Rebels Roundup – August 4th Preview, Original Trilogy Connections, and the Comic Con Panel.
We’ve got an influx of Rebels news to report on, so what better way to talk about it than have it all under a single post? Make the jump to find out about a special Disney XD preview of the show, some new connections to the Original Trilogy, and complete video footage of last week’s San Diego Comic Con panel!
Firstly, Disney XD gave us a reason to look forward to Monday for once with the promise of a sneak-preview of Star Wars Rebels alongside the channel’s premiere of Phineas And Ferb: Star Wars and some of the channel’s other programming (martial arts sitcom Kickin’ It and the fan-favorite fantasy/mystery cartoon Gravity Falls). The preview is going to happen at 7:00 Central time (if you aren’t good with Time Zones, then this ought to help), and we’ll be sure to upload it here as soon as it reaches the internet.
Next, an article has shown up on /Film that features an exclusive interview with executive producer Dave Filoni, who has elaborated upon how Rebels will help bridge the gap between Revenge Of The Sith and A New Hope, and how the series will help to re-establish the Star Wars canon after the “soft reboot” that Disney set up. Filoni has also addressed that the team of rebels in the show are not necessarily the founders of the Alliance To Restore The Republic, but are definitely related to that movement at least tangentially, quelling concerns that some fans had.
“I think the way to look at it, Simon said this beautifully. He described the American Revolution as if this was a show that was about five guys that were locked up in a farmhouse somewhere fighting against the local British military and without any real knowledge of the larger political movements or what’s going on. I think that that’s really how you look at the truth of it with the Rebels. How do you get all these people together? We’re looking at one little small group that’s trying to stand on their own and how does that hook up to what you know is a rebel alliance in A New Hope? I think that’s one of the things that we’re gonna reveal as this story moves forward.”
Other things that Filoni mentioned include the probability that we most likely won’t be seeing Yavin IV for plot-related reasons (namely, that if they carried a bunch of operations out there early on in the Galactic Civil War, it would make no sense for the Empire to first discover them there at the end of A New Hope) along with the confirmation that Princess Leia and the debacle about the Death Star plans will show up a few seasons down the line. In fact, he mentioned that he thought it would be interesting if he could write a story the crew of the Ghost had no idea about the superweapon until it either destroyed Alderaan or when the superweapon itself was destroyed. In general, it appears that this series is taking after Joss Whedon’s Firefly in terms of storytelling over having a direct prequel that would lead into A New Hope like the video game The Force Unleashed, which unfortunately isn’t canon anymore.
Finally, the entirety of last week’s entire Comic Con panel has made its way onto the internet, thanks to the folks at Star Wars Underworld. We won’t go into specifics as highlights of the discussion were already featured on the official Star Wars website, but bits and pieces of interesting information that were not mentioned on the live-blogging of the event are present, along with audio from new scenes of the show (since recording unauthorized footage is against the rules of the convention). We’ll leave the video here for your viewing pleasure.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
This show seems terrible. I bet fans could come up with better ideas than this joke cartoon. It would have been better if they never made it.
If this show is anything like the Phineas and Ferb nightmare that premiered recently, Rebels is going to be loaded with Episode IV references just to make 50 year old fanboys giggle with delight. And it’ll be light on story too.
…Did you even bother reading what they had to say, or did you just enter “GRR, ANYTHING THAT ISN’T THE OT SUCKS” mode without hesitation? A lot of the bashing of this show that I’ve seen on this site seems to be without any basis in what the writers have talked about.
Also, Phineas And Ferb is a comedy cartoon that does not take itself seriously. It’s supposed to be light on story and full of throwaway pop-culture jokes. Comparing it to Rebels (an action-dramedy) is a farce.
I have watched all the trailers, and all the characters, except for Chopper, are uninteresting. Seriously, the only reason people would give positive reviews to this show is because the Star Wars logo is attached. And, yes, I felt the same way about the PT and Clone Wars Cartoons. If these were done without the OT, everyone would have talked about what garbage films they were. As Star Wars fans, I feel it is more of our duty to request quality entertainment, than support a poor or mediocre product.
“Seriously, the only reason people would give positive reviews to this show is because the Star Wars logo is attached.”
…And, based on the reception that I’ve heard that the show has, here’s where your argument falls apart. Those reviews that I mentioned in a below comment thread state that audiences like the characters, the story, the action, the music, and the general experience. Honestly, if this show had a completely different sci-fi franchise label on it, I’m sure that people would have enjoyed it all the same.
“And, yes, I felt the same way about the PT and Clone Wars Cartoons. If these were done without the OT, everyone would have talked about what garbage films they were.”
Conveniently ignoring that the Prequel Trilogy and The Clone Wars are highly rated on IMDB, eh? Typical nostalgia filter nonsense setting in.
IMDB? C’mon, A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back were on the AFI top 100 movies of all time. A New Hope was number 11, behind classics like The Godfather, Citizen Kane, The Graduate. Are you saying those critics had nostalgia too? Of course not, those movies were just that good. I would like to think that Star Wars could return to that form of quality. This series is not helping
Rebels will only be a better attempt at Droids the 80s cartoon. Clone Wars is not the same as the films, its like the 3rd Terminator, its alright, but not great and feels more like a made for TV version of The franchise. In comparison of Terminator 3 and the first two, something got lost in the wash. Clone Wars has some moments but overall it is like adding water to your favorite drink.
I treat this like fan fiction – which it is. It doesn’t seem interesting at all, just more rehashing of what worked in the OT.
I find it funny people crapping on this show already… Give it a rest until you’ve seen a few episodes at least uh?
And you’re confidant that it’ll be good because….?
Because the people that have actually seen the SDCC rough-cut of the pilot have gone on and on about how much they liked it.
http://makingstarwars.net/2014/07/gushing-spoiler-free-review-star-wars-rebels/
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07/25/sdcc-2014-thoughts-on-the-first-episode-of-star-wars-rebels
http://www.dailydot.com/geek/star-wars-rebels-screening-comic-con/
Just saying, positive reception from the fans isn’t a bad sign.
IMO a big issue for the show is going to be how they ultimately handle the Jedi in the group. Do they have it in them to kill them off? Having them around during the OT time frame would create some issues with what was said during the films. Could always fall back on a perception vs reality explanation but that won’t sit right with some.
Not saying they can’t pull it off but that is something I am interested in seeing the end game on.
Show looks promising. But why in the hell would they call that one guy the “cowboy jedi”? The doesn’t belong in the star wars universe. period.
The cowboy adjective is to make the Jedi more appealing for kids. Let’s be perfectly honest here. Rebels is a kids show. Anyone who expects it to mirror the movies is going to be disappointed in this show.
I think it’s because calling him something to the effect of a “Ronin Jedi” (a vagrant Jedi without a master, which is what he actually is based on Freddie Prinze Junior’s comments) would fly over the heads of the younger members of the audience. “Cowboy Jedi” more-or-less has the same kind of connotation, even though it sounds radically different on paper.
Arent this guys supposed to be the one who found the death star blueprints or something?
Not quite; what they’re saying is that these guys are a group of Rebels that fight the Empire for personal reasons, that eventually inspire others to rise up against the Empire. They’re not the guys that start the Rebel Alliance (that honor goes to Bail Organa and Mon Mothma – and possibly Garm Bel Iblis if they ever pull him out of the EU limbo), but they definitely end up garnering support for it.
What it sounds like is that these guys are primarily fighting to rid their planet of the corrupt Empire. The plan is to go to several other worlds as the series progresses, but the focus of Season One is primarily going to the new grassland planet, Lothal. Ice planet Stygeon Prime has been confirmed to make an appearance in Season One, though.
Maybe I am misreading it but it sounds to me like Bail is going to use them and their personal battle as a flash point to switch the Rebellion from a political movement into a military one. They’re more a figure head, not the master minds.
I’d rather see stories telling back stories of Wedge, Porkins and other fighter pilots we see in ANH. Show how they came together. I’d even love stories if rebels we don’t see until ESB, like Zev, Reiken (sp), Hobbie and some bounty hunters. Heck, give me a frickin’ Nien Nunb story! I’d eat that poodoo up!
Funny you should mention Porkins, they actually said they were seriously considering including him in the show.
But hey, if a-list characters like Bail Organa, Lando Calrissian, Luminara Unduli, C-3PO, and R2-D2 are going to show up, odds are that some b-list characters (and Wedge, another a-lister) are bound to find their ways into these stories. Chewbacca even showed up in The Clone Wars!
Yeah! Jar Jar could be in this show…I misses him so much!
I would actually like it if they had a story where he’s a drunken wreck after learning he was suckered into giving Palpatine so much power.
The idea of depressed shell-of-a-man Jar Jar just appeals to me for some reason.
I wish Rebels was about the beginning of the Rebel Alliance instead of this.
I’d make Leia, Wedge, Bail, Vader, Tarkin and a few others the main characters. I’d make C-3P0, R2D2, Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, Boba Fett, Porkins, General Veers and a bunch of other familiar faces supporting characters.
Bothans die in every episode.
I don’t want to bash the show like everyone else.But it is really hard for me not to be disspointed with the fact that Darth Vader is not the main villain.Hopefully in the end it all makes sense. but right now it just seems to be a bunch of nonsense that makes no sense whatsoever and seems rather stupid and silly. Vader and Tarkin should be the key enemy.. not this Inquisitor guy that no one has even heard of until just now. it never makes sense to me why they always seem to go away from the stories the fans actually want to hear about.i am hoping that by the end of this series the construction of the death star, Vader and Leia will be key characters and factors in the story..but im not holding my breathe….I’ve got a bad feeling about this