What an exciting time it is to be a ‘Star Wars’ fan!
The second season of Andor just premiered today, April 23, with a three-episode drop. We also have the big screen debut of our favorite father-son duo in The Mandalorian and Grogu, set to hit theaters in May 2026. It’s still quite far off but the excitement at the prospect of seeing Mando and his adorable, snack-obsessed adoptive son is already palpable.
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Lucasfilm, however, has other tricks up its sleeve to keep us Star Wars geeks excited (and to keep the merch machine churning), and these were revealed at the 2025 Star Wars Celebration held in Tokyo over the weekend, from April 18 to 20. Star Wars Celebration is the largest fan convention for fans of the franchise. It is usually held every one to two years in different locations around the world, and features a host of Star Wars project announcements, panel discussions featuring actors, producers and writers, screenings, exhibits, cosplay and merchandise sales.
Here are some of the highlights of the 2025 Star Wars Celebration which saw over 105,000 devoted fans in attendance.
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Ryan Gosling stars in new ‘Star Wars’ film
Perhaps the biggest announcement was Ryan Gosling headlining a feature film, Star Wars: Starfighter. Gosling and director Shawn Levy sent fans cheering during the event, where Levy said that the movie will neither be a prequel nor a sequel but a new standalone adventure set several years after Episode IX and with new characters to look forward to. Filming will start next year, he also confirmed.
First footage of ‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’
Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver, who costar in The Mandalorian & Grogu, as well as the film’s writer and director Jon Favreau, showrunner Kathleen Kennedy, and co-writer Dave Filoni and the most adorable animatronic Grogu, served as the opening salvo of the event. For this panel, the first footage of The Mandalorian & Grogu, the Star Wars film spun off from Disney+’s hit The Mandalorian series, was revealed to wild cheers from the fans. Oh, on a side note: Pedro, you know I Iove you, but please fire your stylist ASAP.
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‘Andor’ drops on Disney+, ‘Ahsoka 2’ starts filming
As mentioned, Andor 2 has already premiered on Disney+, with the streaming giant dropping the first three episodes. The new season, which is also the last, launched to near-universal acclaim (like the first one), with several critics hailing Andor S2 as the best to come out of the Star Wars universe.
Diego Luna, who stars as the titular Cassian Andor, made an appearance at the Star Wars Celebration Tokyo, together with Andor creator Tony Gilroy and co-stars Kyle Soller, Adria Arjona, Genevieve O’Reilly, Alan Tudyk, and Denise Gough.
Over at the Ahsoka panel, it was revealed that the second season of the series has already started filming. Rosario Dawson, who stars as the titular Jedi Ahsoka Tano, delighted the audience, as well as Hayden Christensen who drove the fans wild, especially after revealing that he will reprise his fan-favorite role of Anakin Skywalker in the show. Coincidentally, Christensen’s schedule, which fell on the 19th, was also his birthday, and fans were only too willing to sing him (several) “Happy Birthday” songs.
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Speaking of series premieres and ongoing shooting, The Acolyte, despite being denied a second season (I still can’t forgive Lucasfilm for this grave transgression), also had its own panel. And who better represent the series than our very own Manny Jacinto—and his to-die-for jawline—who gave a stellar performance as The Stranger/Qimir in the rather divisive show. The fans clearly adore him (who in their right mind wouldn’t) and chanted “Season 2! Season!” on repeat for the Star Wars gods to hear and hopefully heed.
Upcoming animated series
On the animation side, Lucasfilm revealed that a Darth Maul animated series, Maul: Shadow Lord, is all set for a 2026 release. The critically-acclaimed Star Wars: Visions animated anthology project, meanwhile, is expanding, with a new banner, Star Wars: Visions Presents, giving animators a longform showcase, with The Ninth Jedi being the first spinoff standalone limited series.
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See you in LA!
As the 2025 Star Wars Celebration Tokyo came to a close, it was announced that the event’s next installment will see it coming home to where it all started: Los Angeles. Rightfully so, as the 2027 edition of the hugely popular fan convention will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars.
