Star Wars: 10 Best Twitter Reactions To The Biggest D23 Announcements

The September 21st premiere of Andor is fast approaching. The series will take fans back to the early days of the Rebel Alliance before Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor’s noble sacrifice in Rogue One. Beyond that, there is so much to look forward to in the coming year for Star Wars fans.

As part of the weekend-long celebration for all things Disney, Lucasfilm revealed new information, art, and footage for six upcoming series at D23. Many fans built up hype for the event, and while nothing about Star Wars movies was showcased, it still delivered. The attendees relished in all the excitement, but around the world, fans took to Twitter to keep up with all the news and react to each bit of it.

What A Day!

Overall, this panel was enlightening. Whether in Anaheim or elsewhere, fans were treated to plenty of new information and footage, including a final trailer for Andor. From the projects that were expected to be featured, six were showcased in prominent ways, with others still getting some attention elsewhere.

From the casting announcements to the new trailers, D23 had something for just about every type of Star Wars fan – except those who only like Star Wars movies, they were abandoned strangely enough, with no mention of Taika Waititi’s film or Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron.

Back With Our Favorite Space-Faring Duo

The biggest thing to come from the panel by far was the official release of The Mandalorian’s season 3 trailer. This was first shown back in May at Star Wars Celebration, but it was just for attendees, and frankly, it looks epic. Some cool highlights from the footage are the return of Babu Frik and Bo-Katan.

Din Djarin and Grogu are on their own again after Din was exiled from his clan and Grogu chose to leave Luke Skywalker’s school, but now their adventures take them to the ruins of Mandalore. The show will now delve deeper into Mandalorian lore, culture, and history, and perhaps now that he’s not restricted by his clan’s arcane rules, Din can take off his helmet more.

Did I Miss Something?

Of course, the big draw for season 3 is seeing Mando and Grogu together again, but some might be confused if they didn’t watch The Book of Boba Fett. The spin-off series admittedly didn’t have the pull of its predecessor, but it did see them reunite during the finale. This was also after two Mando-centric episodes, in which Boba Fett was a supporting character in his own show.

There’s time to catch up on both now too, since many noticed that a release date was not included in the trailer. It was originally scheduled for a February 2023 release, but in light of The Bad Batch’s delay that could likely get pushed back.

It’s Finally Happening!

One of the biggest announcements for Star Wars was actually made before their panel. It was announced that Eman Esfandi, seen recently in King Richard, will be playing the young con artist turned rebel turned Jedi, Ezra Bridger. He joins Natasha Liu Bordizzo, who plays Sabine Wren, Ezra’s friend and possible crush from Rebels, along with undisclosed actors as Hera Syndulla and Chopper.

This was such a surprise, but something fans have been waiting for ever since Ahsoka first showed up in The Mandalorian in search of Admiral Thrawn, who went missing with Ezra during the Rebels finale. This begs the question of who is next to join the live-action universe from animation – the video game side also has some strong contenders.

Nothing For The Bad Batch Fans

Among all the elation there was some disappointing news, though that comes with a caveat. Despite being slated still for this year, The Bad Batch season 2 was delayed again to 2023. Thankfully, though, its premiere is on January 4th. The animated spin-off to The Clone Wars was a bit of a dark horse when it launched, but it quickly garnered a dedicated fanbase.

The season’s trailer was first released at Star Wars Celebration, so it was strange that nothing new was shown at D23. However, that could still be coming sometime soon. Even from what’s been shown there’s plenty to be excited about including the return of Gungi, the Wookiee youngling, and Commander Cody, the Clone Trooper who served alongside and then betrayed Obi-Wan.

Ahsoka Fans Are Eating

While The Bad Batch was pushed back, that doesn’t mean that Andor is all that’s left for Star Wars in 2022. In fact, on October 26th, all six shorts from Tales of the Jedi will drop on Disney+. It was already something many fans were highly eager for.

Ahsoka will be the central figure for three of these shorts detailing important moments in her life. Fans will see her as a child when he first demonstrates her affinity with the Force, then as a padawan training with Anakin and the Clones – developing the skills she perfects to rival Darth Vader – and finally as an adult following Order 66.

20 Years In Waiting

The other protagonist for Tales of the Jedi is Count Dooku. As with Ahsoka, this will showcase him throughout his complex life and importantly also feature new characters like Yaddle, the female Jedi of Yoda and Grogu’s mysterious race – although it might reveal that he was responsible for her death.

His episodes will follow his descent to the dark side to become Darth Tyranus and his relationship with his padawan, Qui-Gon Jinn. Hopefully, this isn’t the only season of Tales of the Jedi and like Visions it can come back to explore more Jedi’s stories – there are plenty who deserve some special treatment in something like this or a “What If…” type story.

Jude Law’s Got A New Franchise

Also at Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm announced Skeleton Crew, the new Disney+ series starring Jude Law and created by Jon Watts – remembered for directing the MCU’s Spider-Man movies. At D23, they shared an image of Jude Law’s character which quickly circulated around online.

Some had initially theorized that he could be playing Admiral Thrawn since the show is set at the same time as The Mandalorian, but that isn’t happening. That does give hope that Thrawn’s voice actor, Lars Mikkelsen – Mads Mikkelsen’s brother – could play him. Skeleton Crew is scheduled for release still in 2023 and will be a coming-of-age story primarily following a group of lost children.

A New Star For Star Wars

Like Eman Esfandi’s casting as Ezra Bridger shocked fans, so too did the news that Lee Jung-jae is joining the cast of The Acolyte. He is rightfully best regarded for Squid Game, but he’s had great career in South Korea before that. He is joining Amandla Stenberg and Jodie Turner-Smith in this dark and mysterious thriller set during the High Republic.

It’s a shame The Acolyte didn’t get further attention at D23, but this is something. It’s certainly more than for the likes of Lando or The Rangers of the New Republic, which haven’t been touched on since they were first announced.

Something For Everyone

One last tidbit of information from Star Wars was made after their panel, giving fans a look at the characters for the new animated series set during the High Republic, Young Jedi Adventure. It’s clearly geared towards kids and the characters look cute.

It could be a great way to get the younger audiences introduced to the franchise without the need to address some of the more mature elements. So far, two characters have been publicly cast, Kai Brightstar, a Jedi youngling, and Nash Durango, a young pilot, voiced by Jamaal Avery Jr. and Emma Berman respectively.