We got our hands on the first proper gameplay trailer for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor last night at The Game Awards. with a release date of March 17, 2023With that, we’ve had a proper long run on Jedi hero Cal Kestis. He’s a young man who has clearly undergone quite a change since the end of the Fallen Order.
For one, he’s got a new look: Cal ditched his poncho from Fallen Order and has a more adventurous, almost Han Solo look. More powerful and resourceful.
But the changes aren’t superficial. Ahead of the trailer’s release, IGN spoke with Cal actor Cameron Monaghan about how his character was affected by the five-year time lag between Fallen Order and Survivor. He still bears a strong resemblance to the Cal Kestis we knew back then, but the plight of the Jedi and his own precarious position to try to save order is starting to take its toll.
“Cal’s worldview is starting to change, too,” said Monaghan. “Desperate times call for desperate means, and it’s become extremely difficult to even understand what he’s fighting to protect and where he should go.
“Empires are expanding rapidly, expanding very aggressively, expanding to the smallest and most distant parts of this galaxy. And from his point of view, they move from planet to planet, I think it must be very, very lonely to see an increasingly hopeless situation.
Monaghan denied that our visual comparison of Cal and Han Solo was anything more than costumes (“No one but Harrison Ford is Harrison Ford,” he says). ), adding that there are some incidental similarities between the two.
“[Cal’s] “He’s grown more mature, tougher, and weathered by time and circumstances,” Monaghan said. I think he looks older. And that was something I wanted his performance to reflect as well. You have wisdom and self-awareness, which I find interesting, but sometimes you have to be a rogue to get along in the world, you have to be a little bit of a rogue and when and how you fight You must know what to do.”
Given the audience’s perception of the state of the galaxy and how it unfolds beyond A New Hope, we asked Monaghan that Cal personally wanted his story to have a happy ending. I asked him if he would like to do so.
“It depends on what you define as a happy ending, doesn’t it?” he replied. “If I can influence meaningful change and achieve what I set out to do, then I think that is satisfying and meaningful in a way.
“One of the interesting things we do with the Jedi exploration is what it means to be on the light side of the Force, especially as situations become more and more desperate, more and more difficult, and not necessarily the right answers. Especially when it is not always possible.”
This all sounds tough on Cal, but the Cal Kestis we know is lighthearted too, especially around his sidekick BD-1. BD-1 is still on Survivor with Cal, but other crew members like Cere aren’t doing their job. And Monaghan is also having a good time with the robot.
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“There’s an amazing actor on set named Gideon Emery who has 3D. [life-sized] Printed version of BD. [Emery] I have a nose flute, or a nose flute that I wear on my face. It’s like a little piece of plastic that he goes…and he makes expressive sounds and things to mimic BD, manipulating him, moving him, taking him along.
“Gideon was there from the beginning. There was one shoot where I didn’t have a BD, and it was basically like, ‘There’s a character missing in the scene.’ So thank you very much for having Gideon. Because it brings really great dynamics and energy. “
Cal and BD-1 remain a dream team, but there is another character that Monaghan said would be a dream team for him as Cal.
“Yaddle and Cal have been exploring space together forever,” Monaghan wistfully said, then laughed and added: “No, I don’t know. We can meet some people.” I think… During the first game, this is something I can’t say for sure, except that there’s some really cool stuff there. was excited about.”
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is set to release on Xbox, PC, and PS5 on March 17, 2023. There’s still plenty of time to catch up before Fallen Order releases. Given our “excellent” review verdictis recommended to do.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. you can find her on her twitter @duck valentine.
