Embed from Getty Images Ahsoka Tano, is coming to “The Mandalorian” season two and fans could not be more excited. Rosario Dawson has been cast as a live action version of the popular “Star Wars” animated character Ahsoka Tano, Anankin Skywalker’s Clone Wars time frame Padawan.
Ahsoka’s co-creator (also co-creator of The Mandalorian) Dave Filoni directed two episodes of season one, and has signed on to direct at least one episode of season two, currently in pre-production. Filoni has reportedly signed off on the character’s appearance.
Rosario Dawson, who is said to have made pleas dating back to 2017, to play the widely popular Tano looks to have had her pleas answered. Many view Dawson as the perfect fit to play the would-be Jedi.
Fans and media are now speculating that a possible Ahsoka Tano spinoff could be coming to Disney Plus in the near future. Something Disney has hinted at. That would go over big with die-hard Star Wars fans and Ahsoka fans.
While Star Wars films are sure to still be made and hit theaters. Disney streaming is wise to fill the gap with stories and characters that have impacted fans. For Ahsoka Tano to appear in the smash hit “The Mandalorian” is enough to make the already sky high anticipation for season two, hit hyper drive.
Embed from Getty Images With some nice prospects in the pipeline but more needed, Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman felt the quickest way for a turn around was icing a bad hockey team. So a tanking by design has worked well in this suspended NHL season. When the season picks back up and closes the Red Wings will know their draft lottery slot.
Quinton Byfield, Alexander Holt, Lucas Raymond, Alexis Lafreniere, there is a really good chance one of the prized prospects will be wearing a Winged Wheel after the NHL draft in June (or whatever will be the draft makeup date or month.)
Steve Yzerman was not lying when he said the Detroit Red Wings would not tank. He is dead against it. However, Yzerman did not say he would field a team (except for the young core players of Dylan Larkin, Filip Hronek, Tyler Bertuzzi and Anthony Mantha) that were just not good. In other words this seasons version of “The Yzer-plan” was to let it sink naturally. Check.
The Red Wings and their general manager hold nine draft picks including six picks by the third round. Steve Yzerman wants to add talented young prospects and is armed to do so.
It is safe to say the Detroit Red Wings will be improved after the draft. They also will have a lot of much needed salary cap space. For a rebuilding team it is not wise to spend big money on big names. First the core players need to be identified then players can be added to give support or help the team make a playoff push.
It is a process that can seem long. That said, the Red Wings do have talent, a couple lottery drafts and they will be right back where fans expect them to be, the NHL playoffs. Yzerman said he understands what is expected in Detroit “playoffs and Stanley Cups.”
There is little doubt he will deliver. The right now is not fun. But it is fixing to be fun again. This years draft will set the tone for when the Red Wings pull out of the rebuild and begin to ascend to the top again.
Embed from Getty Images Unless you live under a shoe or do not watch, listen to or ignore the news. Unless you have not been to the grocery store, odds are very good you know what is happening in the world. A pandemic of epic proportions is and has swept the globe. Leaving fearful people everywhere. So how do we find peace?
The answer in short is Jesus. Jesus is the calm and peace the world needs. I am not going to add fear and panic on top of fear and panic. The Bible does talk about the end of the age and the return of Jesus to this earth. Let’s take a look at the facts.
“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” Joel 2:28, This is what God promises before he even thinks about coming again. That he will send his Holy Spirit to open peoples eyes and wake them spiritually. In my opinion that is what is happening now.
Jesus who came as the sacrificial Lamb of God, in order to both allow us to go before a Holy God as sinful people and open the doors of Heaven wide for all. When he comes again He is coming as judge and jury.
“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will cry on account of him. Even so. Amen.” Revelation 1:7, this is peace filled. To see God is all His glory coming. Unless you have rejected Him or not even thought about Him.
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” Matthew 24:36 “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Matthew 24:44.
I submit that this is a good time to take Jesus at His word. I have been blessed to have visited Israel. I walked the same places Jesus walked. I have little doubt that what is happening right now is God is demanding the attention of the world.
God and God alone will bring you the peace that is absent from your life. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you: not as the world gives, let not your heart be troubled, do not let it be afraid.” John 14:27.
I offer you this, a way to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior: “If you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from death, you will be saved. For it is by our faith that we are put right with God; it is by our confession that we are saved. Romans 10:9-10. Pretty easy.
I think it is time to look in the mirror and do some soul searching. Be blessed.
Embed from Getty Images Yoda, Han Solo, C-3PO, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, Kylo Ren, Rey, the list goes on and on. Star Wars has always had strong main characters. I want to look at the minor characters who give body to the stories. This is my opinion and is hopefully a launching pad for discussion.
Dianoga- Star Wars: A New Hope, for all I know this thing was a swimming eye. Upon further examination it looks snake-like with a sing eye. As a child seeing Star Wars for the first time made me less enthused about swimming for fear Dianoga would suck me under the water.
Labria- Star Wars: A New Hope, the Mos Eisley Cantina is a place I want to visit every time I watch Star Wars. One character I think I would steer clear of is Labria. You know, the guy who looks like the devil?
TT-8L/Y7 gatekeeper droid- Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, I always thought it would be both cool and entertaining to have a mechanical robot eye pop out of my front door. I mean it would be a great way to chase unwanted people away and give a scare into neighborhood kids.
Paodok’Draba’Takat Sap’De’Rekti Nik’Linke’Ti’ Ki’Vef’Nik’NeSevef’Li’Kek aka Pao- Star Wars: Rogue One, someone bless me. Just kidding. This mighty warrior is the only nonhuman on the team that assaults the Imperial base on Scarif.
Lobot- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the stoic and famously bald, Lobot is a human aided with a cyborg construct attached to his head. In charge of Lando’s security on Cloud City.
Plo Koon- Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, the coolest looking Jedi in the prequels.
Nien Nunb- Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, Nien Nunb is one of the most beloved minor characters in Star Wars history as well as Lando’s co-pilot.
There are many more characters, some who are great. This is only my list of the ones that stuck out to me.
Embed from Getty Images Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which in my opinion is the best film in the sequel trilogy sparked a debate and conversation, and the conversation around the blockbuster has not slowed down since. Not one single bit. Star Wars fans would have it no other way.
First off, nobody expected Emperor Palpatine to return. The fact Star Wars The Force Awakens and Rise of Skywalker director JJ Abrams gave no such hint the popular Star Wars villain would be showing up in the trilogy until the teaser trailer was a stroke of genius.
The prequels, the original trilogy, and now through the sequels all have one common thread, They are all the story of how the light side of the Force battled against the dark side of the Force and even more specific greatest Sith Lord of all time.
The first, and unarguably the most important, clue came back in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Palpatine attempts to lure Anakin Skywalker to the dark side.
“Darth Plagueis was a Dark Lord of the Sith,” Palpatine explained to a very captivated Anakin, “so powerful and so wise he could use the Force to influence the midichlorians to create life… He had such a knowledge of the dark side that he could even keep the ones he cared about from dying.”
“The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural,”
It appears Palpatine loved himself and wanted to contiune his rein over the galaxy. That line would be repeated by Palpatine this time to Anakin’s grandson Kylo Ren (Ben Solo.) Albeit Palpatine was scared and blind from the surge of falling down the reactor chamber. Or so it would seem.
This quote explains that the Sith can use the dark side of the Force to gain mastery of life and death, and that Palpatine was taught the method by his master the legendary Darth Plagueis.
While it is clear it gives no information as to the method. We know that through the cannon comic series, Palpatine had owned a mask of Lord Momin. It goes on to say that Palpatine altered the mask. A mask that would end up on the head of Anakin Skywalker after he was beaten by Obi-Wan Kenobi. The mask would bring Anakin now Darth Vader back from the dead.
One more detail is the in the comic series Palpatine worked with a scientist named Cylo. Cylo had created a personality map that could be stored and downloaded into clone bodies. In the older Expanded Universe, there was consciousness jumping into clone bodies.
We now know that this was the method Palpatine used to survive his Return of the Jedi fall, he had clone bodies created, and his consciousness eventually found its way into one. So the soul of Palpatine entered the clone.
This shows the importance of the clone factory on Kamino, in “Star Wars: Attack of the clones.”
Embed from Getty Images In what was perhaps the most interesting, yet creepy moment of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” fans have been wondering when Emperor Palpatine began to invade Kylo Ren’s head and thoughts. Let’s take a closer look.
Now that Disney and Marvel Comics are filling the backstory of Kylo Ren, I thought this would be a good time to see when the evil took over Ben Solo, and seeped into Kylo Ren.
“The Rise of Kylo Ren” comic series brings us close to finding out that Ben Solo never really stood a chance as Palpatine had been in his head earlier than we thought. The comic series tells us how Kylo Ren came into contact and joined the Knights of Ren.
In order to become a mener of the Knights one had to deliver a ‘good kill.” Throughout the series we learn that Ren has been talking with Supreme Leader Snoke.
It is around this time Palpatine starts to play a major role in Ben’s final steps into becoming Kylo Ren , we hear Palpatine tell Ben: “Now you will be who you are. Who you were always meant to be… Claim your birthright and strike him down.”
The him is Tai, a Jedi student who had been trying to get Ben to return to the Light Side. So there it is! Palpatine had been encouraging the young would be Sith to take his final steps, kill the Jedi student and become who Palpatine wanted him to become, his next apprentice. He used both Snoke (whom he created) as well as speak directly the newly named Kylo Ren.
Showing that as we all know, Palpatine was in control the whole time.
Embed from Getty Images Marvel Comics announced it is releasing a brand new Star Wars comic series for fans to enjoy, and it’s focus is all on the deadliest beings in the galaxy. Star Wars: Bounty Hunters will bring the best of the best bounty hunters together in the same series, but that does not necessarily working together.
Writer Ethan Sacks, wrote Bounty Hunters #1, which takes place after the events of “The Empire Strikes Back.” In the kick-off graphic novel, the bounty hunter, business is booming. However, a bounty gets informed with the recent whereabouts of one Nakano Lash, a former bounty hunter notorious for betraying her crew on mission to Corellia which failed years earlier.
Lash’s crew consists of Beilert Valance who is a cyborg, Bossk the Trandoshan, and the legendary Boba Fett. These are not bounty hunters anyone would want to cross, and they’re about to show us why they are feared.
After Bounty Hunters #1 shows the betrayal in the past, it jumps back to present time. A bounty is still a bounty, and others will be interested, it’s just that these three in particular have personal axes to grind.
The comic explores Bossk, current failure of not being the one to catch Han Solo and Chewbacca, learns about Lash from none other than Doctor Aphra and the Wookie Black Krrsantan. Boba Fett receives a call from a bounty broker, who informs him of Lash as a courtesty. Despite still having Han Solo frozen in carbonite en route to deliver him to Jabba the Hutt, Fett takes the job offer, free of charge.
Bounty Hunters #1 is a very good start to a series that looks to be high action with plenty of double crosses and deadly gun fights to keep fans guessing as to who will come out on top. The hunt is on!
Embed from Getty Images Many people are choosing to stay home or inside during the coronavirus outbreak. In what was supposed to be a March 17 release, Disney has announced they are releasing the digital edition of the final film in the Skywalker story early. Fans and cooped up people can begin to enjoy the film now.
The Sta Wars December release, saw director J.J. Abrams’ epic conclusion to the Skywalker saga which has already earned more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office and also has recently received three Oscar nominations including Best Original Score, Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Editing.
Despite a 51% Rotten Tomatoes rating from critics it did manage an 86% audience score, so there’s a chance you’ll be thoroughly entertained with how this third trilogy comes to an end. I know my family was.
I really enjoyed The Rise of Skywalker. It is a very good ending. While I am looking forward to what is next for Star Wars both in streaming shows on Disney Plus as well as films, I can not help but be excited for the early release.
While the Coronavirus outbreak has brought sports to a stop (at least for now) at least there is a good movie to help pass the time with. If you would rather have a hard copy of the movie that is set for a March 31st release. Unless Disney surprises fans again.
Embed from Getty Images “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
-College Basketball season has ended.
-NCAA has canceled all winter and spring championships.
-MLB canceled spring training and have delayed opening day.
-NHL has suspended play.
-MLS has suspended play.
-NFL canceled spring owner meeting.
-XFL has ended it’s season.
-PGA tour has canceled several events.
People tend to have an unhealthy relationship with sports and sports teams. When something that has not been seen since 9/11 has come along and stopped all sports, the Coronavirus pandemic.
People should not be angry. Instead this should be a gut-check. Everyone should be taking the necessary steps as outlined by authorities for themselves as well as family. Perhaps, it is time to go deeper.
To check on neighbors, the elder and ask what needs to be done. Perhaps, help someone wipe down things in their house. Sports certainly have their place. But never at the expense of human life and people’s well being.
There have been strikes over the years in all of the major sports leagues. Sports have come back. They will return again at the proper time. Right now it is best to wait and see.
This is a time to dig into God. Perhaps some of you for the first time. God is unshakable. His promises are true. He is a strong tower in times such as these.
Here at The District, I will keep you informed on the sports side for sure. There will also be more Star Wars content on slow sports news days.
Embed from Getty Images It continues to be trending in the right direction. Not long ago the Detroit Tigers farm system was dead last in MLB. Trades as well as solid drafting has pushed the Tigers farm system not only into the top 10, but the top 5 in all of baseball.
With another bad season on deck and likely looking at another top five draft pick the Detroit Tigers are in good shape. Thanks in large part to the Tigers wave of upper level pitching prospects, not to mention the club also has a promising crop of young hitters that could move faster than originally thought. Provides a light at the end of the rebuild tunnel.
To start the 2019 MLB season the Detroit Tigers farm system was ranked #10 and moved up to #6 by the end of the season, due in large part to Tiger prospects who some of which performed well and a few took big steps forward in their development.
The Detroit farm system could see another bump in the ranking by seasons end. The organization has the first pick in this June’s amateur draft, in which many experts and myself included expect the Tigers to take a big (and badly needed) bat.
It has been a long rebuild and the on-field product has looked ugly at times. That is all by design. The quickest way to rebuild is lose a lot of games. Get good draft slots and draft for need and develop it.
This summer it is all about prospects refining their game in route to Detroit. As many as four top prospects are expected to arrive this summer. Though they will most likely be late season call ups.
Next season, the Detroit Tigers will look completely different, as top prospects will break spring training with the team and the team should begin to climb up the division.
