What could possibly be better than getting a new Star Wars trailer this week? It’s a hell of a question — and no, “a new Avatar: Fire And Ash trailer” is in fact not the answer. The actual answer is, of course, another new Star Wars trailer… duh! Yes, just days after our first proper look at The Mandalorian And Grogu dropped, teasing our next big screen adventure in a galaxy far, far away, overnight the folks at Disney+ stealth released our first proper look at our next small screen one: Star Wars: Visions Volume 3. And if the first trailer’s anything to go by, then we’re in for a treat with the wildly inventive anime anthology series’ latest set of shorts. Check it out below;
Now this is where the fun begins! After an internationally flavoured Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 which gave us everything from an Aardman podracing heartwarmer to a Cartoon Saloon ghost story to a Chilean CG-motion effort centred around indigenous oppression in that galaxy far, far away, the latest instalment of Disney+’s streaming gem is heading back to Japan for nine new shorts from nine new and returning anime studios.
Among the studios returning to offer a second fresh spin on the Star Wars mythos are ‘The Duel’ creators Kamikaze Douga, who are bringing back the fan-favourite Ronin for a new short ominously titled ‘The Duel: Payback’; ‘The Twins’ and ‘The Elder”s Studio Trigger; ‘The Village Bride”s Kinema Citrus, who’ll be sequelising their short with refugee short ‘The Lost Ones’; and ‘The Ninth Jedi’ outfit Production I.G., who will continue young heroine Law Kara’s journey in ‘The Ninth Jedi: Child Of Hope’. They’ll be joined this time around by David Production (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure), Anima (SAND LAND), Polygon Pictures (Your Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man; Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Project Studio Q (Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon A Time), and WIT Studio (Vinland Saga; Attack On Titan).
With returning Ronin, many-bladed supersabers, adorable caretaker droids, ewoks, Star Wars mechs, and a stunning array of new visual styles and narrative angles being explored this time out, it feels like Star Wars: Visions — which, as we learned at Star Wars Celebration Japan earlier this year, is soon to be serialised with upcoming off-shoot strand ‘Star Wars Visions Presents’ — just keeps getting better and better. And we’ll see if the Force is with Star Wars: Visions Season 3 when it drops on Disney+ on 29 October.