Need something to do while waiting for that newStar Wars: The Last Jeditrailer to drop? We’ve got you covered. Disney and Lucasfilm have released the firstStar Wars Forces of Destinyanimated short online. Titled “Sands of Jakku,” the short features Rey andBB-8during the events ofStar Wars: The Force Awakensshortly after they met trying to escape from a giant, deadly alien worm. And this short finally answers one of the many questions fromThe Force Awakens.
The first episode ofStar Wars: Forces of Destinyarrived a bit early on theDisney YouTubechannel, though, it was scheduled to go up today anyway. “Sands of Jakku” is going to roll out today online and will debut on July 9 on Disney Channel. The series of shorts, which will clock in between 2-3 minutes in length, will feature the female heroines of theStar Warsuniverse, most of which who are voiced by the actual actresses that play them in the movies. In this case,Daisy Ridley returns as Reyand, in the intro, we hear Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata, who has the honor of saying the title of the show.
The short itself is pretty much two and half minutes of animated action and adds a little bit toStar Wars: The Force Awakens, serving as a deleted scene. Shortly beforeRey meets BB-8in the movie, there is a bizarre hammer-headed creature peeking its head out of the sand at night, which BB-8 rolls past. This short reveals that said creature is actually a nightmarishly huge alien worm, sort of like a combination of what we know fromTremorsandDune, except that this one likes to eat junk instead of humans. So BB-8 is in serious trouble. Not that this was ever actually in the script forThe Force Awakens, but this would have been a rather expensive sequence to shoot. But this “Nightwatcher Worm” would have been pretty cool to see in live-action.
Despite being short, this does feel like an actualStar Warsthing.Dave Filoni, the creative force behindStar Wars: The Clone WarsandStar Wars Rebels, is also involved inStar Wars: Forces of Destiny, so that is probably one of the main reasons this feels like a genuine piece of storytelling and part of the official canon, and not some rush job just to entertain kids who may be watching Disney Channel for a few minutes.
Aside from Daisy Ridley returning as Rey andLupita Nyong’o as Maz, we are also going to be getting Felicity Jones back as Jyn Erso and Ashley Eckstein as Ahsoka Tano. Padme Amidala and Princess Leia are going to be appearing inStar Wars: Forces of Destinyas well, but other voice actors have had to step in to fill those roles. Shelby Young will be filling in for the late Carrie Fisher as Leia in the shorts, with Catherine Taber stepping in for Natalie Portman as Padme. Be sure to check out the first episode ofStar Wars: Forces of Destinyfor yourself below.
