The rebellion has officially begun, as ‘Star Wars’ returns to animated form with Disney XD’s new animated series ‘Star Wars Rebels.’ Sure, J.J. Abrams might not have brought anything from the new trilogy to Comic-Con 2014, but see the spark that ignites the rebellion with our full account of the ‘Star Wars Rebels’ panel at this year’s Comic-Con!

  • We saw three total clips from the series, in addition to a brand-new trailer that reveals that C-3PO and R2-D2 will be back! Neither Dave Filoni nor Simon Kinberg would clarify how much we might see from original trilogy characters, though we’ll see more than the trailers imply. At one point, Kinberg mentioned he wasn’t sure if he should call the character Obi-Wan or Ben in the scripts. Check out the new trailer:
  • The first clip saw Kanan squaring off against the Inquisitor and his spinning dual-bladed lightsaber for control of Ezra. Secondly, we saw Ezra fleeing from Stormtroopers on rooftop, while Ezra flies a TIE fighter sideways alongside him, hovering just over the streets while teasing Ezra for protection in the fighter. Thirdly, we saw Sabine and Hera investigating an abandoned hanger, only to be confronted by a number of deadly creatures that keep away from the light. Check out the first clip, thanks to Entertainment Weekly. UPDATED: Now you can see the second clip, too.

  • To answer burning ‘Clone Wars’ fans questions, Filoni tellingly teased that it would be “aaaaabsolutely insane” not to feature some of the characters he’d helped to create, and love. Note the emphasis on the “A,” folks. #AhsokaLives
  • Oh, and for what it’s worth, any returning ‘Clone Wars’ characters would naturally recruit their old ‘Clone Wars’ voice actors.
  • As for the show itself, producers pointed out that we’d see “rebels” more than a “rebellion” at first, as the characters form something of a family, and primarily concern themselves with survival, food and gas, rather than launching any foolishly broad attempts on the Empire. Family and comedy will be strong aspects of the series, though Filoni also wanted to return a certain sense of tension and suspense to the “hierarchy” of villains. “Vader was no joke,” says the producer, adding that characters would flee rather than stay to fight him.
  • Most of the galaxy still believes that the Jedi are traitors, though we’ll see individually how the Empire treats people badly, casting a more villainous light on their portrayal.
  • Freddie Prinze Jr. could only say so much of his “cowboy Jedi” character Kanan, though he made mention of an “adolescent dark side” within the character that likely stems from the specific circumstances Order 66 took on his training. Ezra looks up to Kanan, and as such, training the boy helps keep Kanan closer to the light side.
  • That said, lightsaber fights might be few and far between, “held back” to be more integral to actual character development. Jedis are still in hiding, so Kanan can’t exactly take it out at every instance. Still, Force powers come in handy for stealth, as the new trailer showed us.
  • Kinberg naturally couldn’t say anything about the ‘Star Wars’ spinoffs, though he wouldn’t rule out ‘Rebels’ characters being utilized in another fashion, considering the “synergy” bandied about at the “New Lucasfilm.”

Well, what say you? Are you excited for 'Star Wars Rebels' and by all we've learned from the Comic-Con 2014 panel? Tell us what you want to see from the new series in the comments!

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