It Begins!!

 

I'd barely clicked post on my hopes for SDCC last night when 2 of them happened before the conventions even started!

 

Harrison Ford as Han Solo with Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

 Last night StarWars.com officially announced that Christopher Miller and Phil Lord (The Lego Movie) will direct the second Star Wars Anthology movie - Han Solo!  Lawrence Kasdan (co-writer The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens) and Jon Kasdan are writing the script which will focus on how the young Han Solo "became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley".
As Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy rightly observes "It's not just any filmmaker who can tell the story of such a beloved icon like Han Solo".  The creative team is extremely strong and I'm sure they will do Han's story justice.  Ultimately though, this film will rest on the shoulders of whoever is brave enough to step into Harrison Ford's shoes and take on such an iconic role.  I wish whoever that ends up being the best of luck!  Personally I'm hoping this film is set at least a decade before A New Hope to make the re-casting a little easier for fans and creative alike.

I have to say I didn't see this announcement coming.  With the reports that there won't be a new trailer for The Force Awakens at SDCC, the announcement of the second Anthology seemed like one of the big things they could do at the panel.  To announce it now really makes me excited to think about what Lucasfilm must have up their sleeve for Friday's panel!!

Elodie Yung, photo by Getty Images

Marvel also started their pre-con announcements last night, confirming that Elodie Yung is joining the second season of Marvel and Netflix's Daredevil as Elektra!!  I loved the first series and was hoping to see Elektra in season 2 so I'm loving this announcement!  I've not seen Elodie Yung in anything but she certainly looks the part!

1/6 Scale Kevin Eastman TMNT by ThreeZero

And TMNT co-creator took to Facebook to share some images of his designs for ThreeZero's upcoming 1/6 scale Ninja Turtles figures.  ThreeZero did excellent work on the movie figures even though I wasn't a big fan of the designs so I'm excited to see how these look when they come out.  I still prefer the classic look Mondo is doing but if the price is right then these will definitely be tempting!



Kevin Eastman's Leonardo

Kevin Eastman's Raphael

Kevin Eastman's Michelangelo

Kevin Eastman's Donatello


And it's still six hours until the doors open for Preview Night!  This is going to be one awesome Comic Con!