwood first made his name in Westerns, he directed and starred in maybe his best one ever with Unforgiven. With co-stars like Morgan Freeman and the late Gene Hackman, this Best Picture-winning film is a true masterpiece.

The Sting

The Sting isn't technically a Western, but it sure feels like one in every way. Two "outlaws," played by Robert Redford and Paul Newman, go up against a villain in a series of gambling events in this classic crime caper. It might have been set in a time just after the end of the "Old West," but the vibe remains for sure.

Desperado

Robert Rodriguez's modern Western Desperado hit the indie film world with a giant explosion when it was released in 1995. It might be set in the '90s, but it's still a gunslinger looking for revenge for the murder of his lover. It doesn't get more classic than that.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Technically, Clint Eastwood plays "The Good" in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but he's a pretty hard-bitten bounty hunter who you just know has done some sketchy stuff in his past. He may not be the actually outlaw, but he's not a true "white hat" either (though he does wear one, of course).

Eddington

One of the most interesting Westerns in recent years has to be Ari Aster's Eddington. It's a little tricky to pick a true "outlaw" in this one, as Joaquin Phoenix is a lawman, which would traditionally be a white hat (as he wears in the movie). On the other hand, he murders some people in dramatic way, pushing him to the dark side. Still, at the end of the movie, you can't help but sympathize with his plight.

Django Unchained

While traditionally Westerns have had very clear sides, the more modern iterations of the genre, like Django Unchained, blur the lines in the best way. Is Django (Jamie Foxx) good or bad? Well, clearly he's both.

The Dirty Dozen

The best War movies and great Westerns often have similar DNA, and nowhere is this more obvious than in the classic The Dirty Dozen. Sure, it's set during World War II, thousands of miles from the Old West, but in every other way it feels like a Western.

Hell Or High Water

While many modern Westerns blur the lines between good and bad, Hell or High Water, from director David Mackenzie and written by Taylor Sheridan, is clear. The outlaws, played by Chris Pine and Ben Foster, are on the run from a Texas Ranger (Jeff Bridges) after robbing a bank. It might be set in the 2010s, but it has a timeless Western quality.

Star Wars

Star Wars is part Sci-Fi classic, Part space, and yep, part Space Western. A ragtag group of outlaws fighting the establishment is the definition of a classic Western. There is no need to really explain a movie everyone has seen multiple times.

Ned Kelly

A young Heath Ledger leads a fantastic cast, including Orlando Bloom and Naomi Watts, in this 2003 Australian film about a legendary Australian outlaw, Ned Kelly, fighting back against prejudice in 19th Century Australia. It isn't set in the American West, but it definitely belongs on this list. It's also one of Ledger's movies that many haven't seen, but it shows just how great an actor he was at such a young age.

The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

There is no more notorious outlaw in the Old West than Jesse James. In The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, James is played by Brad Pitt, and the story of the end of his life is a spectacular example of a 21st-century Western.

The Magnificent Seven

Director John Sturges is the king of Hollywood Westerns, and The Magnificent Seven might just be his most beloved film. The outlaws are a who's who of huge Hollywood names in 1960, including Steve McQueen, Yul Brynner, James Coburn, and Charles Bronson. It's a stone-cold classic.

No Country For Old Men

Picking an outlaw in No Country for Old Men, like many modern Westerns, can be tricky. Obviously Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is an easy choice, and you can make the argument that Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is the "good guy," but no one in the movie is totally innocent, and we're all rooting for Llewelyn, who has stolen a lot of money.

The Hateful Eight

Okay, let's get real here, pretty much every character in The Hateful Eight is repugnant. I guess we're supposed to be rooting for Jennifer Jason Leigh's character, and she's technically the outlaw here, so it'll work for this list.

The Quick And The Dead

Sam Raimi's The Quick And The Dead, starring Sharon Ston,e might be a nineties movie, but it definitely has the vibe of a classic Western. It's also unique in the genre as the protagonist, the outlaw we're rooting for, is a woman.

The Warriors

This is another stretch, sure, but in many ways, the cult classic The Warriors has all the elements of a great Western. A gang of outlaws gets on the wrong side of other outlaws and has to make a run for the border (or, in this case, Coney Island). What isn't a "Western" about that? It's one of the best cult classics of all time and a quintessential '70s flick.

A Fistful of Dollars

There are a ton of classic Westerns starring Clint Eastwood that belong on this list, and A Fistful of Dollars is definitely one of them. This was the Spaghetti Western that really made the genre great, and is the first in the "Dollars" trilogy, along with For A Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.

El Mariachi

Before he remade it as Desperado, Robert Rodriguez made his name with the low-budget indie El Mariachi. It follows the same story, but El Mariachi is much more raw in every way. It's not as flashy, but that works in its favor. Westerns weren't something that Indie filmmakers were making in the '90s, so that makes this one extra special.

The Wild Bunch

Director Sam Peckinpah was known for his use of violence in his movies and was a real pioneer of 1970s cinema. One of his best, and most popular movies, has to be The Wild Bunch about a gang of outlaws at the tail end of the "Old West" trying to find their way in the early 20th Century. Like much of Peckinpah's work, it's a very different take on a classic genre.

Bonnie And Clyde

There are a lot of parallels between the Great Depression era and the Old West. Outlaws were folk heroes, and everyone rooted for them to take down the establishment. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker are the quintessential example of that, and the 1967 movie based on their crimes, starring Warren Beatty as Barrow and Faye Dunaway as Parker, is a classic modern take on an old Western vibe.

Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves

Long before there was a wild west, there was Sherwood Forest, where Robin Hood and his band of merry men fought the law, and most of the time, won. Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves is maybe the best version of this ancient tale that closely resembles a Western.

Maverick

1994's Maverick, starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster, and James Garner, is an adaptation of a '50s TV show of the same name starring Garner. The movie is set on a riverboat during a poker tournament, and while there aren't any cattle rustlers, it's still a wonderful example of a Western where you root for the outlaw. Or outlaws in this case.

American Outlaws

Colin Farrell stars as Jesse James in American Outlaws, a Western from 2003 that hardly anyone remembers, but if you love movies about outlaws in the Old West, it's a movie you'd probably enjoy. It's not the best movie you'll ever see, but it is a really fun Western

Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid

Sam Peckinpah made some really fun Westerns in the early '70s, and recruiting Bob Dylan to not only have a role in the movie, but also provide some music (including his classic "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"), was a stroke of genius in Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid. The title pretty much gives the movie away, as it's about the legendary lawman Pat Garrett's (James Coburn) hunt for the outlaw Billy the Kid (Kris Kristofferson). Of course, you're gonna root for Billy!

Silverado

Kevin Costner has starred in some great Westerns over the years, and his first, Silverado, is still one of his best. Costner plays a young gunslinger who gets involved with a gang of outlaws in this classic. The cast alone is worth the watch, including Kevin Kline, Rosanna Arquette, Scott Glenn, Danny Glover, Brian DennehyScott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, and, in a surprisingly great performance, John Cleese.

The Long Riders

There are quite a few movies about Jesse James, but The Long Riders is unique because of the casting. The James brothers are played by real-life brothers Stacey and James Keach. The Younger brothers are played by David, Keith, and Robert Carradine. The Millers are played by Dennis and Randy Quaid, and the Fords are played by Nicholas and Christopher Guest. It's super fun.

Young Guns II

We couldn't leave Young Guns II off this list. Sure, it's not as legendary as the first movie in the series, but in a lot of ways, it's more fun. The cast is epic, and they are all clearly having fun making this sequel.

Smokey And The Bandit

There is nothing more classic in a Western than the outlaw wearing a cowboy hat trying to outfox and outrun the law while falling in love with a runaway bride. So, you tell me, is Smokey and the Bandit a Western? I say the answer is a resounding yes, even if the bandit has traded his horse for a Trans Am.

High Plains Drifter

After making his name in the Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s, Clint Eastwood made one of his first American Westerns as a director with High Plains Drifter in 1973. It's the second film he directed, and it led to a fantastic career as both star and director.

CinemaBlend has been covering the con throughout the weekend, talking to everyone from the Percy Jackson cast about their advice to the new Harry Potter kids or seeing the first footage of Coyote v. Acme. This was our last panel of the con, and we were so happy to witness this moment in SDCC history. Check out all the updates from the panel below:

We're seated and waiting for the panel to begin in about 20 minutes. Hall H is packed with fans of Star Wars movies and other Lucasfilm creations, as they have packed their lightsabers and brought their best cosplays to the con for Lucas' debut to SDCC. Check back here throughout the next hour for updates on what happens.

Fans are cheering and chanting "LUCAS" as we continue to wait for the panel to begin. The energy is going to be high on this one for sure!

OK, we're getting started with Queen Latifah, who is moderating, Star Wars production designer Doug Chiang, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and George Lucas all on stage. Lucas got a huge standing ovation from the crowd upon his arrival.

We just saw a preview of the the museum, which looks amazing, and so futuristic and sleek. In a video, Lucas called it a "dedication to cultural fantasy" as we saw a sneak peek of just a handful of 40,000 works at the museum. There's going to be everything from comic book art from Jack Kirby to art from Frida Kahlo. Oh, and loads of Star Wars props and ships, of course.

George Lucas said he's been collecting art for decades, starting with comic book art and such. I'm paraphrasing her, but Lucas says that art is anything that means something to you, and if it doesn't than you can simply move on to the next piece. His comments can't help but remind one of how his work on Star Wars has received mixed praise over the years (such as with the prequels).

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, who is on the museum's board, and set to release his take on Frankenstein later this year, calls the Lucas museum more so a "lineage of images that have been spoken" rather than simply one man's collection. He also brought up how important it is in this moment in time to look at art over the years not only as a way to express one's self, but make sure dark times in history don't repeat themselves.

Del Toro is speaking about how these days, there are ideas that A.I. can create art, but what's important about art doesn't come "in a fucking app." That got massive applause from the crowd.

Queen Latifah named off some of the special pieces from one display at the museum, which are important to culture. If you visit the museum, you'll be able to see artwork for Flash Gordon, Peanuts, Iron Man and Black Panther originals from 1968.

She asked Lucas to to speak about a group of pieces from Norman Rockwell called the Four Freedoms, which will be on display. He described one depicting a family during Thanksgiving, which he finds especially evocative because "most families are dysfunctional" but they are important because they "keep society together."

Lucas leads "from the heart", according to Chiang. The production designer also says the museum will be a great education for kids and hopes it will inspire the next Norman Rockwell or other great artists.

Latifah has also pointed out how there's no right angles in the museum, and asked George Lucas to talk about the vision of the museum's design. Lucas says that early on he actually wanted to be an architect until he realized there'd be a lot of math involved.

He's talking about how "stories" makes one feel connection to people, and perhaps help one feel better about the unknowns about life. He says: "Humans think they know everything, even though they don't know anything."

Del Toro adds that he and Lucas are both collectors but in his mind he says "I don't own anything", but a brief holder of things that can live on after us. And hopes to share his collection with the world while it's in his possession to do so.

The panel ended at 12 p.m. without any audience questions, nor a date for the opening of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts. However, it was such a solid first introduction to the upcoming Los Angeles attraction, and we can't wait to see it. That's a wrap on SDCC 2025, and what an epic way to do so.

I recently went back and watched it for the first time in well over a decade, and though I had a lot of fun watching Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi go from best friends to mortal enemies, that one thing I didn’t like then was still a problem this time around.

I Have Myriad Issues With Revenge Of The Sith, But My Main Gripe Is With Anakin Skywalker

There’s a lot to love when it comes to Revenge of the Sith. It has that incredible opening space battle in Coruscant’s orbit, it has some of the best lightsaber duels, and it has the execution of Order 66, one of the most emotional and terrifying moments on the Star Wars timeline. However, it also has a lot of bad. Not as much as Attack of the Clones three years earlier, but enough to sully it some.

Though the CGI that looked more like those awful Star Wars FMV games from the ‘90s, the scene where Padme dies of a broken heart (a deleted scene would have made it so much better), and questionable dialogue are all pretty terrible, my main gripe is with Anakin. I have nothing against Hayden Christensen, but the way his character is presented throughout this movie is awful, annoying, and ick, as the kids would say.

I Thought I'd See It Differently On A Rewatch, But That Wasn't The Case

Before rewatching Revenge of the Sith, I honestly thought that I would have a different experience when it comes to Anakin. I mean, it was heartwarming seeing Christensen reprise the character in the Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries a few years ago, and I thought to myself that maybe the 2005 character would age better with time.

I was wrong. So, so wrong. Everything I didn’t like about him 20 years ago still made me mad, still annoyed me, and still made me wish George Lucas would have done something else with the character that made him seem more like an actual Sith and less like a petulant child. He was supposed to be in his 20s by the time the movie started, not a whiny teenager upset because he can’t play with the older kids.

Growing Up Before The Prequels, I Thought Anakin Would Be The Best And Brightest Jedi Before His Fall From Grace

I fell in love with Star Wars shortly before the Special Editions of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, and I was obsessed with the franchise at the time. Though the prequels were still a few years out at the time, my friends and I would talk about how cool it would be to see Anakin turn into Darth Vader and how wild it would be to watch his fall from grace unfold a few years later.

Going off what Obi-Wan said in the first movie all those years ago, plus further explorations of Vader in the expanded universe novels (now called Star Wars Legends), it seemed like Anakin was the best and brightest the Jedi had to offer before he was tempted and corrupted by the dark side. I mean, how could that not be the coolest thing ever, especially with all those stories about how he became a cybernetic Sith lord? Surely, things couldn’t go wrong, right?

But In Revenge Of The Sith, He's A Moody, Gullible Moron

Again, I admit that the duel on Mustafar is one of the highlights of the Star Wars movies, and Anakin wiping out those younglings at the Jedi Temple is one of the most emotionally charged moments in the franchise. However, both of those now iconic scenes take place during or after Anakin falls to the dark side. Before that, he’s just a moody, jealous, and gullible moron who’ll take Chancelor Palpatine’s word as gospel.

Seriously, I thought Anakin was supposed to be smart, heroic, and in tune with the force, not some man-child who discards everything his friends and loved ones say but falls for everything the bad guy throws his way. I get it, he’s under stress and Palpatine is taking advantage of his weakness, but the way the soon-to-be Sith lord eats it all up doesn’t make the fall all that heartbreaking.

Sure, He's Great In The Cockpit Or With A Lightsaber, But That's About It

Make no mistake, Anakin is unmatched as a pilot in the Star Wars universe. Whether he was building and piloting his own podracer, saving the day in a Nabooian starfighter as a kid, or pulling off some heroics in the Clone Wars as a teenager and young adult, Anakin is an ace in the sky, err, space. The same can be said about his skill with a lightsaber. Whether he was fighting Count Dooku multiple times, taking out droid after droid everywhere he goes, or fighting his friend-turned-enemy Obi-Wan on Mustafar in the Revenge of the Sith climax, he’s a deadly and formidable opponent.

However, We never see any of the other cool stuff Anakin does before his fall. That highlights one of my major problems with the prequels: We hear about his heroics, but we don’t get to see them. Instead of watching him do some cool stuff outside of piloting and fighting, we just hear about it and instead watch him mope around and be a child before he becomes one of the most evil characters.

Despite my issues with Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, watching this movie for the first time in forever was a lot of fun. If you feel the urge, you can check it out, along with all the other Star Wars movies and shows, with a Disney+ subscription.

CinemaBlend was fortunate enough to be present at the San Diego Comic-Con panel for the upcoming horror film The Long Walk, which is set to hit the 2025 movie schedule later this year. During the panel, Mark Hamill spoke to fans – alongside the rest of the cast and crew – about what they could expect from the dystopian flick. It was during the discussion that he also talked about why he initially decided to step away from live-action acting once the Star Wars sequel trilogy came to a close in 2019:

Honestly, it would’ve been somewhat poetic for Mark Hamill to bid farewell to acting after saying goodbye to Luke Skywalker. After all, it was Hamill’s turn as the farm boy-turned-rebel-turned-jedi that made him into a household name. Plus, as the DCAU alum stated, he would’ve continued to do some voice-over gigs. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t have been a shame not to have seen Hamill do any more on-camera work. Hamill’s career has changed, though, when he was cast in Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher:

As part of that small-screen take on Edgar Allen Poe’s famous short story (which is streamable with a Netflix subscription), Mark Hamill plays the role of family fixer and lawyer Arthur Gordon Pym, and he plays it to perfection. That isn’t the only time that Hamill would participate in a Flanagan-helmed production either. Later, Hamill and Flanagan teamed up again for the latter’s film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Life of Chuck, for which Hamill also received praise.

The Joker voice actor has been more than a little busy over the past several years, as he’s taken on both live-action roles and voice-over work. Of course, he’s even since reprised Luke Skywalker in a way, as his likeness and voice were used to recreate a younger version of the character on The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Hamill is now playing the Major in The Long Walk, which is a Stephen King adaptation directed by Francis Lawrence. The character serves as an antagonist and, by all accounts, he’s quite brutal.

Not only do I love that Mark Hamill is still doing on-camera work, but I also appreciate the gratitude he has for Mike Flanagan. This seems like a situation in which “game recognizes game,” and I love seeing that. I’ll also have to see Hamill in The Long Walk, which opens in theaters on September 12. Those who’d like to catch up on Hamill’s Star Wars work in the meantime can stream the films and shows on Disney+.

I spoke with Ashley Eckstein ahead of this year's Her Universe Fashion Show at SDCC, which is embracing Universal with plenty of Wicked pink and green after hitting big with the Mattel partnership last year. With Her Universe itself hitting 15 years in 2025, I had to ask: what does it mean to her as the promoter of "geek couture" across all fandoms to celebrate the milestone? She shared:

I knew that the Her Universe Fashion Show was a highly-anticipated part of SDCC for many attendees, but Eckstein's reveal that people have met friends and partners as part of the deal is very sweet. Any babies who were wearing those onesies back in the brand's earliest days are now just about old enough to drive!

Of course, sci-fi and comic fandoms were once more often associated with men and boys than women and girls, and Ashley Eckstein had the goal of changing that assumption. Where better than San Diego Comic-Con? She elaborated on why "everyone" should get to enjoy fandom:

The Her Universe Fashion Show is quite literally getting bigger than ever in 2025, with a move to the larger Seaport Ballroom at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. The festivities will kick off at 6 p.m. PT on Thursday, July 24, although wristbands will be distributed starting at 10 a.m. PT on a first come, first serve basis.

Attendees can feel free to embrace the Wicked theme with pink for Galinda and/or green for Elphaba, but the event will feature Universal properties beyond the world of Oz as well. Ashley Eckstein went on to preview the designs that will be on display:

The fashion show isn't just for showing off geek couture to a packed venue, as the designers are competing for the grand prize of designing an apparel collection for Her Universe. Plus, as a treat for designers and audience members alike, Wicked star Marissa Bode (Nessarose) will be part of the judges' panel.

Anybody who has seen the Broadway production of Wicked has a pretty good of idea of where Nessa's story is likely to go in Wicked: For Good when it debuts late in the 2025 movie schedule. For one night, though, the actress be on the Her Universe Fashion Show stage alongside Ashley Eckstein, co-host (and Broadway legend) Michael James Scott, among other judges.

For one of the best HIMYM episodes, Season 1’s “Game Night,” co-creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas, with writer Chris Harris, envisioned a shocking origin story for Barney, and looked to none other than the Star Wars movies for inspiration. If this seems like an unlikely choice of a film to model a sitcom episode after, I find your lack of faith disturbing. Allow me to explain…

Barney's Backstory Was Modeled After Darth Vader

On an episode of their How I Met Your Mother rewatch podcast, How We Made Your Mother, about the making of “Game Night,” Thomas and Radnor, with guest Chris Harris, explain that the idea behind the episode was to reveal that Barney Stinson was an entirely different person – a sensitive hippie barista, in particular – before becoming the arrogant, suit-wearing, and highly quotable serial womanizer he is in the early seasons. The catalyst for the idea was to trace his evolution as a sort of villain origin story similar to how the Star Wars prequels follow Anakin Skywalker's transition into the Dark Side as Darth Vader.

Thomas elaborates in the following:

The parallel between the Sith Lord and Stinson is even overtly spelled out in a scene that shows Barney shedding his long hair, goatee, and hemp hoodie in favor of a clean-shaven look and business attire. The transformation is shot in the same style as when Hayden Christensen's Anakin (who shares his Star Wars role with several actors) is placed in the Vader armor for the first time in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, which had been released mere months before the episode aired.

Star Wars Would Be A More Overt Focal Point Of Several More Episodes

Barney’s Darth Vader-inspired origin story in “Game Night” was not even the first time How I Met Your Mother referenced Star Wars, and it certainly would not be the last. In fact, there were several episodes heavily dedicated to creator George Lucas’ series of beloved sci-fi movies.

For instance, in Season 4’s “Do I Know You?,” Ted puts his engagement to Stella (Sarah Chalke) to the test by showing her the 1977 original for the first time. In “Field Trip” from Season 7, Barney becomes convinced his current girlfriend, Nora (Nazanin Boniadi), is lying about her age because she hates Ewoks, based on a theory of his called “The Ewok Line.” A later episode from that same season traces the history of Ted, Marshall, and Barney's tradition of watching the original trilogy every three years, which is also used as a framing device to illustrate how the characters have compared their future aspirations to reality over time.

Being one of the most cherished cinematic franchises ever, it is not uncommon for a comedy show to pay homage to the Star Wars movies (i.e., Family Guy and Robot Chicken, to name just a couple). However, with its clever ways of relating stories of a galaxy far, far away to real life, How I Met Your Mother has the Star Wars parodies I am looking for.

Johnson's The Last Jedi was a subversive masterpiece in my opinion, which is why I've been hyped to see the Knives Out filmmaker return to the franchise. He's been busy with those whodunnits and Poker Face (which is streaming with a Peacock subscription), so there hasn't been much news about his Star Wars venture. The director spoke to Rolling Stone and got honest about the likelihood of us actually seeing that announced trilogy. In his words:

Well, now I'm bummed. While Johnson still has interest in more projects within George Lucas' colorful galaxy, there aren't any real plans for that. Instead, the filmmaker is keeping busy with original IPs, including the ongoing Knives Out franchise (which is streaming with a Netflix subscription).

When Knives Out was a huge success and the first sequel Glass Onion was quickly greenlighted and produced, fans like me wondered how this might influence Rian Johnson's Star Wars trilogy. And it turns out that my fears might have been warranted, as he's seemingly not moving forward with those movies anytime soon... if at all. Excuse me while I go re-watch The Last Jedi for the millionth time.

The Star Wars franchise has been noticeably missing from theaters since The Rise of Skywalker was released back in 2019. While the franchise has continued growing thanks to new shows on Disney+, it should be interesting to see if/when the beloved property returns to the big screen. We just shouldn't expect Rian Johnson to be the first director to start production.

Lucasfilm announced a new trilogy of Star Wars movies, including Daisy Ridley's return as Rey. None of those are coming from Rian Johnson, although their development is still early. As such, we shouldn't expect any big screen adventures on the 2025 movie release list. But that won't stop fans from holding out hope there's a Star Wars flick sooner rather than later.

Thanks to Rolling Stone, that relationship has now been clarified. A new interview with Rian Johnson is principally about the second season of Poker Face (now available to stream in full with a Peacock subscription), but the filmmaker is also asked about the discussions he had with J.J. Abrams in the making of The Last Jedi and the shocking fate of Snoke. Watching The Force Awakens, one might get the sense that the villain is being set up as the true big bad of the sequel trilogy... but Johnson felt it was more dramatic for him to act as a stepping stone for Adam Driver's Kylo Ren:

While J.J. Abrams was seemingly thinking about mirroring a Darth Vader/Emperor Palpatine dynamic for Kylo Ren and Supreme Leader Snoke, Johnson felt it was more dramatic to do something fresh and different with the characters instead of just echoing what audiences have already seen.

As for the discussions that Johnson had with Abrams, the former says that there were conversations about the big picture direction of the Star Wars franchise – but Abrams was in the midst of making The Force Awakens, and Johnson was left to his creative instincts to run with the canon ideas. Said the Knives Out director,

Rian Johnson was also dealing with a certain pressure generated by the legacy of the canon. In discussions of the original trilogy, people love Star Wars a.k.a. A New Hope, but the best movie in the canon is Empire Strikes Back, and it's because of the way it rocks the audience in the aftermath of the previous chapter. The seminal 1977 blockbuster is a classic hero's journey and a tale of good defeating evil, but the sequel has said hero learn a devastating truth about his parentage, lose his hand, and see his friend frozen in a block of metal.

The Last Jedi writer/director was given specific instructions from LucasFilm and studio president Kathy Kennedy to bring something like that to the experience of The Last Jedi. While there are people who didn't like what resulted, he went with what he felt was the best and most dramatic direction for the story. Johnson continued,

Love it or hate it, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a key piece of lore in the franchise, and if you're in the first camp, you can stream the blockbuster ad infinitum with a Disney+ subscription.

Jar Jar has been the subject of countless jokes since Episode I hit theaters, and Best previously spoke about being suicidal as a result. On the new season of Disney+'s series Light & Magic, he got detailed about attempting to end his life on the Brooklyn Bridge. As he put it:

How harrowing. While landing a role in a Star Wars movie is a dream to many, it quickly became a nightmare for Best. The backlash to Jar Jar was real, including allegations that the actor's portrayal of the Gungan was racist. And after starring in Phantom Menace, the character was pushed to the sidelines for the rest of the prequel trilogy.

Clearly Best was in a dark place, and wanted to end his pain and also teach a lesson to those who made him feel that way. The hate against Jar Jar still affects him today, so one can only imagine how intense it was at the time. In the same episode, he recalled the moment that stopped him from taking his life, offering:

Talk about divine intervention. When Best was at his lowest and contemplating suicide, an unexpected breeze pushed him back. As he shared, this caused him to suddenly grip onto the Brooklyn Bridge out of fear. It was this moment of terror and serendipity that made him realize he didn't wan tot die after all. In his words:

It's remarkable that Ahmed Best not only got through this, but is brave enough to share his history with suicidal ideation with the world. I have to assume that his has bene powerful for fans, especially those who have had similar struggles and are having trouble seeing themselves on the other side.

Best recently returned to the Star Wars franchise in a new role, playing a Jedi Master who helped Grogu survive the attack on the Jedi Temple via a flashback in The Mandalorian. What's more, Best already wants to reprise that role for a spinoff movie. And honestly, it sounds like a pretty great pitch.

Ahmed Best's tenure in the Star Wars franchise is streaming on Disney+. While the franchise won't return to theaters with a title on the 2025 movie release list, we've been regularly getting new TV shows to stream.

When it comes to a series like Andor, it wouldn’t have made sense for Darth Maul to appear in it. The Rogue One prequel was as grounded a TV show as is possible to make in the Star Wars universe, whereas Maul is very much rooted in the franchise’s more fantastical aspects with his use of the Force and ties to the Sith. However, weeks after Andor Season 2 wrapped its run on the 2025 TV schedule, it’s been revealed that a secret Maul Easter egg was hidden in the Star Wars show’s final batch of episodes.

On the off chance you’re reading this article and haven’t watched Andor’s final season, a large chunk of it took place on Ghorman, the site of Syril Karn’s death and a planet best known for the silk that’s produced by the native Ghorlectipod species of spider. Over on Instagram, production designer Luke Hull shared a mural of one of these creatures with a very familiar face painted within it:

It’s not immediately noticeable upon first glance, but look closely and you’ll bear witness to the red and black tattooed face of Maul, the Zabrak who was once Darth Sidious’ apprentice. I don’t care to go back through Andor Season 2 episodes to see if this mural can be spotted in the background of any scenes, but I do like that it was created just for aesthetic reasons. That said, if I did see a spider like that in front of me, I would set it on fire, cool-looking or not.

It’s also fitting that there’s a spider with a Darth Maul design on it considering that Maul once rocked robotic spider legs. These were seen in Star Wars: The Cone Wars when it was revealed that Maul had survived being bisected by Obi-Wan Kenobi on Naboo, as seen in The Phantom Menace. Driven insane while stranded on the planet Lotho Minor, he was able to construct those spider legs using the Force. After he was rescued by his brother, Savage Oppress, and taken back to Dathomir, Maul was outfitted with a pair of standard cybernetic legs by Mother Talzin.

We know how Darth Maul’s story ends on the Star Wars timeline, as the Rebels episode “Twin Suns” showed Obi-Wan Kenobi swiftly cutting him down on Tatooine several years before the evens of A New Hope. However the franchise has found ways to spotlight his younger self, including his Solo cameo and The Clone Wars Season 7 showing him taking control of Mandalore. Next up, he’s taking center stage for the animated series Maul — Shadow Lord, which will depict him rebuilding his criminal syndicate and training a new apprentice.

With Andor over, next up on the live-action Star Wars TV front is Ahsoka Season 2, which will likely premiere sometime next year. The Mandalorian & Grogu is also set to be released on the 2026 movies schedule, this being the first theatrical Star Wars offering since The Rise of Skywalker.

Vanity Fair’s recent interview with the star of the upcoming Marvel movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps touched on a rather emotional touchstone from Season 2 of that Disney+ subscription driver. Taken from Din Djarin’s goodbye to little Grogu at the end of “Chapter 16: The Rescue,” that helmet reveal was apparently not planned for this installment.

Rather, it came out of a change up that took place between Pedro Pascal and the Star Wars co-mastermind, as described below:

I’ll put my Sabacc cards on the table here and admit that from this point on, I fell off of The Mandalorian. Bringing Luke Skywalker back wasn’t the best move, an opinion even some Star Wars fans share, and sending Grogu off to train with him was even worse. What I’ll also admit is that latter half was probably coming from an emotional place, as the journey in this Star Wars spinoff series had led its protagonists to what felt like a huge turning point.

Thinking about this scene without the helmet removal doesn’t make sense to me, and Pedro Pascal’s instincts were clearly feeling The Force of the show’s heartbeat. In further recalling how his collaboration with the executive producer/former MCU director folded that Mandalorian note further into how “The Rescue” worked, The Last of Us veteran also proved just how strong Jon Favreau’s read on the series, and his star, actually were:

Sometimes you evidently just need to listen to the moment, especially on the set of a major production like The Mandalorian. With that in mind, the message you need to hear can come from anyone on set, or even the surroundings themselves. Pedro Pascal has been on both sides of that concept, as seen in Walton Goggins’ grounded phone calls whenever his career felt like too much at times.

Those instincts will be on display yet again in the upcoming Star Wars movie, The Mandalorian & Grogu, which is set to finally open in theaters on May 22, 2026. You won’t have to wait that long for your next Pascal-enhanced adventure, as The Fantastic Four: First Steps blasts off into theaters on July 25th.

Next year will mark the tenth anniversary of what is arguably the best prequel in the Star Wars franchise, and while reflecting on the film recently during an interview with our sister site GamesRadar+, Gareth Edwards explained the specific relief he feels about the work. He's undoubtedly happy that people love his movie and even prefer it to the films of the Sequel Trilogy (a point of view he personally disagrees with), but he's also pleased that he made a movie satisfying enough not to ruin anyone's long-held affection for the canon set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Said Edwards,

Gareth Edwards arguably didn't face the same kind of pressure that the filmmakers creating the Sequel Trilogy had to deal with, but he had a tough assignment nonetheless: tell an original story with a bunch of brand new characters and design it not only to link into the existing canon but to perfectly sync up with the iconic opening scene of one of the most iconic movies of all time. Thankfully, the work was ultimately successful, and it even went on to inspire Andor – a prequel to the prequel that is arguably the best Star Wars TV series we've seen.

The reason why Gareth Edwards is particularly happy that he hasn't "ruined" any childhoods is because he understands that perspective himself. While one can cynically label the Star Wars sequels or his upcoming Jurassic Park movie Jurassic World: Rebirth as "franchises" or "IP," that shouldn't undercut the fact that the films that inspired the modern blockbusters were life-changing experiences for people when they first got the opportunity to see them:

Will Jurassic World: Rebirth eventually have the same kind of legacy that Rogue One has in pop culture? We obviously won't know the definitive answer to that question until about a decade from now, but first impressions are about to be made. Starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Mahershala Ali, the new installment of the Jurassic Park franchise is arriving in theaters this Wednesday, July 2, and we'll have plenty of coverage of the film coming your way here on CinemaBlend in the coming days.

All The Dude wanted was his rug back. That simple rug, micturated upon by Woo, drives all the action in the movie, and while the audience doesn't see much of the rug that The Dude (Jeff Bridges) is trying to replace, we do see the one that he (briefly) gets from the millionaire Lebowski in the Big Lebowski.

The DeLorean Time Machine

Admit it, you wanted a DeLorean time machine. We ALL wanted one. Heck, most of us would settle for a regular DeLorean. Ever since we all went back in time with Marty and Doc in Back To The Future, we've longed for the same ability, in the same machine. Now those cars are as lost to time as Biff's Sports Almanac.

Wilson

When the only star who appears in most of a movie only has one friend and that friend is a volleyball, it's bound to be a famous prop. Wilson the Volleyball is the only companion Chuck (Tom Hanks) has in Cast Away, and just like Chuck, the audience gets pretty attached to that silly ball with a face made of Chuck's blood.

The Briefcase In Pulp Fiction

Another cool MacGuffin on this list is the briefcase from Pulp Fiction. We never actually see what's inside, just that it is glowing gold. Maybe that's why the prop has become so famous. If we knew it was just like a stolen Oscar statuette or something, we'd feel differently.

The Red And Blue Pills

While the Blue Pill and the Red Pill in The Matrix have since taken political connotations in recent years, they were famous way before that. One will wake Neo (Keanu Reeves) up, and one will put him back to sleep. Honestly, I don't care which is which, and any political connections are weird, so let's leave it at that.

One Ring To Rule Them All

Not only is The One Ring one of the most famous props in movie history, it's one of the most famous in literature these days. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is a masterpiece, and without this one ring to rule them all, it wouldn't exist.

Indy's Whip

You might say Indiana Jones' hat is the most famous prop in the Indiana Jones movies, but the whip that Harrison Ford's character is just as iconic and let's be honest, a little more interesting than a hat. So the whip gets the nod here.

The Giant Piano In Big

Any kid lucky enough to visit the FAO Schwartz in New York after Big was released, their first mission was to find the giant piano you could walk on and even play. It's one of the most iconic scenes in any movie from the era, and while I learned firsthand it was impossible for me to recreate the scene, I still dream about getting a big enough piano to make it work.

Thor's Hammer

There are a lot of famous props in the MCU, like ranking the MCU movies, we could almost do a list of props all its own. Things like the Infinity Gauntlet, or the stones that go into it, are iconic, but is there anything as iconic in the whole franchise as Thor's hammer? Heck, it's one of the famous objects in world mythology, much less Marvel's corner of it.

The Leg Lamp

After the dad in A Christmas Story wins a fragile, major award, it turns out to be a lamp in the shape of a woman's leg. He's so proud of it that he wants to display it in the window, much to the chagrin of his wife. It doesn't make it to the end of the movie, and there is another prop, the Red Ryder BB Gun, that is equally famous, but we just had to go with the leg. After all, it must be Italian.

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers

Of all the famous props and wardrobe pieces on this list, none, not a one, are as famous or as iconic as Dorothy's Ruby Slippers in The Wizard of Oz. It's a prop that is so famous that they are in the Smithsonian along with Fonzie's jacket and Archie Bunker's chair.

The Heart Of The Ocean

Sure, the boat in Titanic is probably the most famous non-character in the movie, but that would be a little on the nose. Instead, we went with the necklace that the crew led by Bill Paxton's character is searching for, The Heart of the Ocean. It ends up down with the boat, though.

The Batmobile

Pick your favorite Batmobile. Any Batmobile works here. You could go with the great one from the '60s TV show (my favorite), or the one from Tim Burton's Batman, and get even more tech with one of Christopher Nolan's versions. You can't go wrong.

Maverick's Jacket

Maverick (Tom Cruise) has one of the most iconic pieces of wardrobe ever. That bomber jacket, covered in patches, is legendary. It's such an important part of the character that when Top Gun: Maverick dropped its first teaser, it was simply a close-up of the jacket and Maverick putting it on.

Freddie's Glove

There are a lot of famous props in horror movies, many of them masks. Freddie's glove in the Nightmare on Elm Street is among the most famous, maybe the most famous. It's a terrifying weapon that has given fans nightmares for decades.

Lightsabers

Okay, so how much do we really need to say here? Of all the props in all the world, is there one more famous than the lightsabers in the Star Wars franchise? No matter what color, there is no weapon in any other franchise that has nearly the same cache as the elegant weapon of the Jedi knights.

Wonka's Golden Ticket

Without the Golden Ticket in Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, none of the kids (or their parents) would get the tour of Willie's wild factory. They wouldn't have gotten in any trouble, either.

The Red Swingline Stapler

Stephen Root's character, Milton, in Office Space is one of the weirdest characters in any comedy of the era. Not only is his mumbling disturbing, but his love for his red stapler is downright scary.... and hilarious. It became so famous that Swingline made a special red version of their stapler based on the prop.

Proton Packs

According to Ray (Dan Aykroyd), each Ghostbuster is "carrying an unlicensed nuclear accelerator on his back." Those proton packs have since become a key part of every kid who dressed like our heroes in Ghostbusters for Halloween for decades. Hopefully, the ones the kids wear are a little safer.

The Maltese Falcon

This is a prop so famous, they named the movie after it! Or maybe the prop is named after the movie? I don't know. It could be either way, I suppose. It's one of the most famous MacGuffins ever, the statue in The Maltese Falcon.

Vote For Pedro Tee Shirt

Long after the hype for Napoleon Dynamite faded, we were still seeing people with "Vote For Pedro" shirts walking the streets. The shirts were so popular, it almost eclipsed the movie. Now, they still might be more popular.

The 2001 Obelisk

Obelisks are so cool that people are still randomly building them in the desert (look up Las Vegas Obelisk). That all stems from the Stanley Kubrick classic 2001: A Space Odyssey. Even people who have never seen the legendary film know the scene(s) with the obelisk.

Ghostface's Mask

There are a few very famous masks in horror history, so of course, a movie like Scream, which is essentially a love letter to the classic '70s and '80s slasher films, would end up with one of the most famous. The masks, like the franchise, have been incredibly enduring and probably will be for the next 100 years.

The Sorting Hat

In the world of Harry Potter, there are a few famous props, like the flying car and the various wands. Still, every fan of the franchise secretly has dreams about being sorted by the Sorting Hat into their favorite house at Hogwarts.

Mary Poppins' Umbrella

Every kid dreams of a flying nanny like Mary Poppins, if not having Poppins herself as their nanny. The umbrella has become one of the most recognizable props in the movie over the years. The scene where we first see Julie Andrews as Mary gently guiding herself down is one of the most famous scenes in Hollywood history.

Rita Hayworth Poster

CinemaBlend has called The Shawshank Redemption the best movie of the '90s. The Stephen King story on which it is based is called, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption. That's how important the poster is that Andy (Tim Robbins) hides his escape tunnel. The moment when the warden tears it down is one of the most fun moments in any movie, ever.

The New Bluesmobile

The Bluesmobile in The Blues Brothers is not, actually, the original Bluesmobile, according to Jake (John Belushi). The original was a Cadillac, not the former Police Car that Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) shows up in to pick Jake up from prison. Elwood explains that he had to trade it for a microphone, which Jake understands. No matter what, the car is one of the most famous cars of the 1980s.

Reese's Pieces

Oh, what a mistake Mars Candy made when they reportedly didn't want Steven Spielberg to use M&M's in E.T. That opened up an opportunity for the folks over at Reese's Pieces, who did license their product, and now they are one of the most famous food items in any movie, ever.

Jason's Hockey Mask

Of all the famous masks in slasher films from the '70s and '80s, there is none more iconic than Jason's mask in the Friday the 13th franchise. We're not going to get into who was actually wearing it in the original movie, because it doesn't matter. It's the mask that matters.

The Burn Book

Ahhhh, the "Burn Book" in Mean Girls. It's the ultimate downfall of the titular click in the classic comedy written by and starring Tina Fey. It's filled with all the evidence anyone would ever need to take those terrible people down, and eventually, they are dramatically brought down.

The Box In Seven

"What's in the box?" is one of the most disturbing questions ever uttered in any movie, ever. Brad Pitt's performance in the moment is some of the best acting work of his career. We certainly don't want to go into detail with the answer to that question, but if you know, you know.

The Red Balloon In IT

Some people are scared of clowns. Some people are scared of balloons. IT finds a way to freak both groups out and in the process creates one of the most iconic props of all time. No words are needed to scare people, either. Like so many props on this list, one quick glance is all it takes to know exactly what movie it comes from.

Sakhno spent a lot of time Ray Stevenson on Ahsoka’s first season, as she plays Shin Hati, Baylan’s apprentice. Although Shin and Baylan went their separate ways towards the end of Season 1, we’ll be seeing more of them together in Season 2, and Sakhno sang McCann’s praises to ScreenRant while promoting her 2025 movie release M3GAN 2.0:

I’m also relieved that Baylan Skoll’s story will continue with a different actor filling Ray Stevenson’s shoes. Like Shin, Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano and Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s Sabine Wren, Baylan is currently stranded on the planet Peridea, but he’s not bothered by that whatsoever. Rather, he believes there’s a source of power on the planet that he believes can finally end the conflict between the light and dark sides of the Force. He seemed to come one step closer to achieving that objective when he discovered the Mortis statues, and it would have been a shame for that plot thread to be dropped.

Meanwhile, Shin Hati has embarked down a separate life path and allied herself with Peridea’s group of bandits. How her and Baylan’s paths will cross again remains to be seen, but Ivanna Sakhno is impressed by how Rory McCann has been carrying the mantle left behind by Ray Stevenson on Ahsoka, saying:

Rory McCann, of course, played Sandor “The Hound” Clegane in Game of Thrones, a character who, like Baylan Skoll, was very much bathed in shades of grey. Baylan, however, has more antagonistic traits than The Hound did, though perhaps those will be less emphasized now that he’s no longer affiliated with Grand Admiral Thrawn. In any case, I was already looking forward to seeing McCann’s portrayal of Baylan, and now that interest has increased after reading Ivanna Sakhno recount her positive experience with him.

Ahsoka Season 2 began filming in late April, and while a specific release date hasn’t been set yet, it’s a good bet it will come out sometime in 2026. Next year will also bring The Mandalorian & Grogu, which spins out of fellow Disney+ show The Mandalorian and will be the first theatrical Star Wars movie since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker.

How Ryan Reynolds Is Apparently Involved In Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars Movie

Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds have been close for years, given they've worked together on a trio of consecutive movies with 2021’s Free Guy, 2022’s The Adam Project and last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine. And, when Ryan Reynolds was recently interviewed by Time, it was detailed that the hilarious multi-hyphenate was getting ready to have a “walk-and-talk” with Shawn Levy “to discuss” Starfighter!

At this point in time, it's unclear if Reynolds will be involved in the new Star Wars movie in an official capacity, but this piece of information does suggest that Shawn Levy is, at the very least, discussing Starfighter with his frequent (and trusted) collaborator.

I'd imagine that this could be a case of one good friend asking another for constructive feedback and input on a huge project. And how cool is that? Ryan Reynolds has proved to be a stellar filmmaker/producer along with being a movie star so, theoretically, it would be a smart move on Shawn Levy’s part to pick his brain. Ironically, Reynolds recently revealed that he pitched an R-rated Star Wars movie but was unsuccessful in getting it off the ground.

What’s Going On With Star Wars: Starfighter?

As far as upcoming Star Wars movies go, The Mandalorian And Grogu is hitting theaters in the summer of 2026, and Starfighter set for release in May 2027. During Star Wars Celebration back in April, Shawn Levy lightly teased what fans could expect from the flick. He described the film as a “standalone adventure” that takes place a few years after the events of 2019's The Rise of Skywalker.

Details on Levy's film are slim at the moment, and that includes info on the cast. Ryan Gosling is a great leading man, and he proved his love for the franchise with a photo of his childhood Star Wars bed sheets. Since, Mia Goth has also been cast in the movie, and production is set to begin this fall.

It seems Shawn Levy is spending a lot of time prepping his Star Wars movie before cameras start rolling. At this point, I'm curious as to whether Ryan Reynolds may be credited for his contributions in an official way. At the very least, I could see him receiving a "special thanks" credit. What would be even better, though, is for Reynolds to actually cameo in the film at some point. Considering how many stars have cameoed in recent SW movies, I'd say it's possible.

While you wait for updates on Star Wars: Starfighter, grab a Disney+ subscription and stream movies and TV shows set within the massive franchise.

Mark Hamill recently took part in an interview on NPR’s Bullseye with Jesse Thorn (posted to NPR’s official YouTube channel) to promote his 2025 movie release, The Life of Chuck. During the chat, Hamill opened up about his original take on why Luke would walk away from everything. He envisioned a personal tragedy so painful that not even the Force could bring him back from it:

It’s brutal. And honestly? It’s the kind of emotional gut-punch that would’ve brought a whole new layer of depth to Luke’s exile. Instead of a Jedi knight hiding out because of a failed student and a terrifying Force vision, the Fall of the House of Usher star imagined a man who walked away from his beliefs because he couldn’t live with the consequences of love and loss. It’s not just about failure, but grief. That shift in motivation would’ve grounded Luke’s retreat in something deeply human, and frankly, devastating.

To be clear, Hamill didn’t suggest this as a criticism of director Rian Johnson’s story. In fact, he’s spoken often about ultimately trusting Johnson’s vision, even if he initially disagreed. However, this alternative idea presents a fascinating “what if” scenario, one that could have added haunting emotional complexity to Luke’s character arc in The Last Jedi.

There’s something poetic about it, too. Luke, who once represented hope and light for an entire generation, undone not by a galactic war or cosmic prophecy, but by something as simple—and devastating—as family tragedy. It’s not about Jedi versus Sith. It’s about a man broken by love, and possibly, his own guilt.

Would Disney ever approve of such a tragic backstory? Perhaps not, as it's quite a dark interpretation. However, given the serious and sometimes dark tones of some Star Wars shows, like the critically acclaimed Andor (available to stream with a Disney+ subscription), it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility. The SW saga includes numerous characters who commit terrible acts, most notably, Anakin Skywalker, who, in Revenge of the Sith, slaughtered an entire group of Younglings, albeit off-screen.

Mark Hamill’s idea presents a compelling piece of character development that could have worked well on-screen. It would have reframed Luke’s isolation not as a sign of cowardice or failure, but rather as a period of mourning.

Perhaps it was never meant for canon. But, in true Jedi fashion, Hamill trusted his instincts and imagined something that—while heartbreaking—rings with emotional truth. And maybe that’s what Luke Skywalker needed more than anything: not just a moment of redemption, but a moment of real, unfiltered humanity.

Mark Hamill’s latest project, the new book-to-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s novella The Life of Chuck, is currently showing in theaters. Be sure to check your local listings. Anyone who wants to check out The Last Jedi can also stream it on Disney+.

While the love for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story went from a simmer to a hard boil over the years, especially since Andor Season 2 gave us some top tier Star Wars television, here’s what the movie’s director recently said when Business Insider pointed out his movie frequently being called the best Star Wars movie Disney has put out:

Gareth Edwards didn’t share what he thinks the best Disney Star Wars movie is outside his own, but he did share some interesting thoughts about how he handles the discourse around his movies. As he continued:

Now this is a great way to handle being a major filmmaker. When a movie is coming out, there are so many factors that can make it seem like a failure despite the quality of something. At the end of the day, there have been tons of classics that were either box office failures or critically panned at the time of their release.

Rogue One wasn’t either of those things. It earned $1.06 billion worldwide following its December 2016 release, and earned a very positive 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, Edwards’ 2023 followup, an original science fiction film called The Creator, bombed at the box office with a $104 million worldwide haul and mixed reviews. He also said this:

Regarding Star Wars, Gareth Edwards also said he’s “very happy to move on and do my own thing” outside the franchise, even though he’ll “never stop loving that trilogy.” As his comments continued:

Rogue One is approaching its 10-year anniversary next year, and it appears it’ll be in good shape. Gareth Edwards’ latest movie is the new Jurassic World movie Rebirth starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali. He’s called the movie a return to the Jurassic Park roots. You can see it in theaters on July 2.

If you remember in the Star Wars prequel, Attack of the Clones, Anakin and Padme were alone in the dark by a fireplace where Anakin went on about being “in agony” over his feelings for the Naboo senator. @shoobscantsleep made sure to tweet a hilarious meme regarding one of Padme’s gorgeous outfits in that scene:

When I first saw this scene as a nine-year-old, I was very confused. It’s supposed to be a moment of love, yet I was hearing Anakin describe his love for Padme as being “in agony.” I, personally, wouldn’t be wooed by that. So, if you’re gonna reject a 19-year-old who uses such a poor adjective as a labor of love, you might as well wear a seductive outfit like that to make it harder for him.

Anakin Skywalker wasn’t exactly the best with words in the prequel films. After all, one of the worst moments of Star Wars was hearing Anakin seduce Padme, saying her “smooth” skin is better than the “coarse” sand of Tatooine. The tweet debate ended up leading to hilarious comments like @judgeshowgames' interpretation of Padme’s dress:

Looking back, it feels like Anakin was gaslighting Padme, who shouldn't be faulted for being herself, even if it made Anakin go weak at the knees. Scenes like that alone are foreshadowing of the powerful Sith Lord he turns into.

We can easily say Padme's halter-dress wasn’t intentional, but one thing we miss about Padme in the prequels was her brilliance being internal compared to everything in her head being laid out to audiences. So, maybe she knew what she was doing picking that particular dress. @agamemnus_dev had a hilarious perspective of Padme’s dress that sent me roaring with laughter:

Jar Jar Binks did step up in being the representative of Naboo for Padme and advocating for the Chancellor's emergency powers. But he wore some seriously strange cloaks while doing so. Maybe Star Wars should have left the big outfits for the fashionable senator instead. @DroidLiberator got hilariously real on Padme not making it easy for the young padawan:

Absolutely! If a Jedi trainee who’s been sent to protect you talks about how your presence sends you “in agony,” make him pay for it with a drop-dead beautiful dress. Yet strangely, Anakin’s expressions of his feelings later worked on Padme despite their bland romantic scenes. @sagebored pointed out an empowering stance of the former queen’s fashion choice that truly slays:

That social media user couldn’t be more correct. Padme Amidala may have been in hiding for a big portion of Attack of the Clones, but it didn’t mean she had to make herself look like a victim. Each outfit she wore in the prequel represented her inner strength. So if she’s gonna wear that while Anakin tries to, in his strange way, attract her, why not?

Fans couldn’t help but go off when a social media user posted a hilarious post of Padme’s attractive dress she wore when she was about to reject Anakin. The idea of her wearing a seductive outfit while saying she couldn't be with him was too perfect not to meme. This should be a lesson not to mess with the Naboo senator when you talk about being “in agony” around her.

Diego Luna recently participated in a roundtable discussion for THR that included the likes of Walton Goggins, Eddie Redmayne, Jeffrey Wright, Adam Scott and Cooper Koch. He told the group how, prior to being cast in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, he was only offered roles as drug dealers. Luna explained…

A lot of people likely became aware of Diego Luna for his role in Narcos: Mexico, where he did, in fact, play a drug lord. While the shift in the roles being offered to Diego Luna may have coincided with Star Wars, he doesn’t credit the franchise exclusively with changing his career. Instead, he thinks there’s been a larger shift in the way the entertainment world works that allows the audience to be in more control of demanding what they want to see. The actor continued…

While the modern entertainment landscape, specifically the popularity of streaming, has arguably had some strong negative impacts, such as on theatrical exhibition, there are other ways that streaming has certainly changed things for the better. The global reach of most streaming platforms means audiences all over the world can watch shows and movies from anywhere, and it gives the ability to see performers in different ways.

All this being said, it apparently hasn’t ended the endless stream of offers to Diego Luna to play drug dealers. It’s just that now he doesn’t feel obligated to take the roles simply because they are offered. He knows there are roles out there that will be more of what he wants to be doing, not simply what others tell him he should be doing. Luna says…

Diego Luna will next be seen in the upcoming film adaptation of the musical Kiss of the Spider Woman with Jennifer Lopez. It certainly won’t be the same old drug dealer role.

How Ming-Na Wen’s Mother Reacted To The Mandalorian

The actress debuted as Fennec Shand in The Mandalorian Season 1 episode “The Gunslinger” and was initially depicted as an antagonist to Din Djarin, but later became one of his allies after her life was saved by Boba Fett. However, Wen recounted on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum that her mother, Lin Chan Wen, was less than impressed with the role. As the ER recalled:

Ming-Na Wen then mentioned how her mother was well aware of how much of a Star Wars fan she was even before coming aboard The Mandalorian. Now granted, not everyone’s going to be a fan of the mythology set in a galaxy far, far away, which is fine since taste is subjective. But what really astounded the younger Wen was how her mother couldn’t even “fake” enjoying the Star Wars series. I guess discussing the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows with her is off the table.

The Obscure Movie Ming-Na Wen Did That Her Mother Loved

So what is more of Lin Chan Wen’s cup of tea from her daughter’s resume? That would be a direct-to-video movie from 2012 called Super Cyclone, which Ming-Na Wen didn’t sign onto for, shall we say, artistic reasons. She continued:

Like I said, taste is subjective, but the fact that Ming-Na Wen’s mother enjoyed watching Super Cyclone so much, yet got nothing out of The Mandalorian is hilarious. The 2012 movie can be streamed for free on platforms like Pluto TV, Tubi and Prime Video if you’d like to judge it for yourself. Ming-Na Wen might not approve of that so much for movie time, but hey, at least playing Dr. Jenna Sparks helped her out during a difficult period.

With The Book of Boba Fett not getting a second season and there being no indication that Fennec Shand will appear in The Mandalorian & Grogu next year, it’s hard to say when we’ll see Ming-Na Wen in the Star Wars universe. You can, however, see her starring opposite Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio and Ben Wang in Karate Kid: Legends, now playing in theaters.

Since he portrayed the role of Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones over two decades ago, Temuera Morrison has been incredibly passionate about his bounty hunter characters. So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that during an interview with Collider, he expressed disappointment over the fact that Boba’s show has not returned. Overall, it seems the lack of a second season and the fact that a fellow “Mando-verse” show is returning isn’t lost on Morrison:

From a critical standpoint, Book of Boba Fett proved to be one of the more divisive entries in the expansive science-fiction franchise. It did receive praise for its action as well as the performance of its leading man. However, the show was also criticized for its pacing, use of Star Wars tropes and inclusion of significant storylines related to other TV properties. For instance, the show notably marked the reunion of Din Djarin and Grogu of The Mandalorian, which was viewed as odd by some viewers. Nevertheless, reports on Fett’s viewership suggested it was successful amongst viewers.

Honestly, I’d be curious to see what EPs Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau and Robert Rodriguez would do with an additional season of the Boba-centric show. However, in the meantime, I can’t stop thinking about the suggestion Temuera Morrison floated for Ahsoka’s second season:

Considering that all of the clone troopers, including Captain Rex, were developed from Jango Fett’s DNA (like Boba), Temuera Morrison could absolutely appear on Ahsoka. Morrison even briefly cameos as a homeless trooper on an episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi. In terms of the Ahsoka Tano series, it would make sense for Rex to appear. At this point, it’s fair to say that the show is – in many ways – a follow-up to the animated series Star Wars Rebels, on which Rex is an ally of the Ghost crew and Tano.

I’m definitely one of those SW fans who’s become somewhat weary due to the franchise’s over-reliance on nostalgia. With that said, given how far Ahsoka has already fallen down that rabbit hole, I say why not just have Temuera Morrison appear at Rex. It may not be out of the realm of possibility, though plot details are scarce right now. Whatever the case, I’m just hopeful that there’s an opportunity for Morrison to return to the fold at some point.

Check out both The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka’s first season on Disney+. In the meantime, read up on upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows.

As seen over the course of Andor’s two seasons, which can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription, Diego Luna’s title protagonist shared a deep connection and on-again-off-again relationship with Adria Arjona’s Bix Caleen. So although Gilroy was well aware of the Cassian/Jyn shippers, he wasn’t going to let stop him from delving into a different romantic relationship, telling Collider:

It was nice of Tony Gilroy him to acknowledge the passion that these Star Wars fans have for pairing Cassian and Jyn together rather than ignore them or even dismiss them. This wasn’t a matter of Gilroy being disdainful of this particular ship, it’s just that it didn’t align with his creative vision for Andor. For him, it was more important to explore what Cassian had with Bix rather than act as though Jyn was his only love.

In fact, Tony Gilroy also admitted during the interview that it makes sense for Cassian and Jyn to be shipped together given all they went through, even though he doesn’t see it as a full-blown romance. As he explained:

Sadly, Cassian and Bix’s romance ended on a tragic note long before he met Jyn Erso and they embarked on a mission to steal the Death Star plans. A year beforehand, shortly after Cassian had decided to leave the Rebellion in order to start a life with Bix, she left him on Yavin IV and told him he needed to stick with the Rebels and help them overthrow the Empire. Adria Arjona also confirmed that Bix knew at that point she was pregnant with Cassian’s child.

Bix promised that she would find Cassian once the Empire was defeated, but that never came to pass, and Diego Luna’s character never learned he was a father. Still, at least he was with Jyn Erso in his final moments rather than alone, and hopefully there will come a day when Bix and her child can return.

It’s a dream for many people to go to Disneyland at some point in their lifetime. However, Mr. Beast recently upped the ante quite a bit when he created a video featuring a multitude of wildly expensive date experiences. As part of this, he literally shelled out a small fortune to rent out the Anaheim-based theme park for the night.

Honestly, though, the over-the-top gesture cost less than I probably would have anticipated.

Fans Were Surprised About How Much Does It Cost To Rent Out Disneyland

According to the lengthy YouTube video, which already had more than a million views at the time of this writing, it cost Mr. Beast and his production team $500,000 to rent out the park.

I dunno what exactly the figure was that I was anticipating, but the cost did seem to be a factor that stood out to a slew of fans who watched the video or learned the news on Instagram. A lot of the comments with thousands of likes literally had to do with being surprised about how much was spent to rent the theme parks out.

• That’s actually much cheaper than I thought it would be to close down Disneyland.
• Only $500,000? I thought it would take more than that to rent the whole Disneyland.
• I’m surprised it’s « only » 500k for a whole day at Disneyland..

However, I do think it’s worth pointing out a few details. First, it’s not like Disneyland and California Adventure shut down for the day, as one commenter assumed. It’s very clear that Mr. Beast and his pals rented the park out after hours. On the other hand, there are scenes from in front of the castle and other parts of the Disneyland park, but the prolific video creator and his friends were also spotted at the park's second gate, California Adventure, which means that he literally rented out both theme parks, not just one. Finally, he and his crew were treated to a spectacularly decorated and very private dinner in front of the castle before literally fireworks (also costly) capped off the night.

So, I'm just saying, what they got for the cost was not too shabby.

If you are privileged enough to ever be in a park after hours, perhaps for a wedding or other event, what typically happens is that you and your group are allowed in one park after hours, and Disney’s planners will work with you to keep some rides available for your guests. Though estimates have noted the costs on these sorts of events at Disney are staggering too.

Still, Disney also offers limited after hours events that cost, like Disney After Dark or Mickey's Halloween Party, and these are not so wholly unaccessible to the general public, though they aren't getting any cheaper. So perhaps one day, the dream that you wish will come true.

So, What Did Mr. Beast And His Date Night Crew Try First?

I'm still iffy about whether or not you can really call it a date night when you've brought your boys along, but it's certainly a video you wouldn't see elsewhere. It’s still mind-blowing to see all of these rides fully staffed for what is essentially a dozen people, but the popular YouTuber has the funds to do it, and he and his pals and fiancé Thea Booysen made the most of the experience.

Of course, the question I wanted to know was: Which of Disneyland's attractions would Mr. Beast go first when renting out the entirety of Disneyland park? The answer is none other than the incredibly popular Star Wars ride at Galaxy’s Edge: Rise Of The Resistance. This makes sense. When the park is open to the general public, wait times for Rise of the Resistance can be very lengthy.

Mr. Beast is a man known for putting on stunts revolving around large amounts of money, and this has resulted in him becoming one of the most successful players on YouTube and social media personalities as a whole. His net worth is allegedly around billion dollars at this point and his company rakes in hundreds of millions in income per year. Celebrity net worths are notoriously unreliable, but it is clear that as the world’s most popular YouTuber, he has plenty of money to play around with.

In this case, he used it to rent out the Happiest Place on Earth, and I don’t blame him. If I had a spare $500K sitting around I probably would too.

Andor is generally agreed by even the most critical fans to be one of the better additions to the world of Star Wars since Disney took over the franchise. Having said that, making a show that good certainly wasn’t cheap, and I’m still losing my mind over what Andor actually cost.

What Andor Cost

Budgets are not something that studios really tend to reveal. It’s often left to rumors or simply estimating the math to figure it all out. However, speaking at the ATX TV Festival in Austin, Texas, Andor creator Tony Gilroy revealed (via Deadline) a real number, pegging the cost of both seasons of Andor at $650 million.

That’s about right, as estimates for Season 2 of Andor had been pegged at about $300 million. That’s slightly more than what Deadline estimates Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker's budget, so each season basically cost as much as a movie.

A movie like Rise of Skywalker with a budget like that is basically required to make $1 billion at the global box office to start making money, which is wild enough. With the economics of streaming being far more complicated, even to the studios, it’s kind of insane that Disney greenlit that amount of money.

How Tony Gilroy Felt About Andor’s Budget

To be sure, Tony Gilroy understood what came along with all that money. He admitted that he made his decisions about what to do with the show carefully, knowing that he had a lot of somebody else’s money on the line. This included one of the most well-known changes from Andor's first season. Gilroy said…

The showrunner has spoken openly about the fact that the line “Fuck the Empire” was previously in a script near the end of Season 1, but that Disney executives asked that the line be changed. It seems that at least part of the reason he was willing to do that was because he understood who had money on the line.

We have very specific details about just how important those budgets are. We know that the cancellation of The Acolyte, another Disney+ Star Wars series, had as much to do with what it cost to make than whether or not people were actually watching.

Gilroy said there were actually conflicts over the money during Andor Season 2, as there were indications that Disney+ wanted to spend less on Season 2 of the show. While Gilroy indicates he “fought hard” to make sure the show got what he needed, it doesn’t sound like there were ever any real fights about what things cost, which the showrunner appreciated. He continued…

Gilroy has been open about that he doesn't love the way streaming has changed the industry. Considering how little we know about the way streaming series work, it’s likely we’ll never really know whether Disney’s $650 million investment in Andor was worth it to the studio. If nothing else, it seems like it was worth it to the fans, which probably meant a lot of Disney+ subscription money.

After The Mandarloian & Grogu opens in theaters next May and ends the Star Wars cinematic dry spell that’s been in effect since The Rise of Skywalker was released at the end of 2019, Star Wars: Starfighter will be the next of the upcoming Star Wars movies. It was confirmed a few months ago that Ryan Gosling is leading this adventure set in a galaxy far, far away, and now a popular scream queen has been tapped to join him. Even better, I’m liking the reported details about the role she’s playing.

According to Jeff Sneider, Mia Goth, the lead actress of Ti West’s X film series, is coming aboard Star Wars: Starfighter. She’ll be playing the role that Mikey Madison was originally approached for, but she turned down. THR confirmed this casting news and added that Goth’s character is one of the “pursuers” who’s after the young nephew of Ryan Gosling’s character, and it’s up to him to protect the boy.

After gaining recognition for her roles in movies like A Cure for Wellness, Suspiria and Emma, Mia Goth scored her breakthrough from the aforementioned X movies, some of the better recent offerings from the horror genre. In 2022’s X, she played the dual role of Maxine Minx and Pearl Douglas, and she reprised Pearl the same-named prequel that same year, which she also co-wrote and executive produced. Then she reprised Maxine in 2024’s MaXXXine, as well as co-produced.

Although Star Wars: Starfighter is arguably the biggest movie Mia Goth has on the way, it’s by no means the only major motion picture she has lined up for the future. Later this year, Netflix subscription holders will be able to see her star opposite Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi in Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. Then next year, she’ll be seen in the ensemble cast of Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey. As of June 2024, Goth was also still attached to Marvel’s Blade reboot, but it’s unclear if that’s still the case.

In addition to these alleged details about Mia Goth’s role in Star Wars: Starfighter, we also know that the movie is a standalone offering taking place roughly five years after The Rise of Skywalker. Shawn Levy is directing the feature and Jonathan Tropper, who previously collaborated with Levy on The Adam Project, is writing the script. I’m eager to see how Goth does playing one of the baddies giving Ryan Gosling’s character trouble in Starfighter, though needless to say she’ll be a more family-friendly antagonist compared to her time as Pearl.

Star Wars: Starfighter hits theaters on May 28, 2027. While we wait for more news about its development, don’t forget you can use your Disney+ subscription to revisit all the Star Wars franchise’s existing movies and TV shows at your convenience.

To prove that point, an account on Instagram recently pointed out that the Royal Palace of Caserta in Italy was used for two big movies 25 years apart, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace and the much more recent hit Conclave. Not only did they use the same building, but nearly identical shots of the same staircase, check it out.

This certainly isn’t the sort of thing that most people would ever notice, unless they happened to watch both movies in close proximity to each other. Still, it’s pretty incredible to see that the palace on Naboo and the Holy See are, cinematically, the same location.

Not surprisingly, Star Wars fans are having a blast with this, as they realize the election of the Pope took place on Naboo. Comments include…

• So they filmed Conclave on Naboo?? - ivandaandrey
• Which planet though - mgm_patrick
• It was nice of Italy to keep the set for such a long time - sean_tilley
• I destroyed so many battle droids on those stairs…. - seamus_malloy
• Okay, now imagine a show about a young Palpatine climbing the political ladder on Naboo while he’s secretly a Sith apprentice, and its filmed in these same locations. - seanandersonmedia
• That means the Pope and Star Wars are in the same Universe!! - miquelbarsbarba

Of course, as with many filming locations that get used, the Royal Palace of Caserta has actually been used in several more movies, though not necessarily this same staircase. You’ll also see it in Mission: Impossible III, Angels & Demons, and the recent Netflix series with Jeff Goldblum, Kaos.

If you look closely, you’ll discover that a lot of your favorite TV shows and movies are filmed in the same locations. Of course, you have places like the Universal Backlot, which has lots of sets that can be modified to resemble whatever filmmakers need. But even out in the world, you’ll discover many locations have been reused throughout the years. When you need a palace for your movie, you can build a set, or you can just go use an actual palace.

Of course, once you do see connections like this, it becomes basically impossible to unsee them. You’ll probably never watch Conclave again without thinking about it taking place on Naboo. Although now I want Ralph Fiennes as a High Republic era member of the Jedi council for 10 episodes on Disney+. I know exactly where they could film it.

While we've seen Mark Hamill pop up a few times as Luke in Star Wars shows available with a Disney+ subscription, it appears his time in the movies may be coming to an end. Comicbook.com caught up with the actor during his press tour for The Life Of Chuck, and asked him if he'd return as a Force Ghost in Daisy Ridley's return to the franchise. Surprisingly, the actor said he had no clue about the project:

Now we play the game of whether or not Mark Hamill is being genuine, or he's doing the classic thing he's built a career on, and "acting." Was he oblivious to the fact Daisy Ridley was returning to Star Wars, or is he playing coy because he can't say anything of substance about his involvement?

One thing that I would find hard to believe is that if Disney is bringing Rey back to the big screen, Mark Hamill would not be approached to reprise his role in the same way Alec Guinness served as the Force Ghost Obi-Wan for Luke.

Even if Mark Hamill said no to returning, and there's a chance he might have, considering his comments a couple of years back about going back to movies, but I can't imagine no one reached out to him with an offer. Star Wars fans love Luke Skywalker, and I would imagine it's expected that he'll be part of the fun. Perhaps we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that he's not involved?

I think that it's hard to say. While it may be strange that Mark Hamill allegedly hasn't heard about this movie, it's worth noting that we still have a long way to go before the Rey movie is actually in theaters. The movie isn't on the 2026 slate and has not begun filming as of yet. I think it's fair to say there'd be no reason to bring Hamill into the mix at this point, especially if his role is as minor as a Force Ghost in the picture.

We will see for sure whenever filming for the Rey movie actually gets rolling. Before that, now would be a great time to watch every Star Wars movie in order, as we prepare for the grand return to theaters with The Mandalorian and Grogu, which is out in 2026.

The Mandalorian Season 3 episode “The Pirate,” which you can revisit with a Disney+ subscription, saw Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze and the late Carl Weathers’ Greef Karga finally meeting. Bo-Katan, Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin and the other Mandalorians from the Children of the Watch faction came to Karga’s aid and protected the people of Nevarro from invading pirates. In real life, as this episode of the Star Wars series was being shot, it turns out there was a moment when Weathers called Sackhoff “boring” to her face, though the actress explained why this ended up being a good thing in the long run.

Katee Sackhoff shared this memory while she was speaking with Brendan Wayne, one of the on-set doubles for Din Djarin on The Mandalorian, on The Sackhoff Show. But before you get concerned about Carl Weathers’ comment coming from a mean-spirited place, the Rocky actor only used the descriptor because he wanted Sackhoff to do more with her performance. As she recalled:

The actress who originally voiced Bo-Katan in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels added that Weathers, who’d been playing Greef Karga since The Mandalorian began in 2019, was referring “movement and the way that your voice moves.” By no means was he calling her boring for her personality, he just wanted her to go the extra mile while performing on set. Katee Sackhoff admitted that at the time, she was operating from the mindset of if there were any problems with her vocals during shooting, it could just be fixed later on during post-production when she came in for ADR.

But Weathers was insistent to Sackhoff that she give him wha he was “going to see in the booth” so that could inform his own performance. She acquiesced to his request, and it ended up improving their professional relationship. As Sackhoff put it:

Sadly, with Carl Weathers passing away on February 2, 2024 at the age of 76, we won’t get to see Greef Karga and Bo-Katan Kryze interact again. Still, for the short time they worked together, I’m glad Katee Sackhoff and Weathers stayed on good terms, with her calling him “behemoth of a man.” I also give props to The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau for assuring Sackhoff that she is by no means boring. We wouldn’t want that weighing on her mind.

Although it’s unclear if Bo-Katan Kryze will be back in The Mandalorian & Grogu next year, Katee Sackhoff assured ScreenRant last month that we “will see her again in some form.” While we wait for a specific update about that, there are plenty of other upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows to be excited about.

With the help of Star Wars, House of Gucci and BlacKkKlansman, Adam Driver’s movies have grossed over $2 billion. Fans may be lining up to see the American actor, but it doesn’t mean Driver is doing the same. The Girls actor explained on The Howard Stern Show why he can’t watch his own movies, and his reasoning makes sense:

I feel like I would be my own critic as well, constantly seeing all of the flaws in my performance that I wish I could change. But like Adam Driver said, what’s in the final product is out there with no way to call for a do-over. Maybe that’s why a lot of great actors become great directors of their own movies; to have that control of doing multiple takes of their own performance.

The Hollywood leading man wouldn’t be the only actor to stay away from their own films. Keira Knightley only watches her movies once for the same reason as Adam Driver, in that she only sees the bad in her performance and doesn't like to hear the sound of her voice. Denzel Washington also doesn’t rewatch his old movies, feeling he’d rather look forward than back. Driver got real about what movies made him break his vow not to watch himself and see if you can guess which movie:

The Star Wars movies truly were a standout time for Adam Driver. His performance as Kylo Ren was so haunting with uncertainty and longing in his eyes. Compared to the “angry bad guy” stereotype we see in a lot of villains, Driver was able to show that Kylo Ren was a confused and misdirected guy trying to live up to the impossible legacy of Darth Vader. Even with each drastic choice the Sequel Trilogy’s antagonist makes, you can’t help but feel sorry for him.

Even though Adam Driver was dead set on staying away from seeing his movies, Star Wars: The Force Awakens was clearly the exception. The talented actor said the heartwarming reason he gave the movie a chance was due to seeing it with Carrie Fisher and Daisy Ridley. However, it doesn’t mean he still wasn’t his own critic. Since Driver’s vow is broken, does that mean he’ll continue watching his movies? Here’s his honest answer to Howard Stern on why he won’t:

That’s understandable, not to continue watching your own movies due to knowing you have no control over the outcome. Previously, Adam Driver said he’s changed the way he watches his own movies by defending his acting choices compared of criticizing them. I feel like that would be the only way to view your movies in trusting that a director knows what works well for their film.

It may have been painful for Adam Driver to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens after vowing not to watch his own works, but at least it’s nice he had Carrie Fisher and Daisy Ridley there to take in the awkward experience. Even if Driver continues to stay away from his films, the legacy he left behind as Kylo Ren will continue to resonate with fans.

McCann, who played The Hound in the popular HBO series (which can be streamed with a Max subscription), opened up about succeeding Stevenson in the upcoming Star Wars TV show while speaking with ComicBook about his 2025 movie release Tornado, saying:

Baylan Skoll was last seen on the planet Peridea, stranded there just like Ahsoka Tano, Sabine Wren and his now-former apprentice Shin Hati. Unlike those three though, this is exactly where Baylan wanted to be, as he was determined to find a source of great power on this world that he believed would finally end the conflict between the light and dark sides of the Force. It seemed like he was making progress when he discovered statues of the three Mortis Gods, who were previously seen in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

I agree with Rory McCann that it was the better move to recast Baylan rather than just write him out Ahsoka. Honestly, with all the groundwork that was laid for the character in Season 1, it feels like it would have taken more effort to come up with a plausible, in-universe explanation for why his storyline was being abandoned. Ray Stevenson did a good job playing Baylan in Season 1, but now it’s time to see how McCann will do playing him, and it sounds like he’s been enjoying the preparation process for Season 2.

Baylan Skoll isn’t the only major Star Wars character to be recast recently. We just saw Benjamin Bratt playing Bail Organa in the recently-concluded Andor Season 2, though in that case, this came about because of scheduling conflicts with Jimmy Smits, Bail’s original actor. And then, of course, most of the leading established characters on Ahsoka are played by different actors than the one who voiced them in Star Wars Rebels, including Rosario Dawson as the title protagonist, Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera Syndulla and Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger.

I’m looking forward to seeing how Rory McCann looks wielding the orange lightsaber and picking up on Baylan Skoll where Ray Stevenson left off. Ahsoka Season 2 doesn’t have a release date yet, but principal photography began in late April.

In that respect, let’s let our imaginations run wild and dream up the movie or TV crossovers that would be incredible to see. Now, I cannot promise that many (or all) of these ideas are legally or even humanly possible, but why should we let that get in the way of the fun?

Toy Story And Small Soldiers

The first, and still one of the best, Pixar movies, Toy Story, showed us the world from the point of view of sentient toys in 1995. Three years later, Small Soldiers offered the same perspective, but with more of an edge and a more realistic approach. Seeing Woody (Tom Hanks) and other innocent children's playthings crossing paths with Major Chip Hazard (Tommy Lee Jones) and his AI-powered, militaristic action figures sounds like one wonderfully warped animated flick, if you ask me.

The Office And Parks And Recreation

As recalled by MovieWeb, co-creators Michael Schur and Greg Daniels initially conceived Parks and Recreation as a spin-off of The Office before it turned into its own separate and equally beloved TV sitcom. Still, there is no reason why Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and his former Dunder-Mifflin co-workers could not somehow cross paths with Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and other Pawnee residents in a mockumentary-style special.

Drive And Fast And Furious

A famous example of misleading movie marketing is 2011's slow-burn, Neo-noir thriller Drive, which one woman assumed would be more of a high-octane action thriller like the Fast and Furious movies, inspiring her to file a lawsuit, according to The Guardian. Honestly, I see this as a reason to give the people what they want and release a movie that sees Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his crew facing off against Ryan Gosling's Driver.

Succession And Yellowstone

Having both premiered in 2018, Jesse Armstrong's Succession and Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone would become subjects of comparison, with some even calling the Paramount Network hit "Succession with cowboy hats." I think seeing the wealthy and vindictive Roys indulging in a rivalry with the also wealthy and vindictive Duttons would make for one epic feature-length special or miniseries.

21 Jump Street And Men In Black

Among the hypothetical crossovers presented here, not all are too much of a stretch from the realm of possibility. In fact, there were actual plans for a film called MIB23, which would have brought Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) from the 21 Jump Street movie into the world of the Men in Black franchise. Unfortunately, plans were scrapped in 2019, but I still have hope this insane sci-fi/comedy mash-up could work.

Poker Face And The Thing

Imagine if human lie detector Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne) from the Peacock original TV show Poker Face was trapped in one place with a group of people who may or may not be shapeshifting extraterrestrial organisms in disguise, like the 1982 horror movie classic, The Thing. She would be the only one who could suss out the imitators, but the rest of the group might be too paranoid to confidently trust her judgment. I think Rian Johnson should give John Carpenter a call.

Star Wars And Marvel Cinematic Universe

As a fan of both the Star Wars movies and of Guardians of the Galaxy, I love the idea of seeing the cosmic warriors from the Marvel Cinematic Universe visit George Lucas' galaxy far, far away. Considering both Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm are owned by Disney, this intergalactic epic is entirely possible, as long as the timeline is respected, of course.

RoboCop And Terminator

Omni Consumer Products' half-man, half-machine crime-fighting tool has crossed paths with Skynet's mechanical killer before, but only on the pages of a Dark Horse comic book series from Frank Miller. Why Hollywood has not yet tried its hand at a movie that pits the hero from RoboCop against any of the antagonistic cyborgs from the Terminator franchise is beyond me.

James Bond And Jason Bourne

The Matt Damon-led Jason Bourne movies are often cited as the inspiration for the James Bond franchise's grittier tone, especially after Daniel Craig took over as 007. If there could be a way to get the American amnesiac assassin and the suave MI6 agent together in a room (which would likely be destroyed by the end), that could make for one of the best spy movies ever.

Sherlock And Doctor Who

Two of the BBC's most popular series, Sherlock and Doctor Who, both involve a highly intelligent, fashionable, and sometimes arrogant protagonist who is accompanied by a reliable companion. For that and many other reasons, I think it would be amazing to see them come together in a special or miniseries in which Holmes, hitting a wall with a case that defies logic, finds unexpected help from The Doctor.

DC Universe And Marvel Cinematic Universe

The two biggest comic book publishing companies in the world have not always been rivals and have indulged in creating stories that see DC heroes and Marvel heroes fighting side by side. Considering his strong ties to the MCU, it can't be out of the question for DC Studios head James Gunn to at least call a meeting with Kevin Feige to discuss bringing this kind of crossover to the big screen, which might end up being the greatest superhero movie ever made.

John Wick And Kill Bill

While largely differing in tone, the John Wick movies and Quentin Tarantino's two-part Kill Bill saga are pretty similar in concept, following two retired, legendary assassins waging a vengeful war on those who wronged them. Who is to say that Keanu Reeves' gun-fu master and Uma Thurman's The Bride never crossed paths in their deadly heyday?

The Evil Dead And The Exorcist

Two of the most popular franchises of demonic possession movies, The Exorcist and The Evil Dead, could not be more different from one another, which is exactly why I want to see them converge. In my pitch, grown-up Regan MacNeill's (Linda Blair) expertise in devilish activity is enlisted to help with a new case, but when it spirals out of control, the only one who can help is chainsaw-headed Deadite hunter, Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell).

Inception And A Nightmare On Elm Street

When you think about it, Leonardo DiCaprio's Dom Cobb from Christopher Nolan's Inception essentially has the same job as Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street. Just imagine how much more challenging his team's adventures through the subconscious would be with Robert Englund's sadistic, badly burned boogeyman invading the same dream.

Alien, Predator, And Jurassic Park

You know what I think the Alien vs. Predator movies were missing? Dinosaurs. Putting these two fearsome extraterrestrials in yet another battle, but while trapped on one of the prehistoric animal-infested islands from the Jurassic Park films, could result in one of the most exciting entries from any of these franchises. You would not even need human characters to make it work because seeing both the Predator and the Xenomorph knocked down a peg by the T-Rex as a common enemy would be more than enough.

Ghostbusters And Casper

We already know that Casper and the Ghostbusters exist in the same universe, thanks to Dan Aykroyd's cameo as Ray Stantz in the Friendly Ghost's 1995 live-action feature adaptation of the animated series. I am sure Casper would happily help the paranormal exterminators take on a few evil spirits, even after an awkward misunderstanding were to happen when they first meet.

Mad Max And Dredd

The great thing about post-apocalyptic movies is that each has a different, intriguing interpretation of what a dystopian society would look like. However, what if the Wasteland from George Miller's Mad Max movies existed just across the (dried up) pond from Mega City One in Dredd? The gritty, visually stunning possibilities are endless.

Blade And Twilight

Allow me to make one thing clear: I am not suggesting that Marvel Comics' vampire hunter, originally played on the big screen by Wesley Snipes, should show up in the Twilight movies just to see Robert Pattinson's Edward, Kristen Stewart's Bella, and other bloodsuckers get slaughtered. I actually think Blade's presence could give the persistent haters of the films based on Stephanie Meyer's YA novel series a reason to treat the franchise with a little more respect.

Indiana Jones And Marvel Cinematic Universe

Since Disney owns both Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, I wonder if anyone there has ever tinkered with the idea of putting a character like Indiana Jones in the MCU. I mean, he and Steve "Captain America" Rogers would have been alive around the same time and, as staunch anti-fascists, probably would have gotten along great. I doubt Harrison Ford's casting as Thunderbolt Ross in Captain America: Brave New World would cause much confusion, either.

Monk And Psych

The USA Network used to run promos bringing characters from their respective series together, including one in which Tony Shalhoub's eponymous detective from Monk suspects that Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) is not a real psychic. It makes me wish that we could have seen an official crossover episode that would have seen plenty of funny bickering between the carefree Shawn and someone as neurotic as Adrian Monk, who at least might have gotten along with Gus (Dulé Hill).

Power Rangers And Godzilla

By combining their respective, animal-shaped vehicles into one large Megazord, the Power Rangers have managed to face off against bizarre creatures of all sizes, which means they could realistically take on Godzilla. However, if I were to pitch this crossover, the rangers would eventually have to join forces with the King of the Monsters after an even larger creature emerges to wreak havoc on Angel Grove.

Bill & Ted And Wayne's World

Perhaps we never saw Bill S. Preston Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves) take Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) on a trip through time because we are not worthy of such an excellent idea. Then again, if Myers and Carvey can still get together for Wayne's World reunions on SNL and Reeves and Winter could come back for 2020's Bill & Ted Face the Music, who says it doesn't have potential?

Dirty Harry And Death Wish

I think the greatest Dirty Harry movie we never saw would have put Clint Eastwood's Lt. Callahan on the case of a murderer targeting the most vicious gangs in San Francisco, which would turn out to be Charles Bronson's Paul Kersey from Death Wish. Inevitably, I think Harry would be lured into an alliance with the vengeful vigilante, coming to believe that his more permanent methods of justice align with his own.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer And Sabrina The Teenage Witch

It's a shame that there was never any attempt to make an official crossover between Buffy the Vampire Slayer with Sarah Michelle Gellar and the Melissa Joan Hart-led Sabrina the Teenage Witch while they were still on the air. The coming-of-age supernatural series may have differed dramatically in tone, but that is just what would have made the collaboration such a blast.

Harry Potter And The Dresden Files

If fans of the Harry Potter movies have ever been interested in trying out something a bit darker and grittier, there is another literary modern-day wizard with the same first name: Harry Dresden, played by Paul Blackthorne on the SyFy series, The Dresden Files. I think it would be fun to see J.K. Rowling's The Boy Who Lived helping author Jim Butcher's Chicago-based P.I. solve a grisly mystery in which magic is involved.

The Munsters And The Addams Family

They may have been on different networks and produced by opposing studios, but how in the world has there never been an attempt to introduce the Munsters to the Addams Family? I would even be open to getting the actors from Rob Zombie's reboot movie to star alongside the cast of Netflix's Wednesday if it meant getting just a glimpse at these creepy, kooky families finally coming together.

It And Terrifier

There are no two villains in the subgenre of creepy clown movies more iconic than Pennywise from It and Art the Clown from Terrifier. I can't imagine a horror fan being against the idea of bringing Bill Skarsgård's shapeshifting fear demon from Andy Muschietti's blockbuster adaptation of Stephen King's novel and David Howard Thornton from Damien Leone's shocking indie slashers together for one brutal showdown that would have blood and white face paint smeared across the screen.

Hocus Pocus And Trick 'R Treat

In Disney's cult favorite, family-friendly witch movie, 1993's Hocus Pocus, our young protagonists go through a lot of trouble to defeat the Sanderson Sisters (played by Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker). I cannot help but wonder how easily those sinister spellcasters could have been taken care of by the mischievous Sam from the 2007 anthology horror movie favorite, Trick 'r Treat.

Hoarders And Storage Wars

You know those people on the show Hoarders who compulsively keep hold of any item they possess, no matter how unnecessary or even unhealthy it may be? I have a potential idea to help them: put them on another A&E reality show called Storage Wars and tell them that they must outbid other experienced collectors if they want to maintain ownership of their junk.

Johnny English And The Pink Panther

While it barely held a candle to Peter Sellers, I cannot deny that I enjoyed Steve Martin's portrayal of Inspector Jacques Clouseau in his Pink Panther reboot. I even more enjoyed Rowan Atkinson as a bumbling Bond-wannabe in the Johnny English movies. I imagine that having the clueless French detective and accident-prone British spy cross paths on a case would result in some real comedic dynamite (especially if real dynamite is involved).

Sister Act And The Nun

After watching Whoopi Goldberg's Academy Award-winning performance in Ghost, I am convinced that a sequel to Sister Act in which Deloris Wilson-Van Cartier must contend with the habit-wearing demon Valak (Bonnie Aarons) from the Conjuring movies would be a riot.

Big Brother And Survivor

Big Brother and Survivor are both competitive reality shows that make social interaction a key element to winning, with the biggest difference being the setting. If I ran CBS, I would send the most famous all-stars from Big Brother to a remote island, bring Survivor champs to the Big Brother house, and see what happens.

While Andor concluded with Diego Luna’s title protagonist walking off to his death due to the events that will unfold in Rogue One, someone very close to him got a pretty uplifting ending. After “Welcome to the Rebellion” ended with Bix Caleen departing Yavin IV so that Cassian would not have to choose between her or fighting for the Rebellion, the final moments of "Jedha, Kyber, Erso" showed her one year later on the planet Mina-Rau holding a baby. Though not outright stated, the obvious implication is that this is her child with Cassian, and Adria Arjona just confirmed a key detail about this moment that has me looking at the Star Wars show’s final episode so differently.

In an interview with Collider, Arjona confirmed that Bix did indeed know she was pregnant when she left Cassian behind, and this information comes straight to her from Andor creator Tony Gilroy. As she explained:

In her “letter,” i.e. a hologram message, Bix implored him not to choose her over the Rebellion, as she knew just how crucial he was to their efforts to overthrow the Empire. Not only had she seen that firsthand, she learned from a Force healer on Yavin IV in the episode “Messenger” that he would become integral to the Rebellion’s success. We the audience know that this will happen in Rogue One when he’s on the team that steals the plans to the first Death Star. This, in turn, paves the way for what happens in Star Wars’ Original Trilogy, which can be streamed with a Disney+ subscription alongside all the franchise’s other movies and TV shows.

Now Bix Caleen’s departure can also be viewed within the lens of wanting to shield her child from the struggle and conflict that comes from being in the Rebellion. So yes, there’s self-sacrifice by her leaving Cassian Andor, but she also is looking out for the child’s well-being. As Adria Arjona put it:

Bix said at the end of her hologram message that she would find Cassian after the Empire was defeated, but sadly, that will never happen. As seen in Rogue One, Cassian died in Jyn Erso’s embrace when the Death Star destroyed the Imperial facility on Scarif where the space station’s plans had been kept. I can’t imagine how devastated Bix will be when she learns that her former lover is dead, and that their child will never get to meet their father.

Still, maybe there will be an opportunity for Cassian and Bix’s child to be brought back as an adult in the Star Wars timeline. For now, you’re welcome to go back to Disney+ and watch the entirety of Andor and look forward to the release of The Mandalorian & Grogu in theaters on May 22, 2026.

Anthony Daniels - C-3PO (Star Wars)

I can understand why some fans of the Star Wars movies do not care much for C-3PO as a character, as I, too, feel annoyed by his constant complaints, especially in the 1977 original. However, his shortcomings are outweighed by the droid's heroic moments, and, not to mention, Anthony Daniels' commitment to the role (he even wears that visibly uncomfortable suit) is a highlight of the franchise.

Alicia Vikander - Ava (Ex Machina)

I consider Alex Garland's 2014 directorial debut, the classic A24 movie, Ex Machina, to be one of the most powerful cautionary statements on artificial intelligence, and the reason lies in Alicia Vikander's performance as Ava. The stunningly humanesque android convinces both programmer Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) and the audience that she is worth trusting before pulling the rug from underneath us in the shocking finale.

Rutger Hauer - Roy Batty (Blade Runner)

Fans of director Ridley Scott's Philip K. Dick adaptation, Blade Runner, would agree that the real hero of the 1982 film is not Harrison Ford's Rick Deckard, but Roy Batty. Rutger Hauer brings a refreshing aura of humanity to his performance as the Replicant, who wants nothing more for himself and other artificial beings like him but a chance to live a full and free life, which his programming and the laws of his dystopian society do not allow.

Brigitte Helm - Maschinenmensch (Metropolis)

One of the most essential silent era movies is director Fritz Lang's 1927 adaptation of Thea von Harbou's 1925 novel, Metropolis, which takes place in a seemingly utopian society that secretly relies on a secret underground of tireless workers to function. Brigitte Helm stars in the dual roles of a saintly figure named Maria and a mechanical being made in her likeness called Maschinenmensch – an iconic robot character that even those who have not seen the film should surely recognize.

Ian Holm - Ash (Alien)

In some movies, the goal of a robotic character is to blend in among its human peers, which Ash (Ian Holm) accomplishes for most of Alien. When his true identity is revealed, Holm brings out a chilling demeanor in his android character that almost makes you forget that there is a deadlier threat onboard the Nostromo, and one of the all-time scariest movie aliens, called a Xenomorph.

Vin Diesel - The Iron Giant (The Iron Giant)

Funny how most of Vin Diesel's more acclaimed performances have been voice acting roles, such as when he voiced the title role of 1999's The Iron Giant. The actor brings such a charming, childlike innocence to an otherwise physically intimidating character, who befriends young sci-fi fan Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marienthal) in Brad Bird's directorial debut, which could have won the Best Animated Feature Oscar had the category existed then.

Peter Weller - Alex Murphy (RoboCop)

There are some iconic movie robot characters who started off as humans before being rebuilt into something more, such as Alex Murphy in 1987's RoboCop. Peter Weller gives, arguably, his definitive and most heartfelt performance in director Paul Verhoeven's action-packed, cleverly satirical sci-fi classic as the brutally murdered police officer who is selected by a powerful corporation to become the ultimate crime-fighting machine.

Brent Spiner - Data (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

Arguably, the heart and soul of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast and an essential reason why the Emmy-winning series is one of the most beloved iterations of the long-running franchise is Brent Spiner's performance as Data. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) sums up what makes the Soong-type android one-of-a-kind when he eulogizes him in Star Trek: Nemesis, referencing how he reflected the best of humanity by striving to be better than he was.

Peter Cullen - Optimus Prime (Transformers)

Some might say that Chris Hemsworth did an exceptional job voicing a young Optimus Prime in Transformers One, but the role will always belong to the actor who first brought the shapeshifting alien robot to life. Peter Cullen's portrayal of the Autobots' leader became so essential to the original beloved animated series that he readily accepted the chance to reprise the role in Michael Bay's 2007 live-action reboot.

Arnold Schwarzenegger - T-800 (The Terminator)

Playing an unstoppable, unfeeling killing machine from the future in 1984's The Terminator made Arnold Schwarzenegger a bona fide movie star. However, his arguably stronger performance in James Cameron's action-packed franchise of time travel movies comes from 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day as a T-800 reprogrammed to protect John Connor (Edward Furlong), to whom he becomes a much-needed father figure.

Haley Joel Osment - David (A.I.: Artificial Intelligence)

Steven Spielberg took over for Stanley Kubrick to direct A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, which is essentially a futuristic take on the story of Pinocchio. Haley Joel Osment gives one of the most profound and riveting performances of his early career as an android designed to both authentically resemble and act like an 11-year-old who, in order to please his new family, longs to become a real boy.

Sophie Thatcher - Iris (Companion)

SPOILER ALERT for anyone who has not seen one of the great horror movies of 2025, Companion: it is not until near the end of the first act when Iris (Sophie Thatcher), as well as the audience, discovers she is really a robot programmed with undying affection for her purchaser, in this case Josh (Jack Quaid). However, Josh turns out to be a really terrible "boyfriend," awakening a part of Iris that longs for independence, which Thatcher's commanding performance makes it easy to root for.

Kenny Baker - R2-D2 (Star Wars)

Have you ever considered the fact that Star Wars fans owe the entire franchise to none other than R2-D2? If the droid (played beautifully by the late Kenny Baker, who actually operated the character from within) had not successfully delivered Princess Leia's message to Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Resistance might not have thrived in its war against the Empire.

Lupita Nyong’o - Roz (The Wild Robot)

The Wild Robot became an instant classic kids movie for the way it also appeals to adult viewers with a heartwarming commentary on the challenges of parenthood, as seen through the eyes of an unlikely character. Lupita Nyong'o is wonderful as the voice of a mechanical assistant that must alter her programming to take on the responsibility of raising an abandoned gosling and helping her other animal friends survive.

Ben Burtt - WALL-E (WALL-E)

You could easily cite Ben Burtt's enchanting vocal performance as a lonely robot tasked with cleaning up an abandoned Earth as to why WALL-E is one of the best Pixar movies, but that is the tip of the iceberg. The Oscar-winning animated sci-fi drama also offers a frighteningly plausible premonition of what humanity could become, not only if we are forced to leave our planet, but also if indolence is encouraged in favor of a fully automated lifestyle.

Paul Bettany - Vision (Avengers: Age of Ultron)

After years of lending his voice to Tony Stark's A.I. assistant Jarvis for years in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Paul Bettany was given the chance to play an artificial being with a bit more personality named Vision, who debuted in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron. The English actor's performance as the unique superhero only became stronger with each subsequent appearance, especially at the moment of his death(s) in Avengers: Infinity War and his mysterious resurrection in the Disney+ series, WandaVision.

Alan Tudyk - K-2SO (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)

Robots always seem to steal the show in the Star Wars franchise, especially if they have an exceptionally talented actor at the helm. Case in point, one of "Geek God" Alan Tudyk's best roles is the voice of K-2SO, an Imperial droid reprogrammed with an assignment to help the Resistance (and with an extra dose of snark) in the 2016 prequel film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

Lance Henriksen - Bishop (Aliens)

One of the few trustworthy androids in the Alien movie franchise is Bishop, whom Ripley is understandably slow to warm to upon discovering he is not human in 1986's Aliens. Lance Henriksen would later appear in Alien 3 as the human who created Bishop, Michael Bishop of the Weyland-Yutani corporation.

Robert Patrick - T-1000 (Terminator 2: Judgment Day)

As a cyborg made of liquid metal, which makes it able to shapeshift, able to pass through small openings, and nearly impossible to kill, the T-1000 did not need a great performance to make it cool. Yet, Robert Patrick made the main antagonist of 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day a special kind of villain with his cold, fierce demeanor.

Joan Rivers - Dot Matrix (Spaceballs)

Just about every major character in the Star Wars universe is sent up with a parodic counterpart in Mel Brooks' hilarious spoof movie, 1997's Spaceballs. For instance, the mocking equivalent to C-3PO is Princess Vespa's droid, Dot Matrix, who is voiced by the incomparable Joan Rivers.

David Jonsson - Andy (Alien: Romulus)

Most critics and audiences would agree that the standout performance of Fede Alvarez's terrifying 2024 sequel, Alien: Romulus, is David Jonsson as Andy. The English actor stole the show with what technically counts as a dual role, initially introducing Andy as unassuming, innocent, and consistently loyal to Rain (Cailee Spaeny) until he is reprogrammed with a new directive that makes him a threat.

Bill Irwin - TARS (Interstellar)

One of the most entertaining characters in Christopher Nolan's acclaimed space movie, Interstellar, is not a human, but still highly relatable, especially for its spicy humor setting. Bill Irwin not only provided the voice for TARS, but also was involved with puppeteering the uniquely designed robot that accompanies Matthew McConaughey's Cooper and others on a mission to find a habitable replacement for Earth.

Ryan Gosling - K (Blade Runner 2049)

Ryan Gosling's penchant for stoicism serves him very well as the hero of Denis Villeneuve's 2017 Blade Runner sequel, Blade Runner 2049. He plays "K," a Replicant assigned to hunt other Replicants, who begins to question his job and his true identity after making a startling, conspiratorial discovery.

Scott Adsit - Baymax (Big Hero 6)

What makes Disney's Oscar-winning, animated 2014 comic book adaptation, Big Hero 6, an instant classic superhero movie is not just its spectacular action and heartwarming coming-of-age themes. The most charming element is Scott Adsit's hilarious performance as the voice of Hiro's (Ryan Potter) cuddly robot friend, Baymax.

Yul Brynner - The Gunslinger (Westworld)

Years after starring as a heroic gunslinger in the classic Western movie, The Magnificent Seven, Yul Brynner played a role that is the opposite in every way, from his sinister aura and mechanical infrastructure, in Westworld. Director Michael Crichton's 1973 sci-fi thriller later inspired an acclaimed HBO series of the same name.

Alan Rickman/Warwick Davis - Marvin (The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy)

Some might call 2005's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy an underrated adaptation of Douglas Adams' cult favorite sci-fi farce, especially for its portrayal of Marvin. Alan Rickman provides the voice, and Warwick Davis wears the suit of the android who is perpetually depressed for having no reason to apply his immense knowledge of the universe.

Alan Tudyk - Sonny (I, Robot)

Will Smith may receive top billing for 2004's futuristic detective story, I, Robot, but Sonny is its heart and soul. Alan Tudyk captures the "unique" machine's inner turmoil beautifully as he evolves from a confused murder suspect to a hero.

Paul Reubens - MAX (Flight Of The Navigator)

One of Paul Reubens' best roles outside of his time playing Pee-wee Herman comes from Disney's 1986 cult favorite sci-fi classic, Flight of the Navigator. The comedian voices MAX, which is the computer that powers an extraterrestrial vessel that young David Freeman (Joey Cramer) must help navigate.

Michael Fassbender - David (Prometheus)

It is never clear whether or not Michael Fassbender's David is an android worth trusting... at least in 2012's Prometheus. He is clearly revealed to be a malevolent presence in 2017's Alien: Covenant, in which the actor also plays a friendlier robot named Walter.

Summer Glau - Cameron (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles)

The underrated TV series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, reinvents and continues the adventures of the titular hero (Lena Headey) and her son, John (Thomas Dekker). It also partners the mother-son duo with Summer Glau as Cameron, who is a cyborg unlike any previously seen in the franchise, equipped with an emotional core and the ability to feel sensations.

Robin Williams - Andrew (Bicentennial Man)

Robin Williams gives a heartfelt performance in director Chris Columbus' Bicentennial Man as a service android named Andrew, who longs to become human.

Various - Tom Servo And Crow T. Robot (Mystery Science Theater 3000)

The art of audibly poking fun at a cheesy movie is perfected in the long-running sci-fi comedy series, Mystery Science Theater 3000, which follows a human forced to watched low-grade flicks with his mechanical companions. Much like the rotating selection of human hosts, the actors known for playing the two main robot characters, Tom Servo and Crow, have changed over the years (such as Kevin Murphy and Baron Vaughn as Servo and Trace Beaulieu and Hampton Young as Crow, for instance), but the portrayers' hilarious improv skills have never faltered with each succession.

Reynolds, who’s tied to Disney these days by playing Deadpool in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, shared his rationale on The Box Office Podcast for why an R-rated Star Wars movie would be a worthy addition to the franchise, and it’s a pretty on-point stance. As he told host Scott Mendelson:

The man who’s been playing Wade Wilson since the Deadpool film series was housed at 20th Century Fox (which has also since been absorbed into Disney) makes a good point about this. For one thing, he’s had a front row seat to seeing a largely family-friendly franchise experience great success by wading into R-rated territory, as Deadpool & Wolverine made over $1.3 billion worldwide last year. Unlike the third Deadpool movie though, Reynolds made it clear that such a Star Wars movie wouldn’t be rated R for vulgarity, but rather to deliver more mature storytelling.

The closest Star Wars has come to this so far is Andor, which concluded its two-season run on the 2025 TV schedule earlier this month. But why stop there? As mentioned earlier, Ryan Reynolds wouldn’t want to star in an R-rated Star Wars movie, but he would like to be involved in its creative process, saying:

I’m definitely not one of those people who thinks the Star Wars franchise should start catering chiefly to adults. This is still a mythology that’s primarily focused on entertaining younger fans, with shows like The Mandalorian and Skeleton Crew definitely having a more all-ages feel. That said, I agree with Ryan Reynolds that Disney should take a risk with Star Wars and see how an R-rated movie would do. Disney+ had great success with Andor, which just barely avoided getting into truly R-rated material, so why not see what happens if we fully delve into that realm on the big screen? There’s no reason we can’t have the best of both worlds.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed that there comes a day when Disney and Lucasfilm feel comfortable enough doing this, with or without Ryan Reynolds’ involvement. Until then, The Mandalorian & Grogu is set for release in theaters on May 22, 2026, and the Ryan Gosling-led Star Wars: Starfighter will follow on May 28, 2027.

It’s a natural trend for stars to take props from sets as a memento of their hard work. Tom Holland has admitted to stealing big props from Spider-Man sets like Tony Stark’s glasses, and Keanu Reeves kept items from The Matrix and John Wick. As for when Natalie Portman was asked on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert if she’d ever “stolen” anything before, she looked a bit hesitant to answer. But when the question changed to whether she ever took anything from a movie set, she was quick to say a monogrammed lighter from Jackie and an unusual prop from Star Wars:

And here I thought Natalie Portman was going to say she stole one of Padme’s many hairpieces or accessories! That’s so strange to put a little Padawan braid in your pocket or purse. But then again, it’s hard to escape the set with a giant laser sword. So a little hair extension could be a good reminder of who her Star Wars husband used to be before joining the dark side. Now I’m curious if she ever wore it in secret.

Funnily enough, Natalie Portman said that George Lucas never knew that Anakin’s Padawan braid was in her possession. If the Star Wars creator were ever to wonder where that precious hairpiece went, the Oscar winner had an answer for Stephen Colbert:

So somewhere far, far away, there's a little clip-on braid floating around that was once on the head of Hayden Christensen. If the rumor ends up being true that Natalie Portman could return to Star Wars, the props team may have to take inventory of their Padawan braids.

George Lucas may not have known that Natalie Portman took a Padawan braid, but her co-star Hayden Christensen sure did. Don’t worry, there’s no hard feelings, as the Canadian actor previously shared a sweet story of knowing Portman kept his hair prop and playfully offered his forgiveness to her. Something tells me he used his Jedi mindtricks to find that one out. You can watch the Instagram video of Portman’s interview in full below:

While Natalie Portman hesitated to answer if she'd ever "stolen" anything, she was quick to talk about her hilarious previous experience stealing one of Anakin’s Star Wars braids. Well, that’s one way to remember her prominent time playing the Queen of Naboo. You can see Portman and Hayden Christensen’s clip-on braid in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones with your Disney+ subscription.

The Maverick star has been spending more time in front of the camera of late than she has in recent years. She tells Variety that she has little interest in “acting for the sake of acting” and that for her, the work has to really speak to her in some way for it to be worth doing. This is apparently what separates Foster from her younger counterparts, as she says many young actors seem to just want to act, and they don’t care how or where. She said…

It’s certainly true that Jodie Foster had done more by the age of 18 than many actors achieve in an entire career. She had over 40 film and TV appearances on her resume by that point. She had an iconic role in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver but also starred in some early Disney projects, including the original version of Freaky Friday and the kid-friendly mystery Candleshoe. (The latter of those two films was likely the reason Foster didn’t play Princess Leia in the original Star Wars.)

Foster certainly did take a different approach starting in 1980, which was the year she turned 18. Her roles became much more mature, and that resulted in a lot of acclaim and a pair of Best Actress Oscars. She notably played a rape survivor in The Accused and later took on her most famous role as Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs alongside Anthony Hopkins.

We can see some of Foster’s thought process at work in the roles she didn’t take. Despite her incredible success with The Silence of the Lambs, she didn’t return to her role for the sequel, Hannibal. Anthony Hopkins wishes he'd done the same.

To be clear, Foster doesn’t seem to indicate there’s anything wrong with acting for its own sake, and not caring so much about it. In many ways, that probably makes acting a lot easier. It’s just not the way Foster herself works, and the way she’s approached Hollywood has certainly worked for her.

During an interview with EW, Benjamin Bratt shared how he’d heard Andor creator Tony Gilroy used the word “eager” to describe his approach to joining the cast and his work. The actor agreed with this description, to the point that after making friends with “Al” (presumably Alistair Petrie, who reprised his Rogue One role of General Draven) and Genevieve O’Reilly, who plays Mon Mothma, he pitched having Bail Organa appear during the wedding sequence in “Harvest.” That sequence was going to be shot “at the end of the schedule,” and therein lied the problem, with Bratt saying:

There was a lot going during the reception that followed the wedding between Leida Mothma and Stekan Sculdun, from Mon’s drunken dance sequence to Luthen Rael deciding that Tay Kola needed to be killed. Still, given how close Mon and Bail Organa were, I agree with Benjamin Bratt it would have made sense for the latter to be present at this special occasion. Even with his duties as the senator of Alderaan keeping busy, surely he would’ve made time to show up, right?

Alas, there just wasn’t any financially feasible way to squeeze Bratt into Andor Season 2’s third episode, and I can also understand where Tony Gilroy was coming from. From needing to carve out time in Bratt’s schedule so he could shoot the sequence and adjusting his contract for the Star Wars show, needing to rewrite that portion of “Harvest” to accomodate Bail Organa, this just couldn’t be done. So either Bail really was too busy to appear at the wedding, or you can just imagine that he was present for it, we just never saw him onscreen.

It’s hard to say if we’ll see Bail Organa in any upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows. And if he does, will Benjamin Bratt continue to inhabit the role or will Jimmy Smits take it back? For now, those interested in continuing to follow along with Bail should check out the recently-released The Mask of Fear, the first book in the Star Wars: Reign of the Empire trilogy.

This take comes from X user @JacobYLow, who was responding to a post that share the top-rated episodes of Star Wars TV shows on IMDB. The Mandalorian’s “The Rescue,” i.e. the Season 2 finale, was tied with Andor’s “Who Are You?” with a 9.8 score, and the Andor episodes “Welcome to the Rebellion” and “One Way Out” followed with 9.7 and 9.5, respectively. Low described this ranking as “wild” and claimed that “almost all the problems with the Mandoverse can be traced” to “The Rescue,” saying:

Ok, I will agree that Luke Skywalker managing to find Moff Gideon’s ship was convoluted, even if it does just boil down to pinpointing Grogu’s location with the Force. However, it was established in “The Believer” that Din and Grogu had gone to Tython for the latter to find other Jedi on Ahsoka Tano’s suggestion. With Luke technically being the only Jedi around during this era (at least in title), it only made sense for him to show up, as he’d be the one training Grogu in his Jedi Academy.

Now, do I think it was annoying that The Book of Boba Fett almost immediately undid Grogu embarking on this Jedi path? Yes, I absolutely do, and it’s part of my larger issues with the miniseries turning into The Mandalorian Season 2.5. But going back strictly to The Mandalorian, I can’t fully get behind this next statement:

This is a bit of a stretch. Yes, The Mandalorian did have those ‘adventure of the week’ vibes in those first two seasons, and they felt stronger in Season 1. But Season 2 still had an overarching story before “The Return” aired. Din Djarin was traveling around the universe trying to find Grogu’s “people,” and that brought him into contact with characters like Boba Fett, Bo-Katan Kryze and Ahsoka Tano. Luke Skywalker’s arrival in the Season 2 finale only added yet another connective thread between this show and the wider Star Wars universe.

So while I don’t think that “The Return” is on the same level of quality as the aforementioned Andor episodes, I’m not going to agree that Luke Skywalker’s appearance was what caused The Mandalorian to dip in quality. I still enjoyed Season 3 for the most part, and I’m looking forward to The Mandalorian & Grogu hitting theaters on May 22, 2026.

Andor has finished its run on the 2025 TV schedule, with the Star Wars show’s final minutes leading directly into Rogue One, where Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor will die. But, of course, there were other characters to check in on before Andor wrapped up. In the case of Denise Gough’s Dedra Meero, she was last seen imprisoned inside a facility quite similar to the one where we met Andy Serkis’ Kino Loy in Season 1. Gough opened up about why she feels what happened to her character was “really satisfying,” and I was also here for the amusing spinoff idea for Dedra she pitched.

Why Denise Gough Approved Of Dedra Meero’s Andor Ending

The last shot of Dedra in Andor showed her crying in her prison cell. This was the second time we saw her shed tears on the show, the first being when she broke down over Syril Karn’s death. Dedra officially hit rock bottom, but Gough took some enjoyment out of seeing her character in this state, telling EW:

Dedra Meero’s downfall came from her overconfidence and obsession to capture Axis, a.k.a. Luthen Rael. First, the operation to apprehend him wasn’t sanctioned by her superiors, as she was no longer in charge of finding Axis. Then upon corner Luthen in his antiques shop, she failed to stop him from slashing his wrist in an attempt to prevent himself from being tortured into revealing Rebellion secrets. He ultimately succeeded, as Kleya later broke into the hospital where he was being kept and removed him from life support.

But as if all that wasn’t bad enough, before he died, Luthen Rael passed along the Death Star intel he’d learned from Kleya, and she was able to make it off Coruscant and share the intel with the Rebels on Yavin IV. Adding insult to injury, Luthen learned this information from Lonni Jung, Dedra Meero’s colleagues at the ISB who logged into her account. Luthen killed Lonni, leaving Orson Krennic to take out his anger on her. Denise Gough continued:

With Lonni dead, Dedra was left to take the fall for the Death Star information leaking. She’s imprisoned in the same kind of facility where she sent so many enemies of the Empire before her. And as Gough sees it, while it’s ok to feel some sympathy for Dedra’s new status quo, it’s not enough to ignore all the horrible things she did in her life.

How Denise Gough Hopes Dedra Meero Will Return

After watching the Andor series finale, I shared my hope that we see Dedra Meero again in the Star Wars universe too. Denise Gough would like that too, although her idea for how that could happen is a bit cheekier than what I had in mind. She said:

I’m not sold on seeing an 80-year-old Dedra being wheeled out, but it is funny to think about. However, as I previously said, it would be interesting to see her being freed from prison after the Empire’s collapse and aiding the New Republic as a way to further atone for her crimes. But with Gough envisioning Dedra having no remorse for her actions even as she’s crying in that prison, maybe my idea doesn’t hold much stock after all.

In any case, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Lucasfilm finds a way to bring Dedra back, even if it’s in a book. Meanwhile, Ahsoka Season 2 and the recently-announced Maul: Shadow Lord are the next two upcoming Star Wars TV shows on the docket.