Star Wars Episode 7 Movie Cast, News, and Updates: Lucasfilm & Marvel Create New Star Wars Comics; Boba Fett to Get A Standalone Movie?
Some more news from the Star Wars Episode 7 front: Lawrence Kasdan, the genius behind "Empire Strikes Back" who has also been tapped to pen Episode 7 with J.J. Abrams, is also now rumored to be penning the stand-alone movie about infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Ace Showbiz is reporting that the so-called "origin story" films -- such as the one about Boba Fett -- will be released in between the next three films directed by Abrams that continue the "Star Wars" saga from the G canon. Episode 7 is due Dec. 18, 2015, Star Wars Episode 8 will follow in 2017 and Star Wars Episode 9 in 2019; the origin films will be released in the in-between times.
Jon Schnepp, who directs the TV show Metalocalypse, was the one to spill the beans about which characters will get an origin story, and he claims that he got the information from Lawrence Kasdan himself. "One of them is Boba Fett," he said. "It is. I know. I know for a fact. I will never reveal my source, but it is the one written by Lawrence Kasdan."
Meanwhile, in other ancillary Star Wars news, Marvel Comics (who, like the Star Wars franchise, is now owned by Disney) has announced that they will be releasing a whole new slate of comics about the beloved series, nearly 40 years after Marvel published the first of original Star Wars comics. (Sort of a nice homecoming, when you think about it...)
According to a press release listed on the official Star Wars website, Marvel will have exclusive rights to the Star Wars content beginning in 2015. This marks the end of the Dark Horse Comics reign over Star Wars comics, who had the rights to the series for more than 20 years. "Dark Horse Comics published exceptional Star Wars comics for over 20 years, and we will always be grateful for their enormous contributions to the mythos, and the terrific partnership that we had," said Carol Roeder, director of Lucasfilm franchise publishing, Disney Publishing Worldwide. "In 2015, the cosmic adventures of Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewbacca will make the lightspeed jump back to Marvel, to begin a new age of adventures within the Star Wars universe."
Marvel, too, is happy about the Star Wars homecoming. "We're incredibly excited by this next chapter in the Star Wars saga," said Andrew B. Sugerman, Executive Vice President of Disney Publishing Worldwide. "Bringing together the iconic Lucasfilm and Marvel brands to tell new stories will allow us to continue to thrill lovers of the original Star Wars comic books and entertain generations to come."