Star Wars Bits: A New ‘The Last Jedi’ Book, Millennium Falcon Changes,

In this edition of Star Wars Bits:

A new Star Wars: The Last Jedi book…and cardboard standees.
The Millennium Falcon is undergoing a major change for the Han Solo movie.
Take a class on Star Wars “Ring” storytelling structure.
Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford chat with GQ.
And much more!

Let’s kick it off with this week’s episode of The Star Wars Show, which is legitimately hilarious. The new book Canto Bight was announced, but more important was the search for more information about Anthony’s cute little boi and Dana Snyder’s phenomenal reading of one of my favorite lines in all of Star Wars history. Next time make him do the “I killed them all” Anakin line! Or just dub over any Vader scene! Please?

I honestly don’t think I knew that cardboard cutouts were still a readily available thing, but here we are. ComingSoon has a big gallery of cardboard cutouts and Fatheads character graphics from The Last Jedi. I’d want the General Leia one, if it didn’t make me feel like I was always letting her down somehow. Maybe a Praetorian Guard for the fridge to keep me on my diet?

Working on Saturday here in the Galaxy pic.twitter.com/eIx9SBjycA

— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) September 9, 2017

If you didn’t watch the full Star Wars Show episode above, then you may have missed this, the latest in Ron Howard’s quest to make us feel like we know a lot about the Han Solo movie that we actually know virtually nothing about! We can confirm, there will be a drivable vehicle in the movie. Yes, that joke is pretty close to what Andi and Anthony said, and no, I’m not going to apologize.

The folks at Star Wars Underworld have an excellent piece showing the cyclical nature of Star Wars and its use of “Rings” storytelling. It’s something that a lot of people seem to have a fundamental lack of understanding on when it comes to the franchise; when you see similarities in the stories, especially in parallel chapters that’s on purpose and it’s a specific, well-known story device! Here’s a sample:

“Why are all three movies so similar? Because the similarity shows how history repeats itself, with small variations in each instance that lead to widely different outcomes. The parallels highlight the differences. Anakin and Luke could have both ended on the Light Side of the Force, but small differences led to very different outcomes—Anakin ended on the Dark Side because of his mother’s death and the fear that his love, Padmé, would die.

These repeating patterns are called Rings. There are rings everywhere in Star Wars: for the protagonists, mentors, secondary players, themes, politics… George Lucas was very purposeful in these Rings. For him, they were like poetry. Every movie rhymes with the next one.”

Amen.

Why is Rey so concerned? Because Rey has no music to train to. Well don’t fret, Rey, Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘s soundtrack will be released on December 15, 2017, the same day the movie is in theaters. Just please, please don’t look at the song title names before you go to the movie. The song titles tend to be quite spoilery.

What is the Millennium Falcon going to look like in Han Solo: A Star Wars Story (still not final title)? According to a fresh rumor from MakingStarWars, it will be quite different than the look we’re used to. The Falcon will have blue detailing over a white base coat, they report, and the front ‘fork’ design will finally be explained – it’s an open cargo bay, which we’ll see actually get used. Wait, the Falcon’s a cargo ship? (He says, kidding, please don’t attack in the comments).

Those huge Porg plush inspired me. My Neighbor Poporgo…of course ???? #TheLastJedi #Porgs #Rey #StudioGhibli #MyNeighborTotoro pic.twitter.com/b7PmuxaXYx

— Michael Pasquale (@800lbProds) September 8, 2017

We really could just start filling this column with tweets from Heath and Pasquale, couldn’t we? This outstanding mashup of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro with The Last Jedi is just so much fun, and so adorable. Look at that giant Porg! Look at Rey all happy and carefree in the rain! This is beautiful, and it needs to be a thing.

Grand Admiral Thrawn is the latest playable character in Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, which lets you collect your favorite characters from all over the timelines and slam them together in slightly strategic group battles. Fielding an all-Rebels character team with Thrawn in the back guiding things along may sound intriguing, but you do have to keep the good guys and bad guys separate. Dang.

After helping to design the #episodeviii branding system over a year ago with @dianesaurusrex , it’s been a trip seeing some of the #starwars products being released on #ForceFridayII . After using a black and red statement for #theforceawakens , we needed something that would stand apart from that system while still feeling like a ‘relative’ of it. So we went the complete opposite with the main base color – while still keeping a hint of the red, which is a very iconic First Order statement. Now, just like every Star Wars sure-fan out there, I can’t wait to see them in person in-store. There goes my paycheck…again!! #thelastjedi

A post shared by Eric Tan (@erictanart) on Aug 31, 2017 at 3:29pm PDT

You’ve probably seen this toy box top a few times, especially if you went out on Force Friday. Designer Eric Tan revealed he was behind the look, with the stark white and “First Order red” on it. He’s also designed a Praetorian Guard shirt that I need to have. While it’s not Star Wars, he has some really cool classic Disney Animation posters are on his instagram, so check those out.