WIRE Buzz: Star Wars trio likely finished; Baby Yoda South Park cameo; more

While the world may still have Star Wars spin-off fever thanks to Disney+, The Mandalorian, and its upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi show, the new stars of the most recent trilogy seem to be ready to hang up their lightsabers after The Rise of Skywalker. No Disney+, no TV spin-offs, no problem.

Speaking to Variety, John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe), and Daisy Ridley (Rey) all sounded hesitant to jump back into the franchise after the Skywalker saga comes to an end this December. “You ain’t going to Disney Plus me!” Boyega said when asked if he’d return to Star Wars. “I ain’t getting no Disney Plus!” he says. “I’m watching it, though, but I’ll stay in the feature films.”

Sorry Baby Yoda, but you’re not going to meet Finn. But, as any good franchise actor would, he kept his big screen options open. “As long as Daisy and Oscar are down for it, then I’ll come back,” he said. Unfortunately for him (and fans of the trio), that doesn’t seem likely. “[I’m] happy and feeling fulfilled that the task is complete,” Isaac explained, saying that The Rise of Skywalker felt like “the closing of a chapter of my life.” Would he come back? Probably not. In fact, he “can’t imagine what it would be that would make me want to redo this thing or revisit it.”

Ridley is ready for some closure as well. “I just don’t know if anything could top this one, honestly,” the actress said. “I think it’s just a great story and a great close, and even though obviously the characters continue to exist, it would have to be so extraordinary [to return], and I don’t know if that’s possible.”

The Rise of Skywalker will, seemingly, end these characters’ stories for good on Dec. 20.

Next, Baby Yoda fever hasn’t stopped with just the internet. The mysterious yet adorable tyke has invaded pop culture-referencing TV shows, making a cameo appearance on last night’s episode of South Park. 

The long-running animated Comedy Central show aired an episode all about the current streaming TV landscape — with its profane satirical bent — and of course Disney+ was on the chopping block. And when that’s the subject of the day, it was only natural for one of The Mandalorian’s breakout characters to show up. He’s even got his meme-ready cup of soup.

Take a look:

Baby Yoda has also been recently discussed in more serious terms. The Mandalorian creator and showrunner Jon Favreau told The Hollywood Reporter that secrecy and mystery were reasons he selected Yoda's species for the character. When explaining the thought process making a little version of the Jedi Master, Favreau said that “we don't know a lot of details about where he comes from or his species. I think that's why people are so curious about this little one of the same species.”

Finally, Favreau also gave a brief update on another project he’s working on: Prehistoric Planet. The Apple TV+ dinosaur documentary series, partnered with the BBC, will use the VR gaming technology Favreau pioneered during production of the photorealistic CGI remake of The Lion King.

In that same THR interview, Favreau explained that he’s “using a very similar process” to Lion King on Prehistoric Planet. “We're using all the tools that we built and the same partnerships that we had for Lion King,” the multi-hyphenate explained, “except we're putting dinosaurs into a combination of virtual and practical environments. I want to have a place that can be a real incubator for new technologies and people who are curious about pushing the limits of what you can do with storytelling.”

For those looking forward to a Planet Earth-style show with extinct animals, this technology may be the closest they’ve gotten yet to seeing dinosaurs walk the earth in full Jurassic Park mode.

No word on when Prehistoric Planet will hit Apple TV+.