Star Wars Bits: J.W. Rinzler, Galactic Starcruiser, War Of The Bounty Hunters, The Black Series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, And More!

In this edition of Star Wars Bits:

J.W. Rinzler, author of The Making of Star Wars: The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film (2007), The Making of The Empire Strikes Back (2010), and The Making of Return of the Jedi (2013), as well as The Complete Making of Indiana Jones (2008) and Star Wars: The Blueprints, is making end-of-life plans.

The prolific writer was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year and is out of treatment options after undergoing many rounds of chemotherapy. His daughter, Sarah, has created a GoFundMe campaign for this challenging financial situation. An incredible outpouring of love and support from the Star Wars community helped the campaign exceed its goal within a couple of days; any additional contributions will be donated to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Please consider donating if you can.

Scheduled to open in 2022, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is a luxury hotel currently being built near Disney's Hollywood Studios in the Epcot area of Walt Disney World. The Disney Parks and Resorts Blog just revealed the first poster for Galactic Starcruiser, shedding some light on what we can expect from the 2-night, all-immersive experience:

"There are four people at the center of the poster – a youngling wearing Jedi robes and wielding a lightsaber, an adult dressed in the uniform of a First Order officer, a Twi'lek adult, and another youngling who appears to be holding a piece of technology of some sort. These figures are meant to represent you, the travelers, because Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser is about your choices and how you live your personal Star Wars stories. Do you want to support the First Order? Live like a Jedi in training? Or perhaps become a member of high galactic society? It's all waiting there for you to discover and decide."

The post goes on to say that a conversation with Disney Imagineers about Galactic Starcruiser — the most in-depth discussion Walt Disney Imagineering has ever given about the experience publicly — will be shared soon, so make sure you follow the blog for more information!

In Star Wars #15, Luke Skywalker joins Shara Bey's Starlight Squadron to fight the Galactic Empire. The story is part of Marvel's epic crossover War of the Bounty Hunters, centered around Boba Fett's journey — and battles — to bring Han Solo to Jabba the Hutt following the events of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. StarWars.com has an exclusive preview of the upcoming issue.

Speaking of War of the Bounty Hunters, the crossover event concludes this October, and StarWars.com has your first look at covers and plot details for the final issues in the series, including Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #5, Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters — IG-88 #1, Star Wars #18, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #15, Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #17, and Star Wars: Darth Vader #17.

The issue I'm most excited about? Star Wars #18, written by Charles Soule with art by Ramon Rosanas and a cover by Carlo Pagulayan, will bring Leia Organa face-to-face with Crimson Dawn's Qi'Ra, Han Solo's old flame, portrayed by Emilia Clarke in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story.

StarWars.com recently announced that Hasbro plans to bring the Rancor — Jabba the Hutt's massive beast from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi — into the 6-inch scale Star Wars: The Black Series line:

"Following the success of the previous two HasLab campaigns for Star Wars: The Vintage Collection, our team is so thrilled to offer fans the first-ever HasLab project from The Black Series – the Rancor!" says Michael Ballog, Hasbro's vice president for the Star Wars brand. "We hope fans of The Black Series line are prepared for this iconic creature to join their 6-inch-scale collections."

Hasbro also revealed several additions to its 6-inch Star Wars: The Black Series and 3.75-inch Star Wars: The Vintage Collection lines devoted solely to Genndy Tartakovsky's Clone Wars 2D Micro–Series:

"The characters making the jump to the Black Series include ARC Trooper, Mace Windu, and General Grievous, while Aayla Secura, Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee, ARC Trooper Captain, ARC Trooper, and Battle Droid join the Vintage Collection; all come from existing releases that have new decos inspired by the vibrant style of the series, and the Vintage Collection packaging also incorporates the show's beautiful artwork. In contrast, the packaging for the Black Series items will celebrate the original packaging of these toys from the early 2000s, continuing the throwback theme seen in other Lucasfilm 50th programs including the previously-revealed The Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and Original Kenner Deco programs."

The figures arrive spring 2022 exclusively at Walmart. For more images, click here.

Hasbro also announced new Carbonized Collection editions of Scout Trooper, Shoretrooper, and Paz Vizsla, all inspired by their appearance in The Mandalorian, for the Star Wars: The Black Series line:

"In the Carbonized Collection, figures are treated with a sleek, metallic finish, while maintaining all the detail and articulation that are hallmarks of the Black Series. This marks the first complete Carbonized Collection wave dedicated to The Mandalorian since the deco's debut in 2019; in addition, packaging for this range will also feature a Carbonized-style treatment, complementing the unique paint applications of the figures."

The figures arrives spring 2022 exclusively at Target. For more images, click here.

Mark Englert continues his series of prints for The Mandalorian with season two's opening episode, "The Marshal," featuring a Timothy Olyphant as Cobb Vanth, the Marshal of Mos Pelgo. Mark's print captures Din Djarin (and precious Grogu) and Vanth on speeder bikes, with a glow-in-the-dark layer revealing their battle with the Krayt Dragon.Juan Ruiz Burgos has two character portraits for Darth Maul and Ahsoka, and vintage travel ads inspire Russell Gray's Hoth print! If you'd like to add The Mandalorian season 2 poster by Mark Englert to your wall, you can order it at Bottleneck Gallery's online shop. This is a timed edition, so you'll be able to buy one until Sunday, July 25 at 11:59 P.M. ET. However many posters are ordered, that's how many will be printed. Check out Bottleneck Gallery for all the details.

Hello there! Jordan Maison has some interesting tidbits about the Obi-Wan Kenobi series over at Cinelinx. This information, if accurate, contains spoilers about the upcoming Disney+ series, so read with caution!

As far as what we officially know, Obi-Wan Kenobi is set ten years after Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen reprising their roles as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader. Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse will also reprise their roles as Owen Lars and Beru Whitesun Lars. The six-episode series, scheduled to be released in spring 2022, is written by Joby Harold (Army of the Dead) and directed by Deborah Chow (The Mandalorian).

To whet your appetite for the series, check out the Star Wars: Galaxy of Adventures animated short all about the legendary Jedi Master!

Over at Justin's Collection, Justin's got an up-close and personal look at the upcoming Hot Toys 1/6th scale Boba Fett (Repaint Armor) and throne set. It's. So. Beautiful.

This week in Star Wars, host Kristin Baver gives us the lowdown on all the latest news from that galaxy far, far away!

Discover more about Star Tours and your other favorite Disney Parks attractions in Behind the Attraction, a new 10-episode Disney+ Original Series from executive producers Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, and Brian Volk-Weiss. The first five episodes are available for binging now!

And that's it for this edition of Star Wars Bits! If you have something cool from the Star Wars universe that should be included in this column, reach out on Twitter!