San Diego Comic Con week has always been a prime time for all types of nerdy reveals. From comic book movies to actual comic books themselves, board games to video games, there's really no limit on just what can be shown during SDCC. That being said, Star Wars doesn't often make an appearance at the event, with Disney often saving whatever reveals for D23 or Star Wars Celebration. But this year, SDCC did have one, small Star Wars-related reveal, giving fans their first glimpse of Cal Kestis in Respawn's upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
During San Diego Comic Con, Hasbro revealed some of its upcoming toy lines, one of which was a brand-new wave of Star Wars action figures. Along with a Mandalorian Season 2 Luke Skywalker and some Death Troopers, Cal Kestis is joining the Star Wars Vintage Collection toy line. But this Cal Kestis figure is based on his upcoming appearance in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, not Fallen Order, and eagle-eyed fans will be able to spot some significant differences between the appearances, with this figure making him look more like Han Solo than a Jedi Knight.
The First Reveal Of Cal Kestis' New Look
The brand-new Cal Kestis Star Wars figure depicts the character wearing a new outfit. The prominent piece of clothing is Cal's new navy blue vest, joined together by a leather sash slung across his chest and shoulder. There's some yellow accenting on the strap on his right shoulder, and some classic Star Wars code cylinders on his left shoulder. Cal's new outfit is then finished off with a beige undershirt, black and white belt, a bracer on his right hand, and some new cargo pants and boots.
However, the big changes to Cal's appearance in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor come with his face, and his weapons. Rather than appearing quite long and wavy, Cal's hair is much shorter, and is slicked back. He's also sporting some facial hair this time round, suggesting that he's a little older, but the big talking point is the blaster included with the figure. Holstered at his side, this Cal Kestis action figure comes with a blaster pistol, as well as a lightsaber, which some fans believe could point to some key gameplay and story elements of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Might Show a Changed Cal
While it may just be a Star Wars action figure, this is the first real look fans have gotten of Cal Kestis in the upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and therefore absolutely any and every detail is worth paying attention to. Based on this initial look, it seems as though Jedi: Survivor's Cal Kestis is going to be quite different from the one players encountered in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. For a start, the facial hair does imply that Cal's definitely older, and by more than just a month or two. This could suggest that the sequel takes place a good few years after the first game, which could change the general dynamic of the game quite a bit, from the characters players meet, to the worlds they're able to explore, to the foes they come across.
Though it's definitely subtle, Cal's new outfit also suggests a slight change in character. In Jedi: Fallen Order, Cal's default outfit saw him wearing a long poncho, originally designed to keep him hidden away from Inquisitors and other Imperial forces. This action figure shows Cal in a brand-new vest, perhaps suggesting that he's no longer hiding from the Empire, but instead trying to survive in another way, maybe through smuggling. It might be a bit of a leap in logic, but vests like Cal's are often only worn in Star Wars by smugglers or scoundrels like Han Solo, Dash Rendar, and just about any other lovable rogue. It might not be the case that Cal Kestis is actually becoming a smuggler in Jedi: Survivor, but this change in outfit could denote that Cal's behavior is changing from the naive and scared Jedi Padawan in Fallen Order, to a more confident, skilled character in Jedi: Survivor.
The big debate right now, though, is just what Cal Kestis' blaster accessory means for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. From a character development perspective, Cal using a blaster seemingly indicates that he's willing to survive by any means, whether that's using a blaster, a lightsaber, or both. Story-wise, this could mean that Cal's coming up against some even more dangerous foes than before, and the only chance he has against them is by using as many weapons as possible. However, from a gameplay perspective, it would seemingly suggest that players will be able to use a blaster in-game.
This hasn't been confirmed in any official capacity just yet, and it's unclear just how a blaster would work with Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's gameplay. If Respawn was going to take inspiration from FromSoftware's back catalog, just as they did for Jedi: Fallen Order's core combat mechanics, then a blaster could be used as another means to parry oncoming attacks, just like Bloodborne's ranged weapons. Alternatively, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor could simply just introduce third-person shooting mechanics, giving players the ability to swap between shooting enemies and using their lightsaber on the fly. The latter would probably be the most likely of the two to actually occur, and would be the more mechanically intriguing option, giving players more freedom on how they approach combat scenarios and introducing a new layer of strategy on how's best to tackle the game's different types of enemies.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor releases in 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.