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Star Wars Bits: J.J. Abrams 30-Minute Chat, Yoda Back On Rebels, Shadow Stormtroopers

Star Wars Bits have entered the base. Star Wars Bits have entered the base. Star Wars Bits ha– This edition of news from a galaxy far, far away includes:

  • Yoda will return on Star Wars Rebels this season
  • Jeep gets on The Force Awakens promotion bandwagon
  • Adam Driver points himself out in The Force Awakens stills
  • The cover for Star Wars: Aftermath – Life Debt has been revealed
  • Daisy Ridley plays a Star Wars-themed "Would you rather?" with Glamour
  • Star Wars Commander gets a couple The Force Awakens updates
  • J.J. Abrams sat down with AOL Build for a 30-Minute chat
  • Some form of Shadow Stormtroopers may show up in Star Wars: Rogue One
  • Harrison Ford tries a Star Wars-themed cocktail on The Tonight Show
  • Header image: Andy Fairhurst's new Star Wars prints, now available at Bottleneck Gallery while supplies lastyoda-lostmissions

    In an extensive feature on the second season of Star Wars Rebels, TV Insider learned that we'll see Frank Oz back as legendary Jedi master Yoda sometime in the future. It's not clear if this will be another flashback or if the Ghost crew ends up on Dagobah somehow, but we'll find out at some point.

    In addition, Dave Filoni teased one other major legacy character from the Star Wars films would be popping up, but he didn't provide any hints. For much more about Star Wars Rebels, check out the big story over here.

    Jeep has jumped on the Star Wars: The Force Awakens promotional bandwagon with a new ad.mazkanata-fullbody-highrespostershot

    A better look at Maz Kanata's full body has popped up thanks to a higher resolution close-up look at the character from the final theatrical poster for The Force Awakens. It doesn't tell us much more about the character, other than she's got some bracelets and a sweet little vest. We're looking forward to seeing her in action in the movie in a couple weeks. [MakingStarWars.net]

    Adam Driver can't reveal much about his role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens yet, but on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, he was able to point out whether or not it was really him (rather than a stuntman or double) under Kylo Ren's mask in some of the stills we've seen from the movie so far.aftermath-lifedebt-cover

    The cover for Chuck Wendig's Star Wars: Aftermath – Life Debt has just been revealed at StarWars.com. As many have speculated, it seems to deal with Han Solo and Chewbacca, since the Millennium Falcon is featured prominently running from some TIE Fighters. The book isn't slated to arrive until early next summer, but you can pre-order it right here.

    Glamour had a bit of fun and played a Star Wars-themed round of "Would you rather?" with Daisy Ridley during a recent photoshoot for the magazine, featuring questions such as, "Would you rather have lightsabers for legs or Darth Vader's head?"forceawakens-dowutin-lady-cantina

    The Star Wars Commander mobile game just made some The Force Awakens updates that include two new species as well as the planet Takodana where Maz Kanata's castle can be found. Both of the new species we've actually seen before, but we get a little more detail about what they can do (via StarWarsNewsNet), at least in the game, if not in the Star Wars universe.

    starwarscommander-dowutinhunter

    That's a Dowutin Hunter, described as "lumbering infantry hired to dispatch enemy defending units with shock and awe, troops and vehicles alike." We've seen a guy like this in Vanity Fair's photo spread featuring a bunch of aliens inside of a cantina at Maz Kanata's castle.

    starwarscommander-luggabeast

    And this is a Luggabeast Munitioneer, "based on the cybernetic-enhanced beast of burden in Star Wars: The Force Awakens." We've seen a luggabeast before in an image with Rey and BB-8, presumably when the Jakku resident and ball droid meet for the first time.

    These are both playable in the game now and surely more updates will be coming once The Force Awakens is unleashed.

    J.J. Abrams sat down with AOL Build to talk about The Force Awakens for awhile, but if you don't have 32 minutes to spare, StarWarsNewsNet broke down the finer points if you want to check out certain parts:

  • introduction: trailer reactions and how he handled the excitement to work with Kasdan
  • 3:00 min: the hurdles and how to work on the story with Kasdan
  • 4:10 min: the difficulties to work under Disney and the corporate approach
  • 8:10 min: the reason to cast "unknowns" and the challenging work in the desert
  • 12:00 min: influences and preparation for the movie
  • 16:00 min: the retro approach and "going simpler", BB8 hologram sequence confirmed!
  • 18:10 min: the lightsaber battles
  • 19:45 min: how to embrace the inherited Star Wars moments and bring something new at the same time
  • 21:00 min: the original cast was already on board when JJ took over and Q+A
  • The Force Awakens credits scene

    A new rumor from the set of Star Wars: Rogue One says that we might see some version of Shadow Stormtroopers in the spin-off. They may not be called that, but apparently there have been some black Stormtroopers with silver eyepieces spotted on set, and they're supposed to be in the movie.

    This is just a rumor for now, and for me, it would be kind of weird to see these kind of Stormtroopers pop up in a movie that takes place before A New Hope, but then never again after that in the original trilogy. Unless these Stormtroopers are some kind of special, secret Black Forces kind of unit to explain why we never see them anywhere else, it would just seem kind of odd. But we'll have to wait and see if this is an accurate report or not. [MakingStarWars.net]

    Harrison Ford tried a new cocktail inspired by Star Wars and The Tonight Show called the Millennium Fallon.

    That's all for this edition of Star Wars Bits. Stay tuned for more soon.