Star Wars Rebels, a one-hour animated pilot already in production at Lucasfilm, is scheduled to premiere in Fall 2014 on the Disney Channel before the new brand leaps to Disney XD for the ongoing series, according to Lucasfilm sources.
The series will mine
material from the 19 years that follow Episode
III: Revenge of the Sith and precede the Episode IV: A New Hope. In other words,
using the life of the Skywalker twins as a measure, the series will be active
in the story years that come after their separation as newborns and before
their (unwitting) reunion on the prison level of the Death Star.
No word on whether the show
will feature Darth Vader (who would be in the Empire’s power consolidation
years and earning his reputation) or even pull in a character like Han Solo,
the smuggler and cynic who becomes an unlikely freedom fighter when he opts to
stand with his friends against cosmic odds. The title of the show is vaguely
phrased in a way that any rebel — even a Boba Fett or Ahsoka Tano might qualify
as a title character merely by walking an outsider’s path.
The series has three
executive producers: Dave Filoni, the point man on The Clone Wars animated series that launched in 2008;
screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg, who has a flair for tonal rewiring and
energizing familiar brands with new edge (e.g.: X-Men: First Class, Sherlock Holmes); and Greg Weisman,
whose credits include well-regarded work on Young
Justice and The Spectacular
Spider-Man.
A press release that was
being readied Monday morning included a quote from Kathy Kennedy, the
hand-picked successor of George Lucas as Lucasfilm president as well as an
elite producer (Jurassic Park, Schindler’s
List) since the 1980s. “I couldn’t be more excited to explore new corners
of the Star Wars universe,”
Kennedy stated in the release. “I think
Star Wars Rebels will capture the look, feel, and fun that both
kids and their parents love about Star Wars.”
Kennedy, who has brought a
new vigor and decisiveness to Lucasfilm in-house culture that (a bit like Obi
Wan Kenobi out in the lonely desert) seemed to forget some its fiery rebel
heritage as the dust of passing seasons gathered.
Kennedy shocked some
observers when she jettisoned a well-underway Lucasfilm initiative to
re-release the prequel trilogy in 3-D. The decision was not cheap but
allowed her to turn all engines toward the shared horizon: new Star Wars stories that incorporate the
characters most familiar to fans that sat down in the dark in those Jedi
summers between 1977-1983. The centerpiece of the new focus is
the third trilogy, with a first installment expected in 2015 or 2016
and directed by J.J. Abrams.
The new venture will put
considerable pressure on the creative team. The animation process is not a fast
one, although it it was not clear Monday how long Filoni and his colleagues
have been working on the new show. For the fans who see Kennedy’s priorities as
a new hope for the Jedi universe as entertainment, the news of Star Wars Rebels might bring to mind
an exchange from 1977 space epic with a now-relevant pun: The Rebellion could really use a good pilot…
