For thirty years, Star Wars fans have been wondering what happened after the events of Return of the Jedi. And now we finally have our first concrete information about what went down between the ending of that film and the start of J.J. Abrams’ upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

A comic called Shattered Empire, one of the 20 different stories Lucasfilm is releasing between now and December 18th, is the source of this new information. We’ve already seen some art for the release, which hits shelves on September 2nd (variant cover above, via /Film), and it’s been reported that the story is told through the eyes of C-3PO, but now we have a detailed official synopsis that actually gives some legitimate information about what happens following the destruction of the second Death Star:

In December, a new chapter in the Star Wars saga will begin when Star Wars: The Force Awakens — the seventh Star Wars film and the first to take place after Return of the Jedi — arrives in theaters. As the excitement for the new film builds, Lucasfilm and its partners will explore the aftermath of Return of the Jedi in a series of canonical projects debuting in September, and Marvel Comics leads the way with Greg Rucka and Marco Checchetto’s Star Wars: Journey to The Force Awakens: Shattered Empire #1 (JUL150767)!

Emperor Palpatine’s twenty-year reign of terror came to an abrupt and fiery end in the skies above the forest moon of Endor. A decisive victory for the Rebel Alliance, to be sure, but even with the loss of its leadership, the Empire’s Moffs and regional governors retained their hold on important systems from the Core to the Outer Rim, thanks to the might of the Imperial Starfleet. Now, with a power vacuum atop the Empire, those Moffs will jockey for position and control, and the heroes of the Rebel Alliance will soon discover that a wounded and fractious Empire may be more dangerous than any threat they faced before!

Greg Rucka, the acclaimed writer of Wolverine and Cyclops, reteams with his collaborator on The Punisher, Marco Checchetto, for a Star Wars tale that will reveal the untold story of the aftermath of the Battle of Endor and the political machinations that ensued. The Rebellion’s desperate struggle to liberate the galaxy from the Empire’s tyranny will face new challenges, and Rucka and Checchetto will bring their incisive storytelling to a story that no Star Wars fan will want to miss.

A new addition to the Star Wars canon, Star Wars: Journey to The Force Awakens: Shattered Empire will take readers into uncharted territory and set the groundwork for the new Star Wars film. Put your Empire Strikes Back soundtrack in the stereo and cue up “The Imperial March” when you read Rucka and Checchetto’s Star Wars: Journey to The Force Awakens: Shattered Empire #1 (JUL150767) this September!

So it sounds like the Rebellion will have to contend with some Moffs who are trying to shoulder their way in to fill the leadership positions that have been…vacated by Palpatine and Vader. What do you all think? Looking forward to reading Shattered Empire?

STAR WARS: Here’s What Happens Between RETURN OF THE JEDI and THE FORCE AWAKENS

Last week, Entertainment Weekly spread out a bunch of stories related to Star Wars: The Force Awakens so fans got a lot of new information to chew on. Now Empire Magazine is here with a new Star Wars-themed cover, and we hope they a similar amount of new information to share with us over the coming days.

The cover features the trio of baddies from the movie, including Gwendoline Christie’s Captain Phasma, Domnhall Gleeson’s General Hux, and Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, who’s wielding that crossguard lightsaber. The image itself isn’t too awe-inspiring, but we’re hoping this is just a small tease of what’s to come.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in theaters December 18, 2015. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan & Abrams, and features a cast including actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Crystal Clarke, Pip Andersen, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. They will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker. The film is being produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk, and John Williams returns as the composer.

Film director and GeekTyrant reader James Campbell needs your help. His Batman fan film, Ripper, is nearly complete, but they need money for the final 20% of the film to be able to complete the project. Ripper: A Batman Fan Film pits the caped crusader against one of the first serial killers in recorded history. It’s also based on the 1991 Elseworlds adventure, Gotham By Gaslight. The teaser trailer is something amazing. To be honest, I was not expecting this level of production! I hope to see the finished project! Click here if you want to support fellow Tyrant James!

Interesting Trailer For 18th Century Batman Fan Film: RIPPER

Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four is very obviously the result of some serious studio meddling combined with a filmmaker whose vision simply did not align with those who gave him the job. It’s a complicated situation with a lot of rumors in play that haven’t been substantiated, and as much as I went into the film with an open mind, it’s a bad movie. Even Trank himself has distanced himself from the final movie, saying he had an earlier cut that was “fantastic” that we’ll likely never get to see.

One of the biggest complaints about the film is that there isn’t nearly enough action in it. Well, Entertainment Weekly spoke with a dozen people involved with the making of the film, and have pieced together what was supposed to happen in an action sequence that was featured in the trailer but ended up being cut from the film altogether. The scene involves The Thing skydiving into a military installation and fighting on behalf of the U.S. government about a year after the team first gets their powers. In the film, the fact that The Thing is a government weapon is showed briefly on a small bank of monitors, but the only time we really get to see him in action is in the truncated (and just straight-up awful) confrontation with Victor Von Doom at the very end of the movie.

Just after the cut to black when the group gets their powers, we were supposed to see The Thing dropped from a stealth bomber directly into a Chechan rebel camp. Then this happens:

As The Thing lurches into view, bullets spark and ping off his impenetrable exterior.

Rather than some elegant, balletic action sequence, The Thing moves slowly and deliberately. He’s in no hurry. The storytelling goal was to show the futility of firepower against him as he casually demolishes the terrorists. It’s a blue-collar kind of heroism.

When it becomes clear this rock-beast cannot be stopped, the surviving Chechen rebels make a run for it – and that’s when a hail of gunfire finishes them off.

From the shadows of the surrounding forest, a team of Navy SEALS emerge with their guns drawn and smoking. The cavalry has arrived, but the enemy has already been subdued.

The film would then have shifted to a bird’s-eye view of the camp, an aerial shot showing waves of American soldiers flooding in to secure the base. Just when it appears the American soldiers may be ready to clash with the rock monster, The Thing gives them a solemn nod, and they clear a path. He lumbers past them, almost sadly, a heartsick warrior. Then he boards a large helicopter and is lifted away.

Why, exactly, the scene was cut is up for debate. Sides are still being taken in the behind the scenes battle of making this movie, and there are opposing views about who is responsible for it being removed. You can read more about the gossipy “he said, she said” elements of the story at EW, but this is just another glimpse at the movie we were intended to see before, for whatever reason, the film was drastically altered for theatrical release.

Did you see the movie? Think this scene would have improved on the final product?

It seems like there may have been evidence of The Joker’s true identity in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice right in front of our eyes. It just hadn’t been pointed out to us until now.

A fan has linked a couple of official photos that shed some light on the villain and his past. This is just speculation for now, but it’s very intriguing and if true, it’s a major SPOILER, so if you don’t want to know, stop reading now!

SPOILER WARNING!

It has been rumored in the past that the Joker in the DC Extended Universe used to be Robin. Before you think that theory is ridiculous, just remember that Dick Grayson went insane and became the new Joker in Frank Miller‘s The Dark Knight Strikes Again. So this very well could happen in the movies, especially since director Zack Snyder was heavily inspired by Miller’s Batman comics.

A lot of that speculation started when in the Batman v Superman trailer Batman asked Alfred, “20 years in Gotham, how many good guys are left? How many stayed that way?”

Well, this new evidence that has come to light could be proof that Batman was referring to Robin. As you can see in the photos below, there are two scars on Joker’s shoulders that match up with two damaged spots on the shoulders of Robin’s suit.

This very well could prove that this could be a second generation version of the Joker. But maybe it’s just a crazy coincidence.

What do you all think!?

New Evidence of Joker’s Possible True Identity in BATMAN v SUPERMAN

One of the few things we know about Star Trek Beyond is that director Justin Lin wants to embrace the five year mission that the crew of the Enterprise set out on at the end of Star Trek Into Darkness. We’re expecting to see new worlds and new alien creatures, and it seems like the movie is trying to avoid rehashing famous alien species we’ve already seen in Trek lore.

Screencrush has some new video from the Vancouver set that reveals new costumes for Kirk (Chris Pine) and Chekov (Anton Yelchin), and you can head there to see some images from the set as well. The images — which we won’t post here, but you can see at SC — mostly look like screencaps from this video, which features Pine, Yelchin, Simon Pegg, and Sofia Boutella (Samuel L. Jackson’s knife-legged sidekick in Kingsman: The Secret Service) emerging from some sort of spaceship. Most sci-fi clothing doesn’t strike me as something I’d like to wear in real life, but those blue and yellow jackets have me rethinking that stance.

Star Trek Beyond hits theaters on July 8th, 2016.

Leaked Footage From STAR TREK BEYOND Reveals New Costumes