As we Star Wars fanboys and girls (and I say that proudly) await the next chapter in the Star Wars saga to unfold as part of Disney’s takeover, some may forget the action coming to the small screen as well.
Simon Kinberg (Executive Producer of the upcoming animated Star Wars Rebels show) wants to take us back to the past with these stories, allowing us to explore the beginnings of the Rebel Alliance . “I always loved origin stories and the origin of an entire organization, I don’t think we’ve seen that before, and we’ve approached it in a real-world way. If I told the story of the American Revolution, I wouldn’t want to start with the most famous battle, I’d want to start when it was just four guys in a room, the earliest spark of that seems dramatic and cool. That’s a big part of the fun of it, the little back-room dealings, the first time you see it’s possible to stand up to the Empire.” Kinberg said.
Also, as the J.J. Abrams version will focus on the post-Empire era, Rebels will put us back in the familiar space (no pun intended) of the Empire-heavy original trilogy. Kinberg says, “The world we’re creating is an Imperial world. You’re seeing the impact of the Empire, of Stormtroopers around the galaxy, abusing and oppressing people. Thematically and politically, it goes to some dark places. But for the tone of the show we took our cues from the original movies…I think the closest intended voice of the show is A New Hope . So there are places where we get into darker backstories, there are places we see how cruel and malevolent the Empire can be, but for the most part it’s a fun and character-driven story.”
Star Wars Rebels is due to premiere in fall of 2014 on the Disney Channel.