How do you recognize a Star Wars aficionado? By the number of lines they can recite by heart? By their collection of objects or their extensive knowledge of all the latest news from the Lucasfilm franchise? All of these things, at the same time. From April 18 to 20, 2025, Disney held its now-traditional Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo. Nearly 100,000 visitors from 125 countries strolled the halls of the convention center in the Japanese capital. We were there to cover this pop culture event. A big first for Journal du Geek, but also for me, a movie buff raised on George Lucas's space opera, but who had never taken the plunge and participated in this type of event other than for professional reasons. I wrongly thought that only die-hard fans were invited to the party.
Diverse community, but the same passion
In costume or not, arms laden with collectibles or the latest LEGO, Hasbro, and HotToys releases, the attendees of the Star Wars Celebration always appear with smiles on their faces and eyes shining with enthusiasm. Whether they are 10 or 90 years old, fans of the saga congratulate each other on their choice of costumes, exchange homemade stickers, but also, and above all, discuss the announcements made earlier. In the queues, several hours long, people sing and dance to the rhythm of John Williams' original music.
But the most striking thing, apart from the multitude of cultures and nationalities present, is above all the way in which the saga has managed to find a way to speak to everyone. While the costumes of Chewbacca, Darth Vader or Palpatine are omnipresent, we also come across a lot of Ahsoka, Neel (Skeleton Crew) and even little BD-1 droids (Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order). Video games, animated series, and even novels—all media and universes are represented and have the same importance for the community.
Many visitors will say that to keep Star Wars alive for years to come, Lucasfilm must no longer only address those who discovered Luke Skywalker's first adventures in 1977 at the cinema. Even if it means offending its most ardent fans, the brand multiplies its approaches and tones. It's clear that each of these proposals has found its audience. Even The Acolyte, although largely disowned by a portion of the audience, raised the voices of the audience on the Celebration Live stage when Manny Jacinto appeared with his brand new helmet, a gift from Hasbro. This fervor is salutary for many actors and actresses, sacrificed on the altar of fandom in the early 2000s. We obviously think of Hayden Christensen, whose performance in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith was not unanimously acclaimed, but who ignites Star Wars Celebration with each of his appearances. Disowned by viewers and fans of the original trilogy, it represents a monument of popular culture for children of the 2000s. The Star Wars Celebration is therefore an opportunity to shine a light on this face of the brand, rejected for too long by part of the community. It seems that the controversial choices of the most recent trilogy don't only have detractors; just look at the many Rey Skywalker cosplays to understand that the heroine has many admirers.
A great show
Besides the prospect of being able to treat themselves to the latest merchandise and don their best Cosplay, visitors also hope, and above all, to have exclusive images of upcoming Star Wars projects in theaters and on the small screen. Lucasfilm is not mistaken, reserving the very first sequence of The Mandalorian and Grogu for the Celebration Stage spectators only. In the immense building, several thousand Star Wars fanatics were able to see Dave Filoni and Pedro Pascal take the stage and present the one everyone was eagerly awaiting... the Grogu puppet. Sigourney Weaver was also there, the actress who played Ellen Ripley, who was acclaimed for her first foray into this iconic franchise. It must be admitted that it is very difficult not to chant the characters' names and get caught up in this unique show. Disney definitely knows how to do it. While we can clearly feel that the company is arriving on familiar territory, we are seriously beginning to doubt that "Star Wars fatigue" has ever been felt. The Acolyte and Skeleton Crew did not meet their audience targets, nor even their critical reception; we would give the Good Lord the stamp without compromise after attending the various panels for which some are prepared to wait more than five hours.
The announcement of Ryan Gosling's arrival obviously recalls that of Robert Downey's return Jr. at Marvel, with the same welcome spotlight on the future of the franchise. While some American media had already let the cat out of the bag, there were many hiccups of surprise in the audience and the sequence. We even found ourselves enthusiastic, even though the future of Star Wars seemed particularly bleak. Star Wars Celebration is also about that, making each announcement a grand spectacle and an event not to be missed. The official announcement of Maul: Shadow Lord had spectators jumping, and the transformation of the animated series was on everyone's lips.
A new hope?
After more than a decade of disappointing productions in cinemas and anecdotal series on Disney+, Star Wars appears to be at a turning point. The announcements of Star Wars Celebration 2023 are almost no longer relevant, and we can sense a certain hesitation on the part of Lucasfilm. After reaching profitability peaks with The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, is the saga capable of reproducing such a miracle? Have the series on Disney+ already bored viewers? Can video games that are kept waiting longer than necessary convince?
At the end of a weekend full of announcements and meetings, I was surprised to see a glimmer of light in the very dark tunnel of the galaxy far, far away. Amongst passionate and fascinating people, we remember that Star Wars is also and above all that, an invested community (sometimes too much) that brings the saga to life well beyond simple cinematic or television offerings. We widen our eyes when we see the suitcases of merchandise purchases that some viewers are dragging around, the beating heart of Star Wars since the beginning. They are enthusiastic, whatever the product announced, the series offered, or the film promoted. While we often tend to say that George Lucas's imagination no longer interests anyone since his time at Disney, it is clear that he captivates at least 100,000 visitors from all over the world.
Yet, these same fans are often a hindrance to the brand. Between the review bombing that certain series have been victims of, the harassment of actors and actresses, and even the propensity of Lucasfilm and Disney to make the slightest desire of its audience a reality, I was rather convinced that the saga was entangled in a toxic relationship with its most fervent admirers.
Yes, Lucasfilm often listens too much to its fans, yes they often know the franchise better than the creatives behind the projects, but yes, the franchise may still have something to tell. The broadcast of the first episodes of Andor convinced me that the immensity of the galaxy far, far away had not yet been fully explored. We will probably have to wait until 2026 and the release of The Mandalorian & Grogu to find out if the franchise's transformation into a movie is on the agenda. On Disney+, we'll bet that the mere existence of Andor is proof that there is still hope. New hope?
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