The Episode VIII set gets a “Royal” visit, Marvel comics are going commando (sort of like Arnold,) and Oscar Isaac couldn’t be any more amazing for Star Wars Force for Change.
By Mike Audette // Filming on the yet-to-be-named Episode VIII set is underway at Pinewood studios and the cast and crew got quite the special set visit this past week. The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry stopped by.
I mean, who can pass up the opportunity to visit an active shooting location for a brand new Star Wars film?! The two got a tour of the Episode VIII set from Rian Johnson and Kathleen Kennedy, while meeting Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Mark Hamill, and of course taking the chance for Wookiee hugs. Prince Harry, an actual pilot himself from his military service, jumped into the cockpit of an A-wing fighter while chatting with Mark Hamill and William couldn’t resist the call of taking photos with Rey’s lightsaber. It must have been a pretty awesome experience for Daisy and John to meet the Royals on the Episode VIII set considering that all three of them are Brits themselves. That would be something like the equivalent to meeting the President over here in the States, I can only guess. Now I take it we will be seeing A-wings in Episode VIII?
In a cool interview this week on StarWars.com, Amy Ratcliffe talked to the writer of the Stair Wars main series at Marvel, Jason Aaron, about the newly announced story-line following the SunSpot prison arc. In the all new arc starting this July with Issue #21, it will feature the return of Sergeant Kreel, who was last seen as part of the Smuggler’s Moon arc, and he is the lead for this group of seven elite Stormtroopers who are the go-to for important missions with in the Imperial military structure. Aaron says that part of his inspiration for these Troopers came from the “Bad Batch” The Clone Wars story reels that we’re screened last year at Celebration Anaheim (yours truly was in attendance.) The interview here, has some really interesting concept artwork from Jorge Molina (who will be drawing the arc) of the Troopers as well as his interpretations of Luke, Leia, and Han for the series. I’m really looking forward to this arc for a nice change of pace compared to the previous story-lines in the main Star Wars series.
Last year in the lead up to The Force Awakens, Lucasfilm partnered with Unicef to start the Force for Change charity initiative. It was a really cool campaign that benefited a great cause all in the name of Star Wars. Among the numerous prizes last year, depending on how much you donated, you could have won a chance to appear in The Force Awakens! With the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story coming this December, Force for Change has begun their latest charity campaign. This week Oscar Isaac was joined by BB-8 to announce the next initiative with some pretty awesome rewards too!
Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Oscar Isaac and BB-8 reveal the prize for this week’s top fundraiser: a tour of Lucasfilm in San Francisco with a screening of any Star Wars movie in their private theater. Also, the first 4 people to donate at least $500 will get a Star Wars Prize Pack including: a BB-8 powered by Sphero signed by J.J. Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy, a Vader PS4, LEGO TFA game, Hasbro Black Series Kylo Helmet, and more!
Be sure to check out the Force for Change official website for more details and if you’d like to donate, join the Brews and Blasters team at bit.ly/oppodonates! And did I mention that I love Oscar Isaac? Cause man, everything he does makes me swoon.