May 4 is Star Wars Day. (May the 4th be with you, geddit?) Usually, Disney goes all out with a big event, but with crowds of any kind being verboten in the age of social distancing, that’s not happening this year. However, it’s still going out of its way to make the day special: on May 4, Disney+ will premiere a new documentary series about the making of The Mandalorian and air the series finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Star Wars fans may have to spend Star Wars Day alone, but at least they can spend it in style.
And Disney has more tricks up its sleeve. It just announced that, in addition to all the stuff already mentioned, it will be dropping Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker onto its streaming service come May 4, meaning fans will be able to watch the entire “Skywalker saga” in one place. That’s two months earlier than the movies was originally due to arrive on the service.
The complete Skywalker Saga, all in one place. Start streaming all 9 films, including Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, on May the 4th, only on #DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/O17o7yZVH4
— Disney (@Disney) April 27, 2020
The Rise of Skywalker, of course, is the ninth and final film in the “Skywalker saga,” which released last December to much spirited discussion…some of which is still going on. And I keep putting “Skywalker saga” in quotes because, in my mind, that’s a post-hoc label they affixed to the series to make it look like there was a nine-part plan all along, when really they made the sequel trilogy up as they went, but never mind me. The point is that fans have something to watch in quarantine, and that’s cool.
And if you’re not much of a Star Wars person (or you don’t have Disney+) but you still want to get swept away on a grand adventure while you maintain a safe distance from everyone in your life, you have options. All three seasons of Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender are coming to Netflix on May 15.
This beloved series takes place in a world where select people can command the elements of nature. The balance has tipped heavily in favor of the aggressively expansive Fire Nation, and it’s up to the Avatar — the one person who can command all four elements — to set things right.
Netflix is doubtlessly getting Avatar: The Last Airbender out there in advance of its own live-action remake of the series, coming sometime down the line. (M. Night Shyamalan legendarily bad movie adaptation is available on the service, too, but let’s not waste too much time talking about that.)
And that suits me fine, because this show is deceptively rich, genuinely involving, and improves as it goes on. If you’re looking for something new to get hooked on in quarantine, you could do a lot worse.
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h/t IndieWire