We were decidedly underwhelmed by the first trailer for Star Wars: Rebels, worrying that the show was way too directed at Disney XD’s kid audience. But now the first extended trailer has dropped, and we’re getting much more of a Clone Wars vibe. You could say that we’re feeling… a new hope about this series.
Set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, Star Wars: Rebels kicks off with Obi-Wan Kenobi’s hologram announcement that the Jedi and the Republic have fallen to the Empire. The Rebel Alliance is a long way off, but here we’ve got a ragtag crew including a Mandalorian girl named Sabine, a silly droid, Twi’lek pilot Hera, Force-sensitive orphan Ezra, and a Jedi named Zeb. We even glimpse Zeb teaching Ezra how to wield his first lightsaber. There will always be Jedi on the fringes, which this series looks to explore.
The Jedi’s name is Kanan. Zeb is the alien muscle.
Great to see James Arnold Taylor back as Obi-Wan.
Can’t wait!
It bugs me, actually, that this is apparently the story of a young kid from a backwater planet who hooks up with a Jedi who says the Force is strong in him and offers to train him, whereupon they start traveling with a cocky pilot and a droid with attitude. Didn’t we already see a story like that a while back?
Also, I’m puzzled by the suggestion that these characters are the ones who started the Rebel Alliance. Wouldn’t that have been Bail Organa and Mon Mothma? And if it was these guys who started the Rebellion, but they aren’t around in the Original Trilogy, does that mean they all get horribly killed between now and then?
@2 The idea is that this is one of the many REBEL cells that eventually, being REBELS, ALLY to form the REVOLUTIONARY ASSOCIATION.
There’s a minor plot thread in Clone Wars about this as well, with the roots of insurgencies being planted by Republic forces that just HAPPENED to have the top bit of the Alliance logo as their symbol. Damn, that bit them in the ass, didn’t it?
If Episode 7 is as good as the trailer for Rebels, then I think Star Wars has a bright future
Oy, again with the Jedi…
Just when you think you’ve gotten rid of ’em all.
Here’s hoping there’s enough space pirate and fighter action to make this interesting.
@2 Totally agree. There’s no reason to rehash episode IV (or episode I, for that matter), either in plot or characters, yet this seems awfully similar…Why not try something totally new?
The Force is Strong with this show! It just keeps looking better and better. A fresh look at a relatively unexplored period of Star Wars history.
Ok, two things come to mind;
1) I pray to GOD that this is the style of music they use in the show. The only thing I didn’t like about Clone Wars was the music. I wanted the movie music so badly. Nothing else screams “Star Wars” as much as John Williams does; except maybe a lightsaber.
2) Freddie Prinze Jr. is annoying; I’mnot looking forward to his voice as the lead. He just evokes “dumb jock” too effectively in my brain.
Reminds me of the beginning of a joke:
A Jedi, a Mandalorian, and a Twi’lek walked into a bar…
I loved the Clone Wars, and Rebels is looking great. I’m very glad to see that they will be having a Mandalorian (I’m assuming that she’s one, and not just a random bounty hunter) on the proto-Rebel crew.
Plus the villains look quite nifty so far, though I’m more than a little afraid that the Stormtroopers (who should be primarily veteran Clone Troopers this early after the beginning of the Empire) will be played for laughs and have all too many moments of inexplicable incompetence (the clip of the Stormtrooper looking at the bomb with the blinking red light, for one).
I’m in.
@9: Yes, Sabine Wren is Mandalorian, according to the information that’s been released.
Judging from the color of her armor, Sabine must be a counterculture Mandalorian…
@12: I think that’s evident from her fondness for grafitti and bombs.