“Oh hear me Star Wars fans!  I bring great tithing to you and your kin!”

Just imagine that I, Kelby George, burst into your room, wearing a newsies’ cap covered in chimney soot, and shouted this to the heavens…. Pretty cool image right?  Alas, we won’t have the technology to make this happen for another twelve years, I think.  So you’ll use that dusty ol’ imagination that we all possess.  Anyway what was I talking about, Star Trek?  No wait, Star Wars news!  And there are two of them. First one:

Disney has announced the title of the first Star Wars spin-off movie.

And the second:

Rian Johnson is directing Star Wars 8, the sequel to J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars 7.

I’m excited about both of these news releases, but let’s start with the first one.  The idea of a Star Wars spin-off has been widely known for a while now.  Disney’s plan was to put a Star Wars movie out every year starting in 2015.  To fill the gaps between the new trilogy movies, stand-alone films would be needed, and the title of the first one is “Star Wars: Rogue One.”  The movie will star Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) and is directed by Gareth Edwards(Godzilla).  “Rogue One” is a familiar term from the original trilogy.  After the destruction of the first Death Star, Rogue Squadron is founded by Luke Skywalker, with the leader of the elite fighter force known as “Rogue One.”  They fight in many battles, including Hoth, and are a main fixture within the Star Wars Expanded Universe.  Whether “Rogue One” will be about Rogue Squadron remains to be seen.

Felicity Jones’ role is still unknown at this point.  Early rumors stated that the spin-off would be about a bunch of bounty hunters, criminals, and other various scum being gathered together to steal the Death Star plans.  As Lucasfilms is redoing the entire Expanded Universe, the history of Rogue Squadron is still up in the air. However, both ideas are solid directions to take the franchise.  Felicity Jones  and Director Gareth Edwards are talented individuals who should both do an excellent job with this movie.

Now, before we talk about Rian Johnson, have you seen Looper?  You know that time-traveling movie with Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, and a weird-looking Joseph Gordon-Levitt?  If you haven’t, STOP READING THIS AND WATCH LOOPER.

I’ll wait a second…

You’re done? Isn’t it great? No, isn’t it AMAZING?  I mean, come on, a time-traveling sci-fi movie with crazy guns and assassins?   Everybody needs more of this in their life.  Also, just JGL.  JGL!  You don’t want JGL, you need JGL.  And the lovely, charismatic Emily Blunt, who is now a sci-fi movie staple, makes it your duty to see this film.  But wait, there’s more!

The guy wrote and directed Looper, Rian Johnson, will now direct Star Wars episode 8.

Rian Johnson and Star Wars is just the perfect union.  I’m head-over-heels for what this match may bring.  Johnson is fantastic and Lucasfilms has just been knocking it out of the park with their choices.  Abrams, Kasdan, Edwards, and now Johnson.  By this point, Every decision Lucasfilms and Disney makes is solid.

As a huge Star Wars fan,  I was very cautious at the beginning, but moves like these just keep on raising my excitement for the next wave of the Star Wars franchise.