Rumor: An Animated Spin-Off Series To ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’ Might Be In Development
According to a recent rumor, there could be a new animated series set between Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels debuting next year, on top of the Rebels sequel that’s also rumored to be in development.
Please keep in mind that while all of this may come to fruition, none of this information has been confirmed, so we are strictly reporting this as a rumor based on the information provided. That is in no way to discredit the sources ahead, but we want to make sure our readers understand that these series have not been acknowledged or confirmed by anyone at Lucasfilm or Disney to this point.
Back in January 2020, a team of podcasters running a show called Kessel Run Transmissions dropped an interesting story: following the completion of The Clone Wars, the next Star Wars animated series would serve as a Rebels sequel that follows Ahsoka and Sabine as they look for Ezra. Initially, the team at Kessel Run Transmissions expected this news to drop shortly after the end of The Clone Wars before going into further detail at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim; with COVID-19 affecting the Disney+ streaming plans and the Anaheim event subsequently cancelled, it’s uncertain when reveals for new projects will happen, though if the show exists, it should still arrive in time for the end of the year. Star Wars animated projects are often completed well before their release, sometimes years. But even so, the team at Kessel Run Transmissions – Noah and Corey – have shared multiple teases at larger plans for Lucasfilm animation aside from just the Rebels sequel in the past few weeks:
Lucasfilms animation department is very busy.
— Noah Outlaw (@OutlawNoah) June 9, 2020
And then some..
— Noah Outlaw (@OutlawNoah) June 9, 2020
https://t.co/w1xS8m0a9S pic.twitter.com/lgsnAwtlEK
— Corey Van Dyke (@Corey_WolfPack) June 9, 2020
— Corey Van Dyke (@Corey_WolfPack) June 9, 2020
The series itself is finished, but… there is something more coming with certain characters. https://t.co/krJGu0IzNw
— Corey Van Dyke (@Corey_WolfPack) June 12, 2020
https://twitter.com/KRTransmissions/status/1271959795667480577
If you love Echo, you’ll love The Clone Wars spin off series. pic.twitter.com/ojTVwJM6um
— Corey Van Dyke (@Corey_WolfPack) June 17, 2020
Rex and Ahsoka will appear, but they are not leading the series.
— Corey Van Dyke (@Corey_WolfPack) June 17, 2020
The future of Star Wars Animation is definitely bright. I am very happy we are returning to the same quality as Clone Wars. That was very missed. As a massive TCW fan, I’m glad Disney listened to the fans. pic.twitter.com/4dgPYI1q1n
— Corey Van Dyke (@Corey_WolfPack) June 17, 2020
Filoni never introduces characters to just toss them aside and never use them again.
— Corey Van Dyke (@Corey_WolfPack) June 17, 2020
More recently, the Kessel Run Transmissions crew are upping the ante (discussion timestamped 25:54 to 33:22) apparently, not only is there going to be a new animated series, but there will also be a second, serving as a successor to The Clone Wars. The report is that this other series is set shortly after the end of The Clone Wars and Revenge of the Sith, and it will involve Rex, Ahsoka, Echo, and Wolffe. Here’s what they had to say about the project:
“When I initially heard about the Rebels sequel a few months ago, I was also told that there was another animated show in development, and for the longest time, I couldn’t get a firm answer on what that was. Finally, we heard very recently that it’s a Clone Wars spin-off animated series… It is after the Siege of Mandalore, but it’s more of a spin-off show, which I guess is kind of the same thing. The isn’t much we are really allowed to say right now – we will, in time, for sure – but the little teases I can give you guys is that certain characters in that series, we were recently introduced to in the seventh season of The Clone Wars, and they were well-received… What that makes me think is that this series has something to do Wolffe and Rex, and how that sort of happened, and how they together, and maybe found the other clones.”
Judging by the description, and the aforementioned tease of Echo’s involvement, it seems like the series will heavily involve the Bad Batch and potentially even several of the other clones.
Corey expects the spin-off to be announced ahead of the Rebels sequel, although it will almost certainly air afterward:
So I’m pretty certain The Clone Wars spin off will be announced before the Rebels Sequel. Hopefully we’ll get an official reveal this summer. I’d imagine this was planned to be revealed at Celebration.
— Corey Van Dyke (@Corey_WolfPack) June 17, 2020
Yeah I can’t imagine this being a multiple season show.
— Corey Van Dyke (@Corey_WolfPack) June 17, 2020
Meanwhile, Noah has come forward and confirmed that the show is indeed set after Order 66, starring the Bad Batch as the main characters, with several staff that worked on The Clone Wars involved with the new series:
The Bad Batch arc in S7 was a back door pilot for this new series as a way to get the audience familiar with these characters. Rex and Ahsoka willl also appear in a limited capacity. Production is far along and you can expect it in 2021.
— Noah Outlaw (@OutlawNoah) June 18, 2020
We have heard from several different reliable sources on this. Corey and I are big TCW fans and are just as hyped as everyone else. This is something we’d never make up or guess at, we wouldn’t do that for anything that we put out.
— Noah Outlaw (@OutlawNoah) June 18, 2020
So with two alleged ongoing animated series, should we expect one to last longer than the other? The Kessel Run Transmissions team certainly seem to think so, as the scope of this series is more likely to have a limited run as opposed to covering the long period of time that passes between Revenge of the Sith and Rebels. Meanwhile, the Rebels sequel seems like it has the potential to go on for a longer period of time. In any case, Lucasfilm Animation has likely been very busy these past few months, so we can’t wait to see what’s ahead for the future of Star Wars cartoons.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels are streaming, in their entirety, on Disney+.
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.
