Star Wars Rebels – What would you like to see?

Star Wars is coming back to the small screen!

“Star Wars Rebels” is going to be asked to carry the torch until new movies come in 2015.   “Star Wars The Clone Wars” ended it’s 5 year run with what many, including myself, consider to be its best season.  Now, while we wait for more Star Wars, I think it’s a good time to look at this new show and speculate a little on what could be a major part of the saga.

You should already know that the show debuts this fall and that it will begin as a one-hour special on the Disney Channel, followed by a series on Disney XD.  It takes place between Episodes III and IV, about 14 years after the events of the prequel trilogy in a time when the rebellion is forming and the jedi have all but been stomped out of existence.

The official “Star Wars Rebels” logline:
“Star Wars Rebels” continues the epic tradition of the legendary ‘Star Wars’ saga with all-new exciting, action-packed adventures. It is a dark time in the galaxy, as the evil Galactic Empire tightens its grip of power from world to world. As the series begins, Imperial forces have occupied a remote planet, ruling with an iron fist and ruining the lives of its people.

But there are a select few who are brave enough to stand up against the endless Stormtroopers and TIE fighters of the Empire: the clever and motley crew of the starship “Ghost.” Together, this ragtag group will face threatening new villains, have thrilling adventures, and become heroes.

This leads me to ask myself a couple of things, “What does that mean to those things that we know about this universe?”  & “What might we see in this new series?”  We are told that Billy Dee will be voicing Lando in the show.  I’ve also heard the rumor that Boba Fett will make an appearance, and recently, a video has leaked showing what appears to be Obi Wan.

1) Darth Vader?  (Survey says:  90%… likely not a large role, but he’ll be around)

Let’s get to the big one first.  We know that Vader is out there in this time period.  His purge of jedi has been going on for 14 years, so there can’t be many left.  The young jedi in the cast of “Rebels” would certainly draw Vader’s attention.  Of course, no one knows him as Anakin Skywalker except the Emperor, Bail, and Ben and Yoda in hiding so it’s unlikely we’ll see any Anakin references, but will we see the Dark Lord?  I think we will at some point.  They could have some interesting interaction between him and the new Inquisitor.  Parallels to the way Vader interacted with the Emperor’s Hand and Prince Xizor would not be unlikely.

2) Han Solo?  (Survey says: 70%… They’ll tie it to the new movies somewhere… I like those odds)

Is there anyone that people would want to see more in this than Han Solo?  Chewie got a cameo in “Clone Wars”.  Who better to lend a quick hand to the crew of the Ghost than the old pirate himself? We know, thanks to some responses from people who would know, that the show will have close ties to the new movies coming in 2015, but what will those ties be?  We also know that pretty much anything could happen since expanded universe material is not going to factor heavily into the stories.  I think it only makes sense that they’ll connect to the Original Trilogy as much as possible to get people excited about the new movies featuring some of our OT favorites.

3) Mara Jade?  (Survey says: 50%… This one depends on how “canon” she is)

This rounds out the holy trinity of fanboy wishes for this series I think.  Could we see the Emperor’s Hand?  According to what’s been written, the Emperor himself took Mara from her parents at a young age.  A teenage Mara Jade could factor into this show, especially if she is to be included in the new trilogy.

4) Obi Wan, Leia, Bail Organa, other good guys?  (certainly some tie in will be necessary with these rebel leaders)

Obi Wan is rumored, but will we see the formation of the rebellion?  We’ve seen different variations of how it was formed through cut-scenes, novels, comic books, and videos games, but what we get this time around will be THE CANON answer.  I would think we’ll get a good dose of new characters, but using characters people have already seen like Mon Mothma, Ackbar, etc. would only make sense.

5) Other bad guys?  (Black Sun… .01%, Bounty Hunters… 60%,  EU baddies… Assaj 50%, others 0%)

We could get Xizor and Black Sun.  We could get the Bounty Hunters Guild.  I would think that most of this is just wishful thinking as they will probably come up with their own set of bad guys, but wouldn’t you like to see Assaj Ventress, Lumiya, Nom Anor, or Aurra Sing?  I would love it!

6) Other Jedi?  (Ahsoka 50%, others 10%)

Ahsoka Tano, Dass Jennir, Quinlan Vos, K’Kruhk, Rahm Kota, and A’Sharad Hett are all alive at this point in time (or so we assume based on EU that may or may not have happened anymore).  They are all Expanded Universe jedi that likely won’t make an appearance, but Quinlan Vos did appear in “Clone Wars” and K’Kruhk appeared in the Cartoon Network Clone Wars shorts.

7) Other Inquisitors?

The Inquisitor name goes all the way back to the early 90’s with the West End Games and Wizards of the Coast publications and role playing game.  Inquisitors have been a part of books and is even a playable class in the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG.  They may go with just one, but my gut tells me there will be other agents of the Empire.

 

So who do you think you’ll see?  I’d love to see some debate in the comments about who would be best to throw into this new cartoon series.  Remember, if a character makes it into this show, that almighty “canon” stamp will forever be there… or not.  

~kknight – is a lifelong Star Wars fanatic that is incredibly excited to be working with T-bone.  My personal top 5 list to see in this would be Vader, Solo and Chewie, Assaj as a bounty hunter, IG-88, and K’Kruhk (big fan).  The pic topping this article is fanart… there’s lots of it already from fans apparently pulling for their favs.

Extra Time:
On February 4, 2014, Lucasfilm distributed six original artwork pieces by Amy Beth Christenson exclusively to six select websites across the Internet— Empire Online has them all —to promote Star Wars Rebels. The artwork was presented in the form of Imperial propaganda posters.  Enjoy.