ILMxLAB has been beavering away for years on a virtual reality adventure starring Darth Vader. It’s called Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series, and it’s set to debut on Occulus Quest this autumn.
The three-part VR experience will take place between Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope, plonking the player/viewer into a confrontation on Mustafar – the lava planet from Episode III and Rogue One – with the saga’s iconic helmet-wearing baddie.
Adding a bit of filmmaking prestige to the project is David S. Goyer, a writer and producer who worked on all three films in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, as well as working on the DCEU-launching Man Of Steel movie. He’s lent his pen and his producing skills to Vader Immortal, too.
And now a new trailer has arrived as part of the annual Star Wars Celebration, check it out.
Here’s the first trailer for Vader Immortal, which arrived online in September last year…
“We intentionally chose the iconic character of Darth Vader because we knew it would be powerful to connect with him in VR,” ILMxLAB’s Vicki Dobbs Beck told us in a recent interview about her numerous Star Wars VR projects.
“This is also our foray into connected stories. So Star Wars: Secrets Of The Empire [the VR experience that London’s Westfield centre hosted last year] essentially sets up Vader Immortal. Whereas in Secrets Of The Empire you were on an outpost on Mustafar and you could see Vader’s Monolith in the distance, now you’ll have the opportunity to go into the Monolith and engage with Vader on his home turf, not to mention have the opportunity to wield a lightsaber.”
The first episode of Vader Immortal will arrive in the second half of this year, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted as we hear more.