Earlier today, Lucasfilm and Disney announced that the bi-annual “Star Wars Celebration” was canceled for 2020 and wouldn’t return until 2022. While the 2020 cancellation was to be expected given the COVID-19 pandemic, the fact that the convention won’t return for 2021 raises some interesting speculation, as this canceled marketing event is the latest piece in a puzzle that shows a rather uneventful next year for the galaxy far, far away.
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For those that don’t know a Wookie from a Mandalorian and couldn’t care less about what the colors of Jedi lightsabers mean, the announcement that Celebration won’t return until 2022 doesn’t likely mean much at all. The “Star Wars” event is, in basic terms, the Lucasfilm equivalent of Comic-Con, where the company trots out all its “Star Wars” properties, invites thousands of fans, and gives them sneak peeks at what’s to come. And with the cancellation of the 2020 event, that means the fans will have to wait three full years between Celebrations. Which leads to the question, why not have one in 2021? Well, if you use simple logic and deduction skills, you can probably figure that out for yourself. But let us help.
You see, it’s quite clear that Lucasfilm is using this announcement to subtly hint that 2021 isn’t going to be a banner year for the “Star Wars” franchise in terms of output. At last year’s Celebration, fans were given a sneak peek at ‘Rise of the Skywalker,’ there were exclusive looks at the new series “The Mandalorian,” as well as ‘Clone Wars’ and the latest “Star Wars” video game. That is to say, there was a lot to talk about and promote. Next year? Not so much.
We already know that there isn’t going to be a new “Star Wars” film in 2021, as the next one isn’t supposed to hit until 2022. And who knows if that’s actually going to happen, given COVID-19 and the studio’s unclear direction for what the new films are going to look like? So a new film wasn’t going to be teased at Celebration this year, and likely not next year either.
On the TV side, 2021 only looks moderately busier than the film side, thanks in no small part to COVID-19. Sure, we’ll likely see Season 3 of “The Mandalorian” (as long as filming can happen soon, that is), but what about “Cassian Andor,” “Obi-Wan,” or any of the other projects that have been teased? By all accounts, it would appear that “Cassian Andor” is the only one of those series that is even close to being produced, but pre-production had to be halted due to the pandemic with no clear sign as to when it might begin again. That means it’s not known if the show will get in front of cameras again this year, which means a 2021 release might not be a possibility.
As for “Obi-Wan,” series director Deborah Chow recently said that the studio is still working on the scripts for the oft-delayed show. That means the earliest that filming will likely commence is in early 2021, with a 2022 release the clear expectation. And the other shows that have been announced recently, including the as-yet-untitled series from “Russian Doll” creator Leslye Headland, are still in the early stages of development, and would seemingly be behind “Obi-Wan” in the production schedule.
So, with no films and only “The Mandalorian” and POSSIBLY “Cassian Andor” to promote, maybe COVID-19 is a pretty good excuse to cancel an event that was likely going to be a bit of a letdown anyway? Might as well take an additional year to build up some content and make 2022 packed full of surprises and teases.
After Lucasfilm has spent the last half of a decade pushing out tons of “Star Wars” content, it appears that the remainder of 2020 and likely all of 2021 is going to be pretty quiet in the galaxy far, far away. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing?
