Ahead of tonight’s mid-season premiere of Star Wars Rebels, Lucasfilm has released a clip from the episode revealing the Rebels debut of Saw Gerrera voiced by Forest Whitaker. The clip gives us a preview of Kanin, Ezra, and Captain Rex as they attempt to rescue Saw from Geonosis.
Star Wars Rebels returns with a special hour-long two episode mid-season premiere tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on DisneyXD.
Just a few hours ago, the mid-season trailer for Star Wars Rebels hit the web revealing Ben Kenobi would not only appear, but come face to face with Maul, the former sith who killed his master Qui-Gon Jinn. Whether it’s through the force or an actual meeting on Tatooine remains unclear.
Lucasfilm Animation has confirmed to Comicbook.com that the actor voicing Ben Kenobi is none other than Stephen Stanton, a veteran in Lucasfilm animation and Lucasarts. It turns out this isn’t the first time he has provided the voice for Ben Kenobi as he voiced the character in the Disney Infinity 3.0 video game Stanton has provided the voices for both Mas Amedda and Admiral Tarkin in the animated series The Clone Wars and most recently voiced Admiral Raddus in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
When Ben Kenobi will make his Rebels debut is a mystery but based on the mid-season trailer for season two, my best guess is that it won’t be until the season (which first teased Kenobi in the premiere) culminates in the season finale.
Star Wars Rebels returns January 7, 2017, on DisneyXD.
SOURCE: COMIC BOOK
The back half of the third season of Star Wars Rebels is about to kick off with a two episode mid-season premiere featuring the Rebels debut of Saw Gerrera voiced by Forest Whitaker. Lucasfilm and DisneyXD have released an incredible trailer for the rest of season three and it looks astounding. While I have always enjoyed the series, much like Marvel and DC television, Rebels has felt rather limited (with the exception of the Ahsoka storyline) as to not take away from the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. That all changes now.
Star Wars Rebels returns January 7, 2017, on DisneyXD.
SOURCE: LUCASFILM
(MINOR SPOILERS FOR ROGUE ONE)
Star Wars Live-action and CG animation collide in the latest promo for the two-hour midseason premiere of Star Wars Rebels. The promo teases the Rebels debut of Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker), the rebel extremist who first appeared in the animated series The Clone Wars and later raised Jyn Erso after the death of her mother and capture of her father by the Empire.
Clone Wars gave us the origin of Gerrera but we didn’t get to see exactly how his extreme methods caused problems for the Rebel Alliance. It seems Gerrera is much to blame for the Rebellions reputation being a terrorist organization as described in Lost Stars. Hopefully, Rebels will color that in for us, as much as a children’s series can.
Star Wars Rebels returns January 7, 2017, with a special hour-long two-episode mid-season premiere on DisneyXD.
SOURCE: DISNEYXD
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story featured several Star Wars: Rebels easter eggs including multiple shots of the Ghost, an appearance by Chopper, and the name Syndullah heard over the Massassi base’s intercom system.
Next month the series will begin to explore connections to Rogue One as Forest Whitaker reprises his role as Saw Gerrera, hopefully showing us just how Gerrera’s extremist ways led to him becoming a PR problem for the Rebellion and ultimately his exit alliance to form the splinter cell seen in Rogue One.
But it seems Gerrera may not be the only time Rebels connects to Rogue One. In a recent round-up of all the Rebels easter eggs from EW, Rebels EP Dave Filoni teased the series may eventually show us the Battle of Scarif from the Ghost crews perspective:
“I already have some theories about the story behind it…I can imagine doing that entire [Scarif] battle from their point of view, whoever is on the Ghost at that point.”
Considering we know Hera and the Ghost are part of the battle it only makes sense for the show to include the Battle of Scarif once the series catches up to that point in time in about two seasons. This news gives me hope that whoever is on the Ghost at that time has the potential to survive the Rebels series and appear in other forms of canon whether it be another animated series, comic, or novel. My only concern is that we could get a watered down version of the Battle of Scarif considering it’s a children’s series and as we saw in Rogue One, it was a pretty vicious battle. But since we have now seen the Ghost was in the battle, it would be pretty odd for the series to skip the battle if it does indeed continue past that point in time and if it does, that also presents another obstacle for the Lucasfilm story group as Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star just days after the events of Rogue One and the Ghost crews whereabouts would have to be further explained for it all to make sense and tie in properly.
SOURCE: EW
Entertainment Weekly has released a new featurette from Lucasfilm giving us a look at Saw Gerrera in Star Wars: Rebels just two years before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The series will take the opportunity to fill in some of the gap for Saw between The Clone Wars and Rebels.
What is interesting about Saw at the point in time he is seen in Rebels is that he is without his breathing apparatus and is still able to speak normally. Since Rebels will be exploring the connection to Rogue One with Saw, it’s possible we could see not only what lead him to his need for an oxygen device but also some of his actions that caused public relation issues for the Rebel Alliance, earning them their reputation as a terrorist organization.
You can watch the featurette below.
SOURCE: STAR WARS
Several new TV spots for the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story have hit the web. They will all no doubt get your blood pumping for what will be the Rebel Alliance’s first win against the Galactic Empire but one of the spots stands out in particular.
In spot #26, what is technically the 15-second “In 10 Days” spot, a shot of the Rebel fleet reveals a ship that fans of the animated DisneyXD series Star Wars Rebels will recognize as a VCX-100 light freighter, A.K.A. The Ghost.
For those who don’t watch Rebels, the series follows a group of heroic smugglers part of the Rebellions Phoenix Squadron. Led by a Twi’lek named Hera Syndulla who was compelled to fight against the Empire as well as a Jedi Knight who survived Order 66 named Caleb Dume. After surviving the purge, Caleb changed his name to Kanan Jarrus and abandoned the ways of the force to maintain a low profile in the galaxy until he met Hera and re-embraced the force, becoming the hero he was destined to be.
Seeing the Ghost in live-action, as well as the inclusion of Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) from the Clone Wars series officially bridges the films to the animated series in canon. Solidifying the entire Star Wars universe.
But will we see the Ghost crew in Rogue One? I think it’s highly doubtful as it would be problematic. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but fitting the entire crew into the film seems like a lot to pack in. It could also alienate general audiences who aren’t aware of who the characters are. Lastly, it would reveal the fate of the characters in the series. As of now, the current plot of Rebels is taking place about two years before the events of Rogue One.
The other spots also give us a glimpse at some Y-wings that are included in the Battle of Scarif as well as some more hilarious dialog from K-2SO on Jedha.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theaters December 16th.
The film stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Mads Mikkelson, Donnie Yen, Alan Tudyk, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker. Written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy. Directed by Gareth Edwards.
From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves. In theaters December 2016.
(via Comicbook)
The prequel era rears it’s head in the latest episode of ‘Star Wars Rebels’.
Sometimes you have to take a step backwards in order to move forward.
Personally, I am not a big fan of the prequels even though there are things I do enjoy about them, however. Battle droids are not one of them. I would even go as far to say that I hate the battle droids. Which is why I was shocked when I found myself enjoying this episode.
Being that this is a kids show, the childish humor that the battle droids bring was necessary as this episode dealt with the adult theme of soldiers dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. After the Rebels landed on Agomar to retrieve proton torpedoes from an ammunitions depot, they were captured by one of the last remaining battalions of battle droids commanded by a highly intelligent Super Tactical Droid who wanted to play a war game with Rex and the Jedi so that he could finally end The Clone War in the way he saw fit.
The Clone War had never ended for the Super Tactical Droid and as we saw, neither did it for Captain Rex. Once the Rebels played the Super Tactical Droids game, resulting in the Rebels winning due to the old battle droids malfunctioning, the Empire showed up to remind everyone just who won the Clone War. Ezra helping everyone to realize both sides never had a winning chance was fantastic. When both sides came together to take on the Empire, it felt like a fitting end for The Clone Wars series that met its demise before it was able to properly conclude.
Watching the Rebels team up with the battle droids to take on the Empire felt like it bridged the gap between the two eras of the Star Wars saga. If I was a fan of The Clone Wars series, I would feel like I finally got closure for the series in most respects. But as someone who is not a huge fan of the prequel era, I hope this is the last I will ever see it. While the character development was great for Captain Rex and Ezra in this episode, it didn’t do much to advance the story.
7.9 – GOOD
Grand Admiral Thrawn fans rejoice! The brilliant villain is featured heavily this week as he catches Hera when she attempts to retrieve a family heirloom from her home on a now Imperial occupied Ryloth.
Grand Admiral Thrawn fans rejoice! The brilliant villain is featured heavily this week as he catches Hera when she attempts to retrieve a family heirloom from her home on a now Imperial occupied Ryloth.
The episode titled “Hera’s Heroes” kicks off with Cham Syndullah being pursued by a pair of Scout Troopers on speeder bikes right as the Ghost swoops in to rescue him. It’s a fun chase scene that ends hilariously after a Scout Trooper manages to board the Ghost just after Cham makes his way up the ramp to safety. Now surrounded by the rebels, Zeb asks “You didn’t think that through did you?”.
Zeb has been oddly quiet during this season so far. It was nice to have him in the mix even if we only got a quick line or two.
Cham managed to escape barely with his life. Unfortunately, there was a family heirloom that was left behind which belonged to Hera’s mother and she’s not leaving Ryloth without it. Luckily the rebels just acquired the uniform of a Scout Trooper they can use to infiltrate her old home.
Outside of the Syndullah home, a crashed Y-Wing lays in the dirt. Hera reveals this is where she first retrieved Chopper from after it was downed during the Clone Wars. Not much is known about the little punk of a droid but after seeing him depressed as he gazed upon the Y-Wing, it seems like his bad attitude might just be a cover for a painful past spent in battle.
ENTER THRAWN. My favorite thing about him in this episode was that no matter how terrifying he was, the Grand Admiral was equally polite and respectful. Thrawn says one especially interesting line before he leaves Captain Slavin to deal with the rebels. He tells him he must continue conducting an unknown experiment. I think the experiment is actually what is unfolding on Ryloth. Thrawn is not just one, but a few steps ahead of the rebels. I think he knew Hera was coming and was using this as an opportunity to get to know her face to face. Thrawn most certainly recognized Hera the instant he laid eyes on her outside her father’s office, almost like he was waiting for her.
Captain Slavin then sets up a prisoner exchange. He’ll let Hera and Ezra go as long as he turns himself in. Thrawn returns to his ship and watches over the exchange knowing full well Hera isn’t going down without a fight. Hera makes the choice to sacrifice her old family home so that her new family can survive. Thrawn holds back and deliberately lets the rebels escape, not just because he respects the victory they’ve earned for themselves — but he knows how important this band of rebels is to the rebellion and he’s playing the long game.
This week was a step up from the smaller episode that came before it. Overall it was great and gave us the Thrawn we have been waiting to see. The Grand Admiral is taking his time, doing his research and analyzing our beloved heroes so he can inflict the most damage possible on them and the Rebel Alliance. The heroes definitely have their work cut out for them this year.
4/5 – GREAT
Admiral Thrawn finally makes another appearance. After getting teased with him in the premiere it looks like he will be featured prominently in the next episode titled “Hera’s Heroes.” Released in a clip by DisneyXD today, we see that Thrawn has managed to capture Hera. The chilling villain is impressed with The Ghost’s captain as he divulges his approach to war and reveals his knowledge of Hera’s identity and her history.
Star Wars Rebels airs Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on DisneyXD.
Alternate World 