Last night we got our very first gameplay trailer for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor at The Game Awards. along with a release date of March 17, 2023. There was also a very long look at Jedi hero Cal Kestis, a young man who has clearly gone through some pretty massive changes since the end of Fallen Order.
For one thing, it’s got a new look: Cal ditched the Fallen Order poncho and now looks more adventurous, almost like Han Solo. He has grown some facial hair and his lightsabers are evolving as he becomes more powerful and resourceful.
But the changes are far from superficial. IGN spoke with Cal’s actor Cameron Monaghan ahead of the trailer’s release about how his character was affected in the five-year span between Fallen Order and Survivor. And while he’s still very much the Cal Kestis we knew back then, the situation of the Jedi and his precarious position in trying to save the Order is starting to take its toll.
“Cal’s worldview is also starting to change,” Monaghan said. “Desperate times call for desperate measures and it becomes very difficult for him to even understand what he is fighting to protect or where he should go.
“The Empire is expanding rapidly and very aggressively, expanding into even the smallest and most remote corners of this galaxy. And I think from his point of view it must be very, very lonely to go from planet to planet and just see an increasingly desperate situation. I can imagine that would definitely put some strain on someone.
While Monaghan denied that the visual comparison we made between Cal and Han Solo went beyond outfits (“Nobody is Harrison Ford but Harrison Ford,” he said), he added that the two share some unintentional similarities.
„[Cal’s] he’s more mature, he’s more robust and he’s aged over time and situations,” Monaghan said. “He’s still quite a young man. But I actually think he would look a little older than he actually is because he’s been through a lot. And I wanted to reflect that in the performance as well, that you can see that he’s still a young soul but also carries more weight than his years of him. And he has a wisdom and a confidence that I think is interesting, but sometimes you have to be a little mean to get by in the world. You have to be a little mischievous and know when and how to react.”
Given the galactic situation and public awareness of how it continues to unfold before A New Hope, we asked Monaghan if there was any hope for Cal personally getting his story a happy ending.
“Depends on what you define as a happy ending, right?” she replied. “When you make significant changes and are able to achieve the things you set out for, I think it’s satisfying or meaningful in some way.
“One of the interesting things we’re doing with the Jedi quest is what it’s like to be on the light side of the Force. Especially in increasingly desperate and difficult situations to which you don’t necessarily have the right answer”.
As grim as this all sounds for Cal, the Cal Kestis we know can also be lighthearted. Especially around his friend BD-1. BD-1 is still with Cal in Survivor, even though the other crew members, like Cere, are doing their own thing. And Monaghan is having fun with the robot too.
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“We have a wonderful actor on set called Gideon Emery and we have 3D [life-sized] printed version of BD. [Emery] has a nose flute or nose whistle which he wears on his face. It’s like a little piece of plastic that’s moving… And so he’s making expressive noises and stuff to mimic BD and he’s playing him like a puppet and kind of moving him and carrying him around.
“Gideon was there from the start. We did some takes where we didn’t have a BD, and I basically thought, ‘We’re missing a character in the scenes.’ And that’s why I was so grateful when we brought Gideon on board, because he really brings such a wonderful dynamic and energy.”
While Cal and BD-1 remain a dream team, there’s another character Monaghan says would create a dream team for him like Cal, and he’s a little unusual: Jedi Master Yaddle.
“Yaddle and Cal are exploring the universe together forever,” Monaghan said wistfully, then laughed and added: “No, I don’t know. I think we’re seeing some people, I mean… Between the first game and this one I can’t say for sure, other than there’s some really cool stuff in there, and I was very excited to see what we had to do.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor will be released on March 17, 2023 on Xbox, PC and PS5. There’s still plenty of time to catch up on Fallen Order before it comes out, and given our rating of “Amazing”.we encourage you to do so.
Rebekah Valentine is a reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
Those : https://www.ign.com/articles/star-wars-jedi-survivor-follows-a-changing-cal-kestis
