Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 has officially come to an end, and though we’ve still got more coverage coming here at LaughingPlace.com– including several interviews and our Star Wars podcast “Who’s the Bossk?” which recorded an episode live at the event– it’s time to break down what happened during the exciting final day.
Day 4 began with the big presentation for Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Lucasfilm’s animated series that recently concluded its second season on Disney+.
Before the panel, a group of cosplayers gathered near the stage and started drawing a crowd, at which point the warmup act DJ Elliot brought them onstage, where they were surprised by voice actor Dee Bradley Baker. Then it was time for the panel to begin, and host Amy Ratcliffe was joined by The Bad Batch supervising producer Brad Rau, head writer Jennifer Corbett, executive producer Athena Portillo, the aforementioned Baker (who plays all the adult male clones of Jango Fett), and his costar Michelle Ang (Omega). The discussion started with a recap of season two, and an analysis of how Omega has evolved since the series began. Then they moved on to talking about Crosshair’s arc, the design of Pabu, the evil scientist Dr. Hemlock, the unexpected return of the Zillo Beast, and Cid’s betrayal of the Batch. Eventually the topic turned to Tech’s sacrifice in the season finale, which Ang said took her by surprise when she read the script. Corbett said the writers tried to talk themselves out of it several times, but in the end they decided that it wouldn’t feel genuine for that particular mission to have a “happily ever after” ending. Then this panel ended with confirmation that Star Wars: The Bad Batch would indeed return for a third season, which is already in production and will be the final one for the series. We also got to see an exclusive teaser trailer twice.
Next came time for the Star Wars: Visions panel, with Vol. 2 of the series of animated shorts headed to Disney+ next month. Unlike the first volume which was limited to anime studios from Japan, this batch of episodes has been made by animation companies from around the world. We saw the trailer for the full season, then we heard from each individual filmmaker, who talked about their story and characters, and how much they were influenced by Star Wars as creatives. Then at the end of the presentation, after Ratcliffe had signaled for the livestream to end, the audience in the room were treated to a screening of Aardman’s short for the project, which I can say was a tremendous amount of fun. The poster for Star Wars: Visions Vol. 2 was also revealed during the presentation, and then everyone in the audience was given the opportunity to take one home with them.
After one final stroll around the exhibit hall floor, it was then time to return to the Celebration Stage for one final occasion: the Closing Ceremony, during which the hosts shared a very moving highlight video cut together from moments spanning the entire weekend, and then revealed the location of the next Star Wars Celebration event, set for April of 2025: Japan!
Check back here at LaughingPlace.com for more coverage from Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 in London, England.