The Cast of Episode IX

Episode IX Casting News!

Wow! Just…. Wow! Not only did Starwars.com let us know that Episode IX begins filming on August 1^st, they also published the entire cast list of 16 actors. Let’s dig in.

The Skywalker Siblings

Lucasfilm announces that both Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher will reprise their roles as Luke and Leia. This is quite shocking considering Fisher died shortly after filming “The Last Jedi”. Director J.J. Abrams explains that Fisher will not be recast or animated, but they will use unused “The Force Awakens” and presumably some movie magic to get Leia into Episode IX. As far as Mark Hamill goes, fans are assuming that Luke will return as a Force Ghost similar to how Alec Guinness reprised his Obi-Wan role in both “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”. This will be the sixth Star Wars film in which Hamill & Fisher will appear. Alternately, the character of Luke has appeared in seven Star Wars films and the character of Leia has appeared in eight.

Lando

Billy Dee Williams is set to reprise his role as Lando Calrissian 36 years after his last appearance in “Return of the Jedi”. Of course, Lando was most recently portrayed by Donald Glover in “Solo”. Lando’s presence in “Episode IX” is especially important since Harrison Ford’s Han Solo is out of the picture, Leia will most likely have a limited role, and Luke is now a ghost. This is Billy Dee Williams third Star Wars film and the fourth for his smooth talking character.

The New Guard

It is no surprise that Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, and Adam Driver return to their roles as Rey, Finn, Poe, and Kylo Ren. All four of these characters are the heart of the sequel trilogy and we have already seen much character development among the group. Rey is on her path to discover who she is and is coming to terms with being abandoned by her parents. Finn has now fully committed himself to the Resistance, despite the fact he originally wanted to abandon the galactic conflict completely. Poe is learning how to be a leader and Kylo Ren has assumed leadership over the First Order.

Supporting Characters

Billie Lourd with mother Carrie Fisher
and Grandmother Debbie Reynolds

Kelly Marie Tran returns to the role of Rose Tico, who was introduced in “The Last Jedi”. It is notable that Tran recently quit social media due to harassment from “fans” who did not enjoy her character. Domhnall Gleeson will reprise his role as General Hux for the third time and Lupita Nyong’o will reprise the CG character Maz Kanata for the third time. Billie Lourd (the daughter of Carrie Fisher) will honor be portraying Lieutenant Connix for the third time since “The Force Awakens”. According to J.J. Abrams, Billie Lourd filmed a scene with her mother that will be used in Episode IX.

Old Favorites

Anthony Daniels is set return to his role as C-3PO for the tenth time since 1977. This will also be Daniels’ eleventh Star Wars film, having appeared as a Kessel slave in “Solo”. Meanwhile Joonas Suotamo will portray Chewbacca for the fourth time since “The Force Awakens”. Chewbacca was previously portrayed by Peter Mayhew in the Original Trilogy, “Revenge of the Sith” and “The Force Awakens”. This will be the Wookie’s eighth apparence in the Star Wars franchise.

The New Cast

Joining the cast of Star Wars for the first time is Keri Russel who has appeared in many of J.J. Abrams projects including “Felicity” and “Mission Impossible III”. There are rumors abound that Keri Russel will be portraying the character of Mara Jade from the old Expanded Universe, but we won’t know for sure until much closer the film’s release. Richard E Grant is a veteran British actor who recently appeared in “Logan”, “Game of Thrones” and “Doctor Who”. Finally we have newcomer Naomi Ackie who also recently appeared in Doctor Who and not much else.

The Final Installment?

Lucasfilm’s press release continually refers to Episode IX as “the final installment of the Skywalker saga”. There are a lot of implications here. First of all, that Lucasfilm may not be planning to produce Episode X or that Episode X will be far in the future. This could also lend evidence that the Skywalker family tree will not continue.

This could mean that
1) Rey is not a Skywalker or a Solo

2) Kylo Ren will have no offspring

3) Luke Skywalker never had any secret children

Noticeably Absent

Gwendolyn Christie who portrayed Captain Phasma in “The Force Awakens” and “The Last Jedi” is not among the announced cast which probably means she will not return to the film. She is, however, a lead voice actress for the new “Star Wars Resistance” animated series, so I wouldn’t rule out Captain Phasma from Episode IX quite yet. Those who want to see Snoke return will be disappointed that Andy Serkis does not appear on this cast list, though I doubt Lucasfilm would give away that spoiler anyway. Benecio Del Toro is not on this list, which means we probably won’t see “DJ” in episode IX.

Greg Grunberg has heavily hinted that his minor character Snap Wexley may make a return in Episode IX and I would place my bets on Mike Quinn making an appearance as Nien Nunb.

There are 509 days until Star Wars Episode IX.

Disney Doubles Down on Prequel Era

Lucasfilm had some big announcements at San Diego Comic Con this weekend and a lot of the news was centered around the “Prequel Era” of Star Wars. When Disney first purchased Lucasfilm it seemed like they were “phasing out” the Prequel Era and focusing more on the Classic Trilogy and the Sequel Films. Some fans were disappointed when the long running “Clone Wars” television show was cancelled and replaced with “Rebels” which takes place in the years before “A New Hope”. The novels and comics published by Disney also seemed to largely ignore the prequel-era. Some fans were worried (and others hoped) that Disney would not focus on the canonicity of Lucas’ prequel films moving forward. It seems, however, that Disney will pivot completely as we move into 2019.

The CloneWars Season 7

Many fans were devastated when the popular “Clone Wars” series was given the axe in 2014. Though a Sixth Season aired on Netflix, many of the plot lines were left open-ended including the story of Ahsoka Tano. Now Disney tells us that they will produce a 12-episode Season 7 of “Clone Wars”, which will launch with their new Streaming Service sometime in 2019. In addition to this new Season of “Clone Wars” a live action series set in the years following the “Battle of Endor” is also in the works. This streaming service will hopefully make Star Wars TV shows available to a wider audience since many fans have not been exposed to  “Rebels”, “Clone Wars”, “The Freemaker Adventures” and some of the other animated Star Wars series.

Prequel Novels

Very few of the Disney Star Wars novels have focused on the prequel-era and now Disney seems to be looking to fill in this gap. The novel “Queen’s Shadow” by E.K. Johnston will focus on Padme Amidala, a character that we haven’t heard much from since “Revenge of the Sith”. The book will release on March of 2019 and explore Padme’s life in the 10 years between “The Phantom Menace” and “Attack of the Clones”. E.K. Johnston’s previous entries into Star Wars media include the 2016 novel “Ahsoka” and the short story “By Whatever Sun”, the latter of which was co-authored by Ashley Ekstein.

We also have news that Claudia Grey is penning a Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan book called “Master and Apprentice” that will hit stores next February. This novel will be the first Pre-Phantom Menace Novel under the new Disney-canon. Grey previously wrote three popular Star Wars novels: “Lost Stars”, “Bloodline”, and “Leia: Princess of Alderaan”.

Prequel Comics

A new comic series by Jody Houser, titled “Age of the Republic” is in the works. Jody Houser will be writing the first eight comics each of which will focus on one character of the Prequel Era. Maul will be the focus of issue #1 followed by Qui- Gon, Obi-Wan, Jango, Anakin, Dooku, Padme and Grievous. It has also been reported that this series will be followed by "Star Wars: Age of Rebellion" (written by Greg Pak), and "Star Wars: Age of Resistance" (written by Tom Taylor).

2019: The Year of the Prequel Era

Many fans noted that “Solo: A Star Wars Story” was the first Disney Star Wars film to heavily reference the prequel-era including nods to Aura Sing, the Pyke Syndicate and Darth Maul. Yet 2019 (the 20^th anniversary year of the Phantom Menace) will be the year that Disney really doubles-down and truly embraces the prequel-era. This could be refreshing for some fans or perhaps seen as a step backward by others. Still, it will be interesting to see what Disney can do with this controversial era of the Star Wars timeline.