Geeklings, I woke up this morning feeling kind of lazy, but not in that “ugh I hate everything don’t move me” kind of way, but more in the I don’t feel like walking today and I just want some extra time in bed kind of way. I feel that at least one day a week I’m allowed to feel this way. I think. That’s what I tell myself despite the guilt I feel about not doing anything active. I’ll make up for it tomorrow. All that is besides the point though. Last night I went to bed (more like passed out during the second episode of Westworld) in a bit of Star Wars mood. Almost like the universe was trying to tell me something, as it turns out,  I think it was.

It all started by learning that a book about Ashoka Tano (the popular character from the Clone Wars animated series, which I might add, I have yet to finish because reasons #lazy) covering her time in between the end of Revenge of the Sith and her appearance in the Star Wars Rebels series was released. I’m all for that as there is no other character in the Star Wars universe that has me more curious on their outcome. I mean, seriously, what happens to Ashoka?! While this book won’t give that answer it will at least fill in some gaps which I’m all about. As I’ve said before I’m hit and miss with Star Wars books but would be willing to give this one a spin mostly because I’m excited about learning more about the character and because I’m feeling that Star Wars love right now.

The other thing that happened this morning was I went to the Hot Topic website and ordered their exclusive Ashoka pop vinyl. Yes, there was a little bit of guilt before I ordered it but it’s an exclusive, there were reports of it selling out, looks super dope, and it’s Treat Yo Self Day (yes there’s an actual day to this wonderful event from Parks and Rec) so it quickly passed. I had thought about driving out to the mall this weekend to pick it up, in the hopes that it would be there, but didn’t feel like traveling and finding out it was gone. Ordering it online was easier and guarantees me getting it and happened to be a really nice way to start my morning. The egg white sandwich I had for breakfast was a close second.

I guess now that I’m thinking about it a lot of this Star Wars excitement stems off of Ashoka. I’m telling you, give Clone Wars a chance. For starters this animated series does a better job with it’s characterization with Anakin than the prequels did. This is a fact. Well, it’s a fact to me so does that still make it a fact? Of course it does! Outside of that the stories are fun and explore the Star Wars universe further, not to mention, the introduction of Ashoka who is Anakin’s apprentice. Her fate is kind of left ambiguous when it concerns Revenge of the Sith but she’s got a huge following and I would love to see her pop up in one of the movies. Maybe one of these Star Wars stories films. Which leads me to the next wonderful thing that happened today.

That’s right the third and final Rogue One trailer dropped today, something that somehow slipped under my radar, and it is everything you would hope to be. When I originally heard about these Star Wars side stories I was a little skeptical but mostly excited. The core trilogy is fantastic but these side stories allow for more stories with in the Star Wars universe. There’s just so much there looking to be explored, my only fear was that maybe they wouldn’t catch the feel of the films or just be awful films that are just trying to cash in on the Star Wars name (isn’t that what the prequels were?). Just think about the possibilities. We could have a movie just about Boba Fett and his bounty hunter adventures. We could possibly have a movie about the Hutts and their gangster dealings. The possibilities are endless with a galaxy this large and I’m a greedy little geek who has been in love with Star Wars since I was a kid. I want it all. And I want it now… Sorry.

After three perfectly spaced trailers that further and further progressed the narrative I’m confident in saying that it doesn’t look like Rogue One will be one of those films cashing in on the franchise name, which is good news considering it will be the first venture into these side stories. While the trailers make it seem that this film will be right at home in the Star Wars universe it also comes across as something different, something a little more gritty and ground level. Here are some of my immediate thoughts following the final trailer.

Mads Mikkelsen– After hearing that he was going to be in this movie the trailers did a great job of making me wonder if that was in fact true as he doesn’t appear in any of them. Today’s trailer not only showed us our first glimpse of the best Hannibal Lecter ever (#facts) but also implied that he’s going to have a pretty major role. Maybe not in screen time but for the Star Wars universe as a whole as it’s being implied that he might be one of the people directly responsible for the creation of the Death Star. Think about that for a minute. I never thought about putting a face to the Death Star as it was always this moon shaped death ray floating in space (that’s not a moon). With Rogue One we have a possibility of meeting the man who helped created and learning why he did it. My bets on distress. While I fully expect Mads to blow up after Doctor Strange (he’ll be the villain there) I think Rogue One will help further prove just how awesome this guy is. Big fan and happy to see that he’s going to have an important role here.

Feeling the Presence of the Empire– I had this talk with a buddy of mine at work (hiiiiii Taylor) how the original trilogy told us about the oppression of the Empire but it looks like Rogue One will actually be showing us. Don’t get me wrong, I always knew the Empire was bad but we never really saw them being those dicky dictators that the Rebels hated so much. We saw them try and battle the Rebels, sure, but that was war. What started the war? What was the Empire doing specifically? How were they being the biggest bag of D’s in the galaxy? It’s like any great historical text, if you’re going to get my interest you’re going to have to show me things so I can fully understand. I mean, I get why the Rebels rebelled, duh, but I want to see first hand what really pushed their hand and it looks like with Rogue One we’ll get to understand (a little more fully) why the Rebels aren’t going to take it. No. They’re not gonna take it. Anymore… Sorry. Again.

Darth Vader– one of the films biggest selling points for me as well as one of my biggest concerns. If you guys recall I wrote a post a month or so ago about re-claiming Darth Vader. I’m not going to rehash all of that now but I think Rogue One will help re-establish Vader as one of the galaxies biggest badasses. With that being said though I don’t want this film to be a Vader showcase. I really want his shadow to loom over our group of rebels and give him the smallest amount of screen time without feeling cheap. It’s important to see him in action but I think it’s more important to hear whispers of his name and the fear that it instills in the characters within this world. Don’t get me wrong, the first time Vader walks on screen I’m going to squeal like a twelve year old girl at a Taylor Swift concert and I’m going to feel no shame in this. But once that excitement settles down I’m going to want him to hang in the shadows and show up only when needed.

Music– I’m pretty sure that Michael Giacchino is on tap to do the score for this film which is exciting for a number of reasons. The main one being the work he did on the LOST soundtracks (till this day “Landing Party” remains one of my all time favorite pieces of music…ever). Giacchino is a score to do the, well, score, but I’m kind of curious. Each trailer has used a number of famous Star Wars themes and slowed them down with solo piano play. I just need to know that this is something that I can own because I’ve loved these stripped down versions. They’re eerie and haunting in their familiarity and beauty and I just want to be able to play them on my ipod forever. That’s all. Not a greedy man.

There we have it Geeklings. It’s just been a very Star Warsy kind of day. As a matter of fact I’m torn between watching the rest of Westworld (I totally will fear not) and an episode of Luke Cage or just turning on The Force Awakens and vibing out for a few. On top of that I want to read more of my book, because it’s really good but more on that tomorrow, and also so I can get closer to reading Ashoka because I’m pretty sure that’s going to be my next read. I tell you Geeklings, life can be tough sometimes. Or maybe I should just bypass all that an finally start finishing the Clone Wars. Ugh, don’t make me choose.