The Force Awakens home video release, Han Solo comic mini-series, and Star Wars Battlefront expansions. WHOA!
By Mike Audette // Huge news this week! Lucasfilm finally gave confirmation on the home video release for The Force Awakens! On Thursday LFL announced during the Annual Disney Shareholders meeting that the film will be available on Disney Movies Anywhere on April 1st and the Blu-Ray Combo pack will be available in stores on April 5th. The film will be coming loaded with special features and exclusive content. The list of bonus features includes: “Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey,” “The Story Awakens: The Table Read,” “Building BB-8,” “Crafting Creatures,” “Blueprint of a Battle: The Snow Fight,” “John Williams: The Seventh Symphony,” “ILM: The Visual Magic of The Force,” “Force For Change,” and several deleted scenes! I am really looking forward to seeing what is involved in the John Williams piece as well as the story behind the famous table read.
Also coming special with the Blu-Ray release of the film are several retailer exclusive versions featuring extra bonus content and exclusive packaging. Target stores will be offering a version with exclusive packaging and an extra 20 minutes of behind the scenes content, including interviews with Daisy Ridley and John Boyega. Walmart’s release comes with special BB-8 packaging and an exclusive Topps Galactic Connexions trading disc. Best Buy will be offering a limited edition steelbook version of the standard packaging. Lastly, the Disney Store’s copy will come with an exclusive lithograph set while supplies last! I will absolutely be getting the Target version for the extra bonus content and trying for the poster set at the Disney Store if they’re not already sold out! Plenty of options to choose from for all fans out there.
It seems like it’s a weekly occurrence that new Star Wars comics news breaks. On Friday, Entertainment Weekly got the scoop on then next new mini-series from Marvel to follow Obi-Wan & Anakin. Han Solo is getting his own mini-series! Everyone’s favorite scruffy looking nerf-herder will be brought to life from writer Marjorie Liu and with artwork provided by Mark Brooks. The story will focus on a mission Han is tasked to complete from Leia while he has his own motivations to focus on. The comic is set in the time period between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back which has some people groaning. Most of the content we have been getting from Marvel has been during this time period but I see it as deliberate storytelling coming from Lucasfilm. Of the Original Trilogy the time between these two films is the longest which allows for such stories to occur and the company is being very practical in how they want to tell stories involved in other time periods. I don’t have a problem with this myself because it’s all still Star Wars to me and I love it just the same. There will be a time and place when we get more stories exploring from III to IV, V to VI, and VI to VIII.
I just love the Han Solo typography. Would it be professional to have my resume in that font? (Photo credit to EW)
In another weekly occurrence of news, Star Wars Battlefront revealed the long-awaited details of it’s Outer Rim expansion DLC! As I hypothesized last week, the two new playable hero characters are indeed, Greedo and Nien Numb. I’v very interested in seeing how these two get play compared to the heroes already in the game as I am partial to Darth Vader and Han Solo depending on my mood. Not only will there be the two new heroes but two new maps as well, Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine and the industrial smelting factories of Sullust. Included with the new Jabba’s Palace map is an all new game mode called Extraction. In Extraction a Rebel force has infiltrated the grounds to extract a vital shipment of supplies and must get them to their transport before the Empire’s Stormtrooper’s can stop them. This sounds like an awesome new mode that will involve team cohesion and plenty of fun experiences exploring Jabba’s throne room and the Sail Barge garage. Say that five times fast! Also coming in the update are new Weapons and Star Cards including the new Relby V-10 rifle and the DT-12 blaster pistol, for weaponry and Scatter Gun, Dioxis Grenade, and Adrenaline Stim for Star Cards.