How coronavirus is affecting Star Wars, plus new High Republic details

Time again for STAR WARS WEEKLY, the SYFY WIRE series that rounds up the most important news of the week from a galaxy far, far away.

Think of us as your own personal Star Wars Holocron.

STAR WARS ACTOR ANDREW JACK DIES DUE TO COVID-19

The world isn’t a sane place at the moment, and the novel coronavirus pandemic is causing hell for a lot of people. The world of Star Wars is no exception. Andrew Jack, the man behind General Caluan Ematt and a dialect coach on The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, died from a COVID-19 infection, his agent confirmed on Wednesday.

J.J. Abrams took to Twitter to honor the man:

As did castmates like Greg Grunberg, who played Snap Wexley:

Jack had been a dialect coach for movies like The Lord of the Rings and came on board for The Force Awakens when J.J. Abrams pressed him into service. His character, General Ematt, was featured in quite a bit of ancillary material, leading a group known as the Shrikes. They were responsible for finding sites for new rebel bases in the old days.

Jack was 76 years old and passed away in London. Most recently, he was working on The Batman.

STAR WARS FANS IN THE AGE OF QUARANTINE

It's not all bad news in the world of Star Wars. People are pitching in where they can during this time and volunteering from isolation as best they can.

Daniel Logan, the actor behind Boba Fett in the Star Wars prequels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, has taken to manufacturing face shields, vital personal protection equipment needed for fighting this disease.

The popular fan organization the 501st Legion has also used its Instagram to highlight members of the organization who are serving on the frontlines of this situation:

You can visit the 501st's official Instagram to see more stories of "Bad guys doing good."

DUEL OF THE FATES, ANIMATED

It’s no secret that an early draft of Colin Trevorrow's draft of Episode IX leaked out. We’ve covered it in this space before. But Mr Sunday Movies, a popular YouTube account, has taken to animating parts of it. He created an abridged version of the script, along with occasional off-color commentary.

This is definitely worth your time to watch.

GREAT ANIMATION MOMENTS

One of the best things about Star Wars is that you can watch it 100 times or 1,000 and you're still going to spot something new every time. This beautiful bit of animation business was discovered by the Twitter account @FilmEasterEggs, and the animator responsible came forward to comment on it.

Not only did he comment on it, but so did Rob Coleman, the animation director for the Star Wars prequels, the first ever at Industrial Light & Magic and a legend in animation and VFX.

It makes me want to go in and look for other details like this in the background of all my favorite Star Wars movies.

DETAILS ON THE HIGH REPUBLIC

StarWars.com has released new information about The High Republic, giving us names and quick bios on a number of characters who will be featured in this new era of Star Wars launching in just a few months.

I’m interested in all of these characters, but the one that seems to jump out at me the most is Vernestra "Vern" Rwoh, the 16-year-old Mirialan Jedi Knight. According to her bio, she’s one of the youngest Jedi Knights in a generation, and it will be interesting to see how her youth plays into the overall story. What qualifies one, in this era, to become a Knight?

The first installment of The High Republic arrives in August with Charles Soule’s novel Star Wars: Light of the Jedi from Del Rey books.

STAR WARS BLOOPERS

Lucasfilm doesn’t often put bloopers from Star Wars out into the world, but when it does, they’re always something that will put a smile on your face. This batch of bloopers comes from the 2004 DVD box set release of the original Star Wars trilogy and features all of your favorites.

I hope that brought a smile to your face.

Until next week: May the Force be with you!