New Star Wars animated show "Rebels" coming fall 2014

[Christopher]

There is a female Twi'lek character depicted in one of the Lego sets:

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/notyetamovie/news/?a=94551

But that's it so far.

 

[cooleddie74]

There'll be a female character at some point. It wouldn't be a wise writing move in this day and age to depict a chapter in the SW universe with an all-male lead cast. Even the original films had Leia and a couple of other female characters sprinkled in here and there even if that galaxy often felt like it contained more testosterone than an L.A. gym.

After the success of Ahsoka I'd be very surprised if they eschewed introducing another female heroine at some point not very long after the debut.

 

[Christopher]

There'll be a female character at some point. It wouldn't be a wise writing move in this day and age to depict a chapter in the SW universe with an all-male lead cast.

Unfortunately, it's not just about writing, it's about network marketing strategies. We've heard how Cartoon Network has cancelled shows that they felt had "too much" appeal to girls, since they assume that the only shows that will sell toys are ones that are marketed solely toward boys. Disney XD doesn't seem much better, considering that they replaced Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, which had a number of strong female leads, with Avengers Assemble, which only has one female lead who was barely even a presence in the few episodes I bothered to watch. The other two Marvel shows in the same continuity, Ultimate Spider-Man and Hulk and the Agents of SMASH, also have teams consisting of several men and only one woman.

So since this show is on Disney XD, I'm concerned it may be under the same kind of pressure to be aggressively boy-oriented and marginalize female characters.

 

[cooleddie74]

I hope that's not the case here. Star Wars has always benefitted from the presence of one or more strong female characters and I'm already skeptical enough about the show airing on XD. Let's hope somebody at the channel sees some sort of light and decides it's okay to take a risk on a female heroine during the course of the series.

 

[Christopher]

I'm still hoping we'll get to see at least some of young Leia and her formative years on Alderaan. I've always been curious about her backstory, and she's the one member of the original core cast who could plausibly be involved -- and arguably should be involved -- with a series about the rise of the Rebel Alliance.

 

[cooleddie74]

I couldn't agree more. Seeing the development of kid Leia during the course of her formative years would be so interesting to watch and I hope the writers also feel this. I've been wanting to see Leia's childhood depicted on some sort of screen for ages.

 

[Set Harth]

There is a female Twi'lek character depicted in one of the Lego sets:

http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/notyetamovie/news/?a=94551

But that's it so far.

A green-skinned female Twi'lek rebel in the Dark Times era who shoots blasters? Now where have I seen that before?

http://static1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121006112221/starwars/images/1/11/Streets_of_Shadows.jpg

So basically...

Kanan Jarrus = Jax Pavan
Hera Syndulla = Laranth Tarak

and it's starting to look like...

Ezra Bridger = Kajin Savaros

 

[Wadjda]

Kanan is not a detective.

 

[Mr Light]

Of the two character we've seen so far, it sounds like a good series premise. A disgraced former Jedi training a teenage Han Solo type who has the Force but doesn't know it. Hopefully the female character will be strong. Are there only the three main characters then?

 

[Christopher]

Are there only the three main characters then?

The Lego set shows more characters than that. In addition to the four that have already been announced -- the Inquisitor, Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, and C1-10P/"Chopper" -- there's the Twi'lek Hera Syndulla and a character named Zeb Orrelios, whose species I don't recognize. IMDb says that Hera is played by Vanessa Marshall (Young Justice's Black Canary, Spectacular Spider-Man's Mary Jane, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes's Black Widow) and Zeb is David Oyelowo (Jacobs from Rise of the Planet of the Apes).

 

[JD]

They also have a video up with comments from several of the behind the scenes people, the voice actor for Ezra, and some rough footage.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

I'm certainly intrigued by the characters so far. But it's telling that they haven't introduced a female yet. Also, the style does seem strikingly more simplistic when compared to just how detailed and gritty the Clone Wars was becoming. And there are legitimate concerns about how far the Disney mandate will gloss over the harsh realities of conflict - realities that Clone Wars embraced.

Certainly, I don't think we'll see anything close to how Maul dealt with Satine and Vizsla. But I really do hope they don't go too far in the other direction. Filoni clearly can handle creating a complex, detailed television story ... I just hope he isn't forced to over simplify it for Disney XD.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I didn't see a thing I liked in the Coming Soon video. Those oversized stormtrooper helmets, assuming those are production proportions, would drive me crazy pretty quickly. This is coming off as the Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog of the Star Wars universe, a.k.a. Bob the Discount Jedi, and I'm not liking the sound of it. It's a good thing it's airing on Disney Channel first, because if I don't like what I see there, it will be an all but certain pass. As of all this, it seems likely targeted exclusively at a much younger audience than first run OT fans like me. Not really that unexpected, though.

 

[Christopher]

Also, the style does seem strikingly more simplistic when compared to just how detailed and gritty the Clone Wars was becoming.

We haven't seen any finished footage yet, just concept art and low-res rough-draft animation. So it's premature to assume anything about the level of detail the art will have.

Although I like the hand-drawn concept art and character models better than the 3D stuff.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

Also, the style does seem strikingly more simplistic when compared to just how detailed and gritty the Clone Wars was becoming.

We haven't seen any finished footage yet, just concept art and low-res rough-draft animation. So it's premature to assume anything about the level of detail the art will have.

Huh?

the publicity photos seem to represent the full level of detail.

If we go by those publicity photos ... which would "seem to represent the full level of detail" as you put it, then the results are, as I mention, "strikingly more simplistic when compared to just how detailed and gritty the Clone Wars was becoming."

 

[Thestral]

Greg Weisman's part of the team running this show. I have faith wrt female characters.

 

[cooleddie74]

And don't forget Filoni. He oversaw a number of female characters on The Clone Wars and made them very memorable and textured. There'll be a strong female character at some point in spite of XD's demographics skewing male and action-oriented. Somebody at some point would probably mandate it anyways just to avoid flak.

 

[Thestral]

Oh definitely, but I've not watched The Clone Wars. Young Justice and particularly Gargoyles though...

 

[Wadjda]

Of the two character we've seen so far, it sounds like a good series premise. A disgraced former Jedi training a teenage Han Solo type who has the Force but doesn't know it. Hopefully the female character will be strong. Are there only the three main characters then?

She is a relative of Cham Syndulla. Of course she will be strong.

 

[davejames]

I didn't see a thing I liked in the Coming Soon video. Those oversized stormtrooper helmets, assuming those are production proportions, would drive me crazy pretty quickly. This is coming off as the Wendy, Marvin, and Wonder Dog of the Star Wars universe, a.k.a. Bob the Discount Jedi, and I'm not liking the sound of it. It's a good thing it's airing on Disney Channel first, because if I don't like what I see there, it will be an all but certain pass. As of all this, it seems likely targeted exclusively at a much younger audience than first run OT fans like me. Not really that unexpected, though.

Well it's set in the world of the OT, so it's already a thousand times cooler and more interesting as far as I'm concerned. TCW show might have had some good characters and stories, but ultimately the war and prequel setting were so uninteresting I was just never able to really care about any of it.

And I think some of these characters actually DO sound pretty cool. They've got a lot of the same rough around the edges, hard-scrabble feel that Han and Luke had. Which is definitely preferable to a bunch of dull Jedi, at least as far as I'm concerned.