Today is February 25th, 2016 and it’s another Collider Jedi Council hosted by Darth “Kristian” Harloff, The Smith Lord, Tiffany Smith, Mark 2-D-2 Mark Ellis and Obi-John-Kenobi, John Campea.


The Council first opened up with Benicio del Toro and what part he might be playing in Episode VIII. Now that everything is official, del Toro can talk all he wants (just not about his actual role that is). The Council was thrilled to learn that del Toro is a fan of the Star Wars universe but that he will be pushing that “fandom” aside to focus on his performance. The Council then speculated on who del Toro might be playing in the movie. Yup, everyone hopes he’s a Sith Lord because there hasn’t yet been a Sith Lord mentioned in the new trilogies of movies… For now.

Next up, it was revealed that Rooney Mara was in fact in the conversation to take on the lead role in Star Wars Rogue One. She went so far as to mention that she met with director Gareth Edwards and liked him a lot but, in the end, couldn’t make her schedule work to be in the movie. This opened up a conversation about Rooney Mara’s talent and every single person on the council agreed -- one day they hope to see Rooney Mara in a Star Wars movie.

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Image via Disney/Lucasfilm

Some set pics were recently leaked online from Episode VIII. The pictures taken in Croatia show… absolutely nothing. But they do show a town be fitted with facades that will obviously be used for the movie. Even though they don’t show much, the Council discussed how the photos look to be showing us new worlds that we have yet seen in the Star Wars Universe. This made everyone hopeful that, perhaps, we’d see even more Star Wars-type towns that would compare to Mos Eisley or even Bespin. We shall have to wait and see.

Rumors about Rogue One will no doubt be heating up in the next couple weeks-months-all the time because, Star Wars. And it happened to be Rogue One - the first Star Wars Story to hit theatres. Everyone now is wondering when we might expect to see the first trailer for the movie. Cinelinx seems to know as they are reporting that the Rogue One trailer will be coming soon and… will be very dark – perhaps one of the darkest looks at Star Wars to date. The council bases this on the fact that the first teaser for Rogue One featured sounds of Rebel soldiers in pain. It adds to the story and everything that the filmmakers have been saying about the movies – that it is a war film and the story will reflect this. The Council added that the darker story would keep in line with the premise behind Rogue One, especially if Darth Vader were to appear, as all the rumors and information suggest.


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Image via Lucasfilm

Next were some quick discussions about the many Tweets the filmmakers and actors behind Episode VIII have been sharing online. Images tweeted by Mark Hamill show his daughter’s dog sitting on the official Episode VIII set chairs with the logo for Space Bear, the working title for Star Wars Episode VIII. Rian Johnson also shared some of his tweets that led to a conversation about how lucky Johnson is to be able to be the first to direct an all-powerful Luke.

New locations have also been announced thanks to a casting call that has been released by Lucasfilm. What was revealed, adding more to their previous conversation, is that the production will be shooting in London, naturally, and in Iceland. Whether it will be a new world we will see in VIII or just another ice planet (or maybe they go back to Holt!); the Council is just plain excited to know that we will see new worlds in the next sequel.

Some of bigger news stories that broke today was the reveal that there will be an Episode VII blu-ray coming out on April 5th. And it looks like it will be a huge – three disc release. Many assume we’ll have two versions of the movie – one DVD and one Blu-Ray – but when you add in a bunch of special features to the set, everyone agrees that this might be a Star Wars lovers dream come true. Back when some visual FX supervisors were talking about their job in the movie, many discussed the deleted scenes that never made it in to the film. We know there is a couple of Han scenes that didn’t make it in, along with a snow chase in a speeder by Rey. But one scene in particular had everyone the most excited – the scene that was confirmed to be cut; that scene being Maz Kanata using the force against some First Order Stormtroopers that entered her castle.

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH CANON? 

Next up is our segment simply called What’s the Deal with Canon? This is everything that is going on in the world of Star Wars that is NOT involved with the movies.

The latest canon stuff involves the latest episode of Star Wars Rebels that aired last night. In all, everyone enjoyed the episode that saw Zeb and Kalus share a sort of Enemy Mine type relationship. All in all, the Council enjoyed the episode, especially the last five minutes that open up big possibilities for the future and what it might mean moving forward.


Next up, that Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary special that gave us looks at the history of Disneyland, the movies and of course, Star Wars Land! Harrison Ford came out for a special introduction to the land Disney is currently working on at their theme parks. With special concept art, some mock ups, and what it might look like inside the Millenium Falcon, the sneak peek was a bit too short for the Council’s liking as they all wished there was a bit more to it. But then again, it’s Star Wars Land. Everyone is just impatient and they want it NOW!

Lastly, news has been released that The Force Awakens will be getting a comic book adaptation. Most everyone brought up the novelization of the movie and this conversation ultimately led to a discussion on, what else, canon. Canon is so finicky these days with the Lucasfilm Story Group and because there were story beats in the novel that, supposedly, are also considered canon, the Council wondered (and hoped) that new action and information would be added to the TFA comics showing us a bit more of the backstory that we, the fans, still have questions about.

A SHORT TIME AGO, IN A TWEET FAR, FAR WAY…

Now we get to hear from you! The Council takes on all your Twittter questions you send in @ColliderVideo with the hashtag #ColliderJediCouncil.

This week the council discuss:

  • What non-canon characters should become canon?
  • Can force ghosts actually in battle with Sith?
  • Does being in the Marvel Cinematic Universe hurt your chances for being in a Star Wars movie?
  • Will there be more Solo kids in a future Star Wars movie?
  • Did Lucasfilm have everything planned ahead of time when it came to Rey and her relationship to her parents?

That will do it for this installment of Collider Jedi Council! Make sure you let all your Star Wars fans know about this show! To get your questions answered on the show, make sure you follow @ColliderVideo and hashtag #ColliderJediCouncil. We will see you next week!