'Star Wars: Squadrons' Short Film: If You Want Fresh 'Star Wars' Content, This Should Hold You Over

It's been nearly nine months since the latest Star Wars movie hit theaters, four months since Star Wars: The Clone Wars came to an end, and we still have over a month to go until The Mandalorian season 2 hits Disney+. Star Wars fans who have gotten used to a constant diet of content from a galaxy far, far away may be desperate for more stories set in that universe. Now a story has arrived to fill that gap – albeit from an unexpected source.

Electronic Arts, the video game company behind the upcoming game Star Wars: Squadrons, has released a seven-minute short film called Hunters, which tracks what happens to an Imperial pilot in the aftermath of a gigantic space battle. Check it out below.

The opening action happens at the Imperial dockyard in the orbit of a never-before-seen planet called Var-Shaa, situated in the Mid Rim of the Star Wars galaxy. After the Battle of Endor, the Rebel Alliance attacked the dockyard, leaving only the Star Destroyer Overseer clinging to life. This short film follows the adventure of Varko Grey, the leader of Titan squadron, as he's left behind in the aftermath of the rebellion's surprise attack.

I appreciated how this short film transitions from the utter chaos of a space battle down to a much more relatable cat-and-mouse dogfight between two ships. Neel Upadhye (who, fun fact, served as a boom operator on Jay and Seth Versus the Apocalypse, which became the inspiration for the movie This is the End) is at the helm here, delivering one of the few visual stories in this universe that are told from the Empire's perspective, and the folks involved cited World War II submarine stories as an inspiration for the moments when Grey is silently hovering among the wreckage.

"There's a moment in this short where an event happens that will be referred to in the game," James Waugh, Lucasfilm's VP of franchise content and strategy, told StarWars.com. "And I think that sort of enchants the game. If you've seen these things collectively, the aggregate effect will be that much more powerful."

Star Wars: Squadrons, which allows you to play as  is currently available for pre-order for $39.99, which is significantly cheaper than a typical top shelf video game title; that shows just how much of a focus is being put on the multiplayer aspect of this experience. The game will be released on October 2, 2020, and you can learn more about it here.