Star Wars: Visions season 2 is set to drop in just a few days in honor of May the 4th and @Starwars is going to town promoting the new series on Twitter before it hits streaming tomorrow. The non-canonical series features animated shorts from nine animation studios across the globe, each utilizing various animation styles from traditional to claymation, just like the first installment of the artistic revisioning of the galaxy far, far away.
In a clip shared by the official Star Wars Twitter account, an elderly woman holding a cane reveals herself to be a Jedi, whipping two of the iconic blue sabers out of her cane. The split-second clip is only one of many moments showcased in the trailer for the series, and though the commercial has been out for months it wasn’t until today that a plethora of Star Wars fans (and haters) really got the chance to study the moment.
Fans were overjoyed by “Grandma-Jedi” and her hidden blades. It isn’t the first time Star Wars has had an elderly Jedi Master use a cane to conceal a weapon, Tera Sinube made his debut in the Clone Wars animated series and used a cane to conceal his own single-saber blade. Some fans were confused by the sudden disappearance of the connecting wood, however.
Actually a lot of fans were confused by the wood.
Some incredibly vocal not-fans were confused and inexplicably enraged by the wood. Even worse for many of the haters was that simple fact that a Jedi could have a reason to hide their light saber in the first place.
If they were a fan, they may have known that many Jedi have concealed their weapons over the myriads, including the aforementioned Tera Sinube, Kanan Jarrus, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker, and basically any Jedi that has ever gone undercover. At least this user prefaced their ignorance with a disclaimer.
Others didn’t care for the “woke” ideology behind having an elderly Jedi, as if Madam Jocosta, Yoda, and old man Luke hadn’t already proven that not all Jedi die young. While he refused to elaborate in the comments, @Djsifu07S was very adamant that Star Wars was definitely more “woke” than ever.
If it wasn’t about the age of the Jedi, maybe it was her gender? Either way, there are plenty of female Jedi who would like to have a word with the user, from Shaak-ti to Ayla Secura, female Jedi have been a part of Star Wars lore for more than 20 years now. Beyond the Jedi Masters, did they forget that Princess Leia has been kicking butt and taking names since A New Hope?
Other smooth-brained commenters were hung up on the clear Indian inspirations from G-ma Jedi, as if Vader and all of his Storm Troopers weren’t stylized versions of classic armor from another Asian civilization: Japan.
Other Twitter users were quick to jump on the nasty little trolls, reminding them that people of color have been a part of the Star Wars universe since Lando Calrissian first swaggered onto screen in 1980. And let’s not forget about our king, Mace Windu.
When it comes to a project like Star Wars: Visions with contributors from all around the world, there are doubtless going to be many different sources of inspiration. Star Wars: Visions only works because it isn’t constrained to the lore that came before. Its more outlandish entries were the ones that fans truly embraced in the last season. Despite the best attempts of trolls, fans seem to be more excited than not for the latest installment and even with obvious trolls skulking around to try and rain on the parade, it doesn’t seem to have stopped the hype train from rolling through.
Tune into Disney Plus tomorrow to experience the shorts for yourself.