WookieeLeaks: The Latest ‘Star Wars: Episode 7′ Rumors, ‘Star Wars Rebels’ Casting and the Coolest X-Wing Simulator Ever

ScreenCrush’s WookieeLeaks is a weekly roundup of everything 'Star Wars'! From 'Star Wars: Episode 7,' to the upcoming spinoffs and the TV shows, if it pertains to that long ago, far away galaxy, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. This week, read the latest 'Star Wars: Episode 7' rumors, learn who will be lending his voice to 'Star Wars Rebels,' and prepare to watch the prequel trilogy with a lot more flatulence.

The Latest, Greatest and Most Mundane 'Star Wars: Episode 7' News

After last week's huge spoiler controversy, this week responded by easing up on the major revelations. That's probably for the best -- we don't have another "be careful what you read" manifesto in us at the moment.

However, we do have an extremely hopeful and very interesting quote from Drew McWeeny at HitFix. When asked about "Jedi fatigue" in the latest episode of his Ask Drew video series, he explained that the Jedi will play a major role in the new films ... but that they will be very different from what we've seen before:

I can say today that I’m feeling more confident about Episode VII than I’ve ever felt before. And part of that is that I think the story they’ve created is a really interesting way of both steering directly into the nostalgia people have for the first three films, but also shattering that nostalgia by showing that much of what we’ve held onto — the characters and the universe — we have to let go.One of the things that you should expect is the Jedi ABSOLUTELY have a major role in this next trilogy, but it may not be the role that we expect. The events that we’ve seen in the other films have definitely taken a toll in terms of how the universe of Star Wars sees the Jedi and how they see them as an active force. I think it’s safe to say that they are not considered a pure, good thing anymore and that Jedi in general are going to be a very interesting, difficult topic in the new films. I think that anything we’ve already seen in these movies we should be prepared to let go of because I don’t think they’re covering the same ground. It’s a very, very exciting moment to be a Star Wars fan in general.

Once again, it sounds like 'Star Wars: Episode 7' is going to muddy the waters of this universe and make everything significantly more complicated and complex. Since a tidy world doesn't generate good drama, this is only a good thing.

Now, let's move onto this week's "spoilers," aka, the internet scraping the bottom of the 'Star Wars: Episode 7' information barrel! Someone claiming to have seen concept art sent in a description of an Imperial hangar in the new film and it sounds, uh, entirely plausible. Just not that exciting. But hey, we'll take what we can get that week:

The Death Star hanger was just a rectangle with a band of light around it. That concept is used here in this new hanger but imagine a hexagon about the same size. The whole hanger itself is a hexagon instead of a rectangle box like the old hangers.
The interesting thing is that in this piece walls have spaces in between the light panels in such a way that allows TIE Fighters to sit in the space for storage. The TIES are stacked four high. They are not directly on top of one another either as they follow the shape of the walls so they kind of staircase, if you will. So it goes one TIE on the floor and then three more TIEs following the arc of the wall in a staircase fashion.
At the time of this piece, the villain for the film wasn’t yet finalized. So that figure walks with Stormtroopers towards the shuttle, I presume. The bad guy and his escort are at the entrance of the hanger, just walking in. The ceiling to the hallway area has little red lights, but the hanger inside is illuminated by the classic white lights we’ve seen in Death Star hangers.

At least that method of TIE fighter storage sounds pretty cool.

That brings us to slightly more interesting (but still incredibly vague) news. We have no idea who parkour and movement expert Pip Andersen is playing in 'Star Wars: Episode 7,' but since he recently tweeted that he was filming at Andy Serkis' motion capture studio, it's probably safe to say that he'll be playing a mo-cap alien of some kind:

In addition to overseeing the film's motion capture work through the Imaginarium, Serkis himself will play a role in the film. Considering his history with mo-cap, everyone assumes he will also take on an alien role that requires him to wear one of those skintight outfits covered with balls.

And just in case you need a little more evidence, director Dawson James tweeted from the Imagnarium as well, where he posed for a picture with Andersen in full mo-cap gear:

Finally, the great John Williams announced at a recent concert that he's getting started on the 'Star Wars: Episode 7' score in two weeks. With so many differences between this film and the original trilogy, Williams is going to be a vital piece of continuity. The fact that he'll soon be scoring his seventh 'Star Wars' project is exciting news, indeed.

Wild 'n Crazy 'Star Wars' Re-release Rumors

You may have heard a weird rumor a few days ago about Disney secretly acquiring the rights to the rest of the 'Star Wars' movies from 20th Century Fox and planning a huge re-release of the digitally restored films. However, that news was based on a single bizarre commercial and a whole lot of speculation.

An Italian commercial for Disney's digital services appeared online, showing off scenes of people enjoying the company's content on phones and tablets. In between the typical Disney imagery, there was a shot of someone watching the original 1977 'Star Wars.' Which means that Disney has officially spent the necessary millions (billions?) to buy it, right?

Not necessarily. Although the ad has seemingly vanished from many of the places where it was posted in the first place, it's unlikely that Disney would tip their hand on this news in a slight Italian commercial. This is the kind of news that requires press releases and fireworks. Even if it was made in error, the proper thing to do is wait until you hear something official and ignore all of the hyperbolic headlines.

A Very Familiar Voice Joins 'Star Wars Rebels'

As you'd expect, the first episode of 'Star Wars Rebels' performed quite well, earning critical accolades and drawing in viewers from all over the spectrum. People like it, which is good since Disney sees the show as a major part of their big franchise plan moving forward. So it's not surprising that the show has been officially renewed for a second season:

One day ahead of a highly-anticipated television premiere, Disney Channels Worldwide President and Chief Creative Officer Gary Marsh announced plans to produce a second season of the animated series Star Wars Rebels from Lucasfilm.
Marsh said, “The global expectations for this series could not have been any higher. And I am proud to say that the team at Lucasfilm has delivered something that has surpassed even that incredibly high bar – artistically and thematically.”

If you haven't seen the pilot yet (or are simply itching for a rewatch), note that the encore presentation of the first episode will feature an additional scene featuring a certain iconic character with a very iconic voice actor returning. Yep, they're adding Darth Vader to 'Star Wars Rebels' and the great James Earl Jones is back to provide the voice.

Although Vader probably won't play a very big role in the series, his new scene exists to help set up the new villain, The Inquisitor (voiced by Jason Isaacs). That's a wise move -- if you want to lend gravity to a new baddie, having one of the most famous villains of all time appear to introduce him is a great idea.

'The Empire Strikes Back' Uncut is Almost Here

A few years ago, 'Star Wars Uncut' recreated the original film by assigning tiny portions of the film to hundreds of fans, tasking them to recreate those moments in any style they chose. Those recreated scenes would then be strung together, recreating 'Star Wars' in the nuttiest and most inspired way possible. The project won an Emmy.

Now, they're doing the same thing with 'The Empire Strikes Back' and once again, it looks like a great combination of impressive filmmaking, amateurish efforts, animation and wacky re-imagining. This is going to be great.

Fun and Games and Farts

Just when you thought arcades were officially dead, the Star Wars Battle Pod shows up and makes you regret the day you stopped playing video games in public. An immersive simulator of a game, Battle Pod puts you in control of an X-Wing during the battle on the Death Star and it looks nothing short of incredible.

If you prefer your 'Star Wars' fun to have a little less motion sickness, LEGO has revealed their latest line of sets inspired by all six films and both TV shows. Of the 16 sets announced, these ones are our definite favorites:

LEGO