Lucasfilm are altering the franchise. Pray they do not alter it further. Of the many big news stories to come out of this past weekend’s Star Wars Celebration bonanza – a new Rogue One teaser, Alden Ehrenreich confirmed as Han Solo, Anthony Daniels wearing nice socks – one story almost slipped under the radar: a mysterious new virtual reality project featuring Darth Vader.
The project is being developed by ILMxLAB, the experimental wing of Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic effects house, which had a VR stand at Star Wars Celebration, and held a panel at the London event. David S. Goyer – best known for his screenwriting work on DC films like Batman Begins and Man Of Steel – is writing the project, and explained the project's intentions.
“What character is so iconic that we need to know more?," Goyer asked, rhetorically. "[Where] we can’t sleep at night and want to experience things that can’t be experienced in film, or can’t be experienced in a novel? And we came up with… this person.”
The panel then screened a very short teaser, featuring Vader looking characteristically moody. The teaser can be seen in this ten-hour recording of the Star Wars Celebration at around the 8 hours, 4 minutes mark.
The project is still in its infancy, and there’s no word yet on what format or platform it would take. But Goyer, who is working with Lucasfilm’s story group, said it would very much fit into the Star Wars canon.
“The world I came up with, that I’m pushing, is you are ‘the visitor’ – the visitor in this story that’s happening around you that you may have some effect on,” he said.
Virtual reality is kicking off in a big way, with major game companies rushing to exploit new advances in technology. ILMxLAb have already completed work on Trials on Tatooine, which was released today on the HTC Vine, described as “the first first-person lightsaber game ever”.
But the Darth Vader project, whatever form it will take, will be a bit of a wait yet. "I'm really, really excited for a year or two — whenever it happens — and you guys get to experience what we're working on," Goyer told the crowd. "It's pretty mind-blowing."