Star Wars Preview: San Diego Comic Con 2017, Part 1

San Diego Comic Con 2017 starts the night of Wednesday, July 19^th and runs through Sunday, July 23^rd. At the time of this writing, the schedule is only complete through Saturday, July 22nd. Here’s the Star Wars content I’m most looking forward to over those first few days.

Panels

Friday, July 21 – it’s Star Wars Day!

Star Wars Collectibles – 10 AM Friday, Room 7AB – “Lucasfilm offers a look at the latest news and revelations for Star Wars Expect revelations from all the normal participants, plus a few surprises.”

Lucasfilm Publishing – 12 PM Friday, Room 7AB – “Get ready, rebels! Bestselling, fan-favorite authors Christian Blauvelt(Star Wars Made Easy), Cullen Bunn (Star Wars: Darth Maul), Christie Golden (Battlefront II: Inferno Squad), Claudia Gray (Leia: Princess of Alderaan), Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Star Wars Jedi Academy: The Force Oversleeps), Cavan Scott (Star Wars Adventures), Beth Revis (Star Wars: Rebel Rising), and Landry Walker (Star Wars Adventures) discuss their latest stories set in a galaxy far, far away. Also featured will be exclusive sneak peeks at upcoming stories, surprise guests, and giveaways exclusive to SDCC. Moderated by Lucasfilm’s Michael Siglain.”

Photo courtesy of Michael Siglain’s Twitter – https://twitter.com/msiglain/status/883498018753753092

Hasbro: Star Wars – 1 PM Friday, Room 7AB – “Members of the Hasbro team discuss the popular Hasbro Star Wars Attendees will get an in-depth look at Hasbro’s latest action figure offerings. Word on the HoloNet is that there may also be a few surprises, including a special product reveal!”

The Science of Star Wars – 2 PM Friday, Room 7AB – “Ever wondered if lightsabers could one day be a reality? Curious about which Star Wars droid NASA would take into space? Expert panelists Kim Steadman(engineer, NASA-JPL), Kieran Dickson (editor, CometTV.com, MGM Studios), Fon Davis (Star Wars production designer), Travis Langley (editor, Star Wars Psychology), Steve Huff (fight choreographer and weapons expert), Eliot Sirota (VFX expert), and host Jenna Busch (creator, Legion of Leia) act as your Bor Gullet into the mind of Star Wars creators and break down the science behind a galaxy far, far away. Q&As, surprises, and giveaways will follow.”

Judges on Star Wars – 3 PM Friday, Room 7AB – “Is the dark side an addiction or a choice for Kylo Ren? What are the civil rights of droids? Did interrogating Bodhi Rook with the Bor Gullet violate Rook’s civil rights? Join California Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, Judge John B. Owens of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Federal Magistrate Judge Mitch Dembin, Federal Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman, CA Judge Carol Najera, and former Federal Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal (now deputy general counsel of litigation at Facebook) to hear their legal analysis, and love, of Star Wars. Moderated by Joshua Gilliland, Esq. and Jessica Mederson, Esq. of The Legal Geeks.”

Star Wars and Fandom: The Early Years – 4 PM Friday, Room 7AB – “In honor of Star Wars’s 40th anniversary and its long association with Comic-Con, Craig Miller, Lucasfilm’s original director of fan relations, gives a slide show on the early association between Star Wars and fandom, including photos from Comic-Con in the 1970s and stories about how fans got involved and were kept involved from even before the film came out.”

Star Wars’ Dysfunctional Skywalker Family – 7 PM Friday, Room 7AB – Twins separated at birth, domestic abuse near a volcano, and child abandonment on desert planets . . . the root of all evil in the Star Wars universe is notthe dark side, it’s bad parenting! This panel will look at the future of the Skywalker family and how Kylo Ren’s parents’ divorce may have adversely affected him. Plus, the panel will speculate on what’s to come in Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. Join Chris Gore (Film Threat), Chelsea Blackstone (YouTube’s Figure Fights), Jeff Tucker (Gemr CollectorCast) along with guest comedians and Star Wars experts for a fun yet serious look at how poor parenting choices in the Skywalker family led to a galaxy far, far away thrown into chaos.”

Star Wars Trivia Game Panel – 9 PM Friday, Room 7AB – “Members of the San Diego Star Wars Society, veteran hosts of trivia panels at Comic-Con International, have prepared an even more challenging contest this year for fans who think they know the galaxy far, far away. Returning this year will be a game round for kids ages 5-11, followed by three adult game rounds (ages 12 and up). All game rounds are conducted in a Last Man Standing format. Come test your knowledge, and you may win some of the thousands of dollars of prizes provided by Star Wars Trivia panel hosts are Leia Hornedo, Linda Crispien, Brendan Prout, Carlos Munoz, Jessica Woods, and Collin Gomez.”

Saturday, July 22

Ladies of the Legions, A Women’s Guide to Star Wars Costuming – 4 PM Saturday, Grand 1 & 2, Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina – “The Ladies of the Legions discuss different costume options for women and challenges and solutions for issues such as choosing costumes, customization and fit, crossplay costume options, physical issues for women in costume, and support and costume groups for women. Panelists offer introductions to various costume clubs, including the 501st Legion (Lesley Farquhar, Dawn Bright, and Anastasia Hunter), Rebel Legion (Rachel Williams and Lisa Curtis Saunders), and the Mandalorian Mercs (Carrie Ann Caranci and Kristina Schlosser). Moderated by Lesley Farquhar(The 501st Legion).”

Not Star Wars, but worth mentioning:

Vanessa Marshall, voice of Star Wars Rebels Hera Syndulla, will be appearing on the DC Universe Original Movies 10^th Anniversary panel at 2:15 PM Thursday in Room 6BCF
Andrea Letamendi, cohost of CWK’s own Lattes With Leia podcast, will host “The Arkham Sessions: Psychology of Batman the Animated Series” at 7 PM Saturday in Room 25ABC

Books

Del Rey Books – Booth 2913-F – by Christie Golden. Signed by the author, this book has an SDCC-exclusive cover. There’s quite a lot of interest in this book, given the excitement about the upcoming Battlefront II video game and the success of the Battlefront I tie-in novel, Alexander Freed’s Twilight Company.

Toys

I’ll be meeting with Hasbro Toys (3213 and 3329) to find out all the upcoming products. Here are two of their SDCC17 exclusives:

I’m also looking forward to seeing the new SDCC-exclusive Funko POP!s (5341, 5347). This year, the popular toy brand will have a holographic Leia and R2-D2 duo. Bodhi Rook, Combat Assault Tank Trooper, and Supreme Leader Snoke will be sold individually. (Is Snoke a repainted Kitster? Probably.)

I imagine we’ll see Hot Wheels and LEGO out in force (pun intended), as usual. It’s always fun to see the premium designs from Sideshow – they’ll have fan art there again, too.

Check out this great new print from Sideshow!

Fans!

Many of us last saw each other only a few months ago at Celebration Orlando. Still, though, it’s also great to see family again – and to meet new friends!

You can find the San Diego Comic Con schedule online at https://www.comic-con.org/cci/programming-schedule.

Until next time, thank you for reading, may the Force be with you, and remember –