Star Wars: Rebels Update – Hondo Ohnaka, Lando Calrissian and More on Season 2.

Hondo OhnakaGood news for fans of the animated series The Clone Wars – a fan-favorite charismatic Weequay pirate is going to make a return in Rebels, along with his voice actor (the prolific Jim Cummings). Plus – we now have an idea about how long the second season of Rebels is going to be, and what guest character will make more appearances.

 

For those of you not in the know, Hondo Ohnaka is something of a wild card. In his first appearance, he kidnapped Count Dooku after the Sith Lord was forced to make an unexpected retreat. In the very next episode, he also kidnapped Anakin and Obi-Wan because “it’s good business”. But  later appearances establish that he’s not as cut-and-dry as it seems. He’s shown being helpful to Jedi (letting them know that they are walking into a trap in advance) and serving as a parental figure to an orphaned Boba Fett. He raided a group of farms for a valuable crop, only to assist a rebellion on a Separatist planet with the weapons they desperately need later on. He threatened a group of Younglings when he raided a Jedi ship for lightsaber crystals, but chose to protect them later when General Grevious attacked. He also fended off Darth Maul, Savage Oppress, and a small group of his own men that betrayed him with the assistance of the Jedi, but he still gave the surviving members of the traitors the benefit of the doubt when they realized that they were fighting for the wrong side.

 

Needless to say, Ohnaka had quite the history with his nine appearances on the show. In fact,  Big Shiny Robot reports that Jim Cummings reminisced about his role at the FanXperience booth at the recent Salt Lake City Comic Con, lamenting the early end of The Clone Wars. Nonetheless, he had an important bit of information to share with the audience, much to their delight.

At about minute 27:20, Jim Cummings drops a tidbit of information, expressing his sadness that The Clone Wars was over, but following that up by saying that Hondo might very well just be back for Star Wars: Rebels.

“And I think I’m allowed to tell you I’m back,” he told us, and elaborated further later saying that, “He’ll be back, but we do them so far in advance I don’t know when. So you’ll just have to watch them all. I do anyway, so what the heck.”

 

He went on to do an improvised conversation between the pirate and Winnie the Pooh, another character he has also done voicework for. Whether Ohnaka will pop up in the last few episodes of Season One or return in Season Two is unclear right now. He is the first character created for The Clone Wars to have an official announcement regarding an appearance on Rebels.

 

 

Hondo Ohnaka Blaster

 

Could this open the door to appearances by the Jedi Younglings he encountered (Petro, Katooni, Byph, Ganodi, Zatt, and Gungi), Ahsoka Tano (who guided said Younglings, and has already been speculated to be a character that has already “appeared” on the show), or various other characters from The Clone Wars? Time will tell, but at the least we now know that one of the more memorable supporting characters of The Clone Wars has a place on Rebels.

 

In other Rebels-related news, we now have more information on the show’s second season. We’ll start with word from Cinelinx that another fan-favorite guest character on the show is going to be return for more adventures: Lando Calrissian.

I got the chance to speak with Billy Dee last night one-on-one to talk about his return (full interview is coming soon), and he confirmed we’ll see Lando again. He said he’s been working with the Rebels crew for a year or so and when I asked him bluntly if we’ll see him again in Star Wars Rebels he responded: “Yeah! There’s more adventures with Lando coming up.”

He seemed enthusiastic about the role, adding: “They keep calling me up to do Lando, and I love Lando, so I don’t mind! As long as the fans keep responding to it in a positive way, they’ll keep bringing [Lando] back…”

 

The plurality of the statement would indicate that he’s recorded lines for multiple episodes. Perhaps there might be a Lando-centric arc next season? In any case, the character’s inclusion in the third season and beyond seem to be dependent on fan approval, and if the response to his first impression on the show is of any indication, we’ll probably be seeing more of Lando’s exploits for quite some time.

 

 

Lando

 

Lastly, we have the testimony of the voice actor for Kanan Jarrus as to how long the next season of the show will be:

 

 

 

 

Counting the television movie Spark Of Rebellion as a two-part episode (based on the production number), the first season of Rebels is 16 episodes long (12 of which have aired and/or been released through a promotional app). Using The Clone Wars as a frame of reference, the first season had 22 episodes. So “nearly twice as many episodes” should account for between 22 and 32 adventures for the Ghost crew, with the total number of episodes most likely being closer to the lower end of the scale. Hopefully, the series will take after The Clone Wars and start telling stories that last multiple episodes with a larger season.

 

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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.

Grant Davis (Pomojema)

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.

40 thoughts on “Star Wars: Rebels Update – Hondo Ohnaka, Lando Calrissian and More on Season 2.

  • February 2, 2015 at 12:10 am
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    Probably Rebels is a cartoon for kids and has not the best character animation in the world but last episode Vision of hope was trully Star Wars. I really enjoyed dialogs,(with some humor like OT had) rhythm and situations. Environments, ships and music are always great.
    And the story line is simple. Not too much characters and planets.

    At this moment i’m ok with another season.

    • February 2, 2015 at 5:46 am
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      Translation: “Star Wars Rebels is lame, has bad stories, nonsensical plots, and annoying animation…… but it carbon-copies the OT in dialogue and looks… so I LOVE IT!”

      • February 2, 2015 at 11:21 am
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        He only criticized the animation. Please don’t project your opinions onto other people.

      • February 2, 2015 at 11:49 am
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        Translation: I’m an adult that actually spends time critiquing cartoon shows and posting about them on the internet. I have problems.

        • February 2, 2015 at 7:42 pm
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          Wow, so what are you doing on here? Spending time discussing Star Wars? Sounds like you fit right in with the rest of us. And you say he has problems? Others would say the same to you.

  • February 2, 2015 at 12:10 am
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    Rebels is going to have a connection to TFA and the movies to come just like Agents of Shield has a connection to various Marvel films. So excited for the future of Star Wars!

    • February 2, 2015 at 1:18 am
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      No Ahsoka Tano… Or maybe she’s not considered to be a fan favorite?

      Sigh…

      • February 2, 2015 at 2:12 am
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        Oh she’ll be back.

      • February 2, 2015 at 5:13 am
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        Anonymous, really??? Get over it! Ahsoka ended up being a GREAT character. I love her! All of my kids loved her and she was a real inspiriation to my small, feisty daughter, even as a fictional character. I do hope that Disney uses more EU characters so my time reading all those novels weren’t wasted. But, once again, leave Ahsoka alone or I’ll run you through with my lightsaber and yes, that is an unhealthy, unJedi-like attachment!!!!! Hope she is in the new movies too….just to annoy all of her nay-sayers.

        • February 2, 2015 at 5:38 am
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          I read it that anonymous was upset with no Ahsoka..

        • February 2, 2015 at 5:48 am
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          @t.s.eliot, what comment are you reading? The first anon comment was actually disappointed that Ahsoka Tano was not introduced in Rebels. Methinks somebody needs to run YOU through with a lightsaber. Preferably through the head, not that it will damage your unusually small brain.

          • February 2, 2015 at 7:19 am
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            @Anon, That’s a little harsh wouldn’t you say? He misread a comment so you think he should run his head through with a lightsaber? And then you insult his/her intellect? That’s a little sad really.

          • February 2, 2015 at 7:45 pm
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            Seriously! Completely agree. What is with some people on here??

        • February 2, 2015 at 8:22 pm
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          “wasted time” reading? yeah only if what you were reading was for trivia purposes, and not because it was ACTUALLY good.
          Fuck the “EU”

        • February 8, 2015 at 7:24 am
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          Don’t worry she’ll be back soon.

      • February 2, 2015 at 5:35 am
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        Big favorite of mine by the end of the clone wars run..

      • February 2, 2015 at 11:24 am
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        If she’s on the show (and given Dave Filoni’s involvement, she probably will be), they will save her as a surprise.

  • February 2, 2015 at 12:15 am
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    Interesting quote from Freddie there. Unless he voices any other characters, that would imply Kanan survives series 1, which would debunk the popular theory in The Cantina that we could see him die this series. I’m all for that; Kanan’s a great character.

  • February 2, 2015 at 12:21 am
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    This series is NO LONGER…. Profitable!

    • February 2, 2015 at 12:46 am
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      Toy sales would indicate otherwise, Hondo. 😉

      • February 2, 2015 at 5:21 am
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        What toy sales? Hasbro has barely managed to ship anything Rebels. Major distribution issues going on if you haven’t been paying attention.

  • February 2, 2015 at 2:36 am
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    Fan Favorite???? Who????

    • February 2, 2015 at 4:58 am
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      Hondo.

  • February 2, 2015 at 3:33 am
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    Maybe Ezra will be in the new trilogy, maybe with a new name after turning to the dark side.

    • February 2, 2015 at 11:26 am
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      I really, really doubt it. Any Rebels character (presuming they survive) will be pretty old in the era of any Sequel Trilogy movie. Same with The Clone Wars.

      You’d probably see them in comics and other stuff in time frames set before The Force Awakens, though.

      • February 2, 2015 at 5:17 pm
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        Ezra, Luke & Leia are all the same age. I’d say it’s pretty damn likely he shows up in the ST.

        • February 2, 2015 at 8:06 pm
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          Their age has nothing to do with it. It’s simple:

          Yoda: “When I die the last of the Jedi will you be.”

          Tarkin: “You my friend are all that’s left of their religion.”

          If they try to convince us that there were any force users alive during the OT, aside from The Emperor, Vader, Yoda, Obi-wan or Luke, they’ll be butchering the entire plot of the OT in a way that’s unforgivable. Does this really have to be said? It’s a simple plot point that has to carry over with new material. Otherwise, what the hell is the point of canon if it’s always subject to change?
          Kanan, Ezra, and whatever other random Jedi they try to shove into the chronology must be dead by the time A New Hope begins, or the significance of the Original Trilogy is jeopardized.

          • February 3, 2015 at 8:26 am
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            I don’t agree with that; what I don’t see happening is including an elderly version of a character introduced on a television show that most of your audience would be unfamiliar with. Not to mention that if said character is shown as being alive four decades or so after the show, it kills any dramatic tension on the show instantly.

          • February 3, 2015 at 5:56 pm
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            I’m confused… You agree that they don’t belong in the sequels, but you disagree with having their characters killed off before the saga continues in A New Hope?

  • February 2, 2015 at 4:53 am
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    I met Billy-Dee Williams in person. Here in Seattle, we have the “Star Wars and the Power of Costume” exhibit with the best costumes in the saga. Anthony Daniels [C-3PO] and Lando were there. I got Billy-Dee’s autograph and got to meet Anthony Daniels, both of them are amazing people 😀

  • February 2, 2015 at 8:21 am
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    Getting to meet and talk with the actors is awesome. Really enjoyed time with Dave Prowse in Dallas. Awesome guy to talk with.

  • February 2, 2015 at 11:52 am
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    Don’t mind the show. It’s not overly silly and has a real Star Wars feel to it. Enjoying the development of the kid as he dabbles in the dark side. My daughter likes to watch it with me.

    All the criteria for a show I’ll watch once a week.

  • February 2, 2015 at 1:31 pm
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    So… at the end how many seasons will be there? 3? Or the second will result as the equal of two seasons in one?

    • February 2, 2015 at 1:37 pm
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      I was wondering the same thing. Maybe Season One has a bumper quantity of episodes because it is being wrapped up in 2015 and needs extra episodes to add TFA (or 2016 spin-off) preamble into the story-arcs?

      The amount of new_toys Hasbro releases with the Rebels theme (to be revealed in 2015 toy fairs) might be a clue towards the time-frame of the end-point of the show. So far, they have only looked at characters and vehicles from the very earliest episodes of Season One.

      Alternatively, I can understand Disney granting a smaller number of episodes for Season One to see if the show performs well enough to warrant investment in a ‘full-length’ Season Two.

      • February 2, 2015 at 4:09 pm
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        I think the small quantity in season 1 had more to do with retooling. New base models, overall fit, feel, and finish. Now that the base work is done, they can devote more time to episodes.

    • February 2, 2015 at 5:04 pm
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      The rumor is that they’ll have four or five seasons.

  • February 2, 2015 at 10:23 pm
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    “A New Hope” or anyone else… can you post a link to “Call to Action”?

  • February 2, 2015 at 11:38 pm
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    Go to the Rebels section of the cantina and find it you will

  • February 3, 2015 at 1:21 am
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    “Call to Action” was pretty decent. The tone was very dramatic. Tarkin’s portrayal was pretty spot on…he was punking people left and right haha and his tactical skills were on solid display. A master and padawan got separated for a very nice cliffhanger…

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