Mike and Matt are back to talk Spark of Rebellion, the series premiere of the Disney XD series, Star Wars Rebels! Plus they talk about the Season 2 pickup, Greg Weisman, and we announce the winner of our first contest! All that and more on this all-new episode of The Rebels Podcast! Welcome to the Rebellion.
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A couple of interesting tweets from New York Times reporter Brooks Barnes were made today concerning “Star Wars Rebels,” where he says that the premiere movie “Spark of Rebellion” will re-air on ABC in prime time, and will include an extra scene featuring Darth Vader! Here are his tweets:
A fun little scooplet: Lucasfilm’s #StarWarsRebels will re-air on ABC in primetime on Sunday Oct. 26 w/ new Darth Vader scene cc: @starwars
— Brooks Barnes (@brooksbarnesNYT) October 6, 2014
Will James Earl Jones voice? “By order of the Empire, I decline to comment,” a Disney spokeswoman says. #starwarsrebels @starwars
— Brooks Barnes (@brooksbarnesNYT) October 6, 2014
While we don’t have confirmation from Disney or Lucasfilm about this yet, it is definitely exciting if this report is accurate and that we may be seeing Darth Vader show up in the series sooner rather than later. I’m guessing it will be a brief appearance, but you just can’t help but wonder what this added scene with Vader will include! Stay tuned for more details!
StarWars.com has posted the second part of their interview with “Star Wars Rebels” Executive Producer Simon Kinberg, where he discusses writing some of key scenes from the “Spark of Rebellion” premiere. Here’s a portion of the interview:
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StarWars.com: I’d like to walk through the episode in detail. The first thing that really struck me was the opening shot, with the Star Destroyer passing over Ezra. I saw it as a great visual callback to the beginning of A New Hope, but it makes it much more personal and shows that the Empire has arrived at this planet and has brought tyranny with it. How did you come up with that opening?
Simon Kinberg: Well, you interpreted it absolutely correctly. It is absolutely a callback, a homage to A New Hope, and it is an attempt to, in some ways, ground that image even more in character, and to create a sort of intimacy to go with the epic nature of the shot. But in my memory, it’s not a shot I came to on my own. I think when I wrote my original draft of the script, they were two separate things. There was a shot of a kid, being Ezra, alone on the balcony of this abandoned communication tower where he lives, looking out at the city. And then you see the Destroyers over Lothal [Capital City] to indicate to the audience A) what time period we’re in in the Star Wars world, and B) that, like you say, it’s a world oppressed and a time of tyranny. I believe it was [executive producer] Dave Filoni, as he does very often, who took ideas that were maybe separate or not fully formed, and found a way to dramatize them visually. This is the first time I’ve worked in animation; this is the first time I’ve ever really worked in TV. So I’ve had to have a very steep learning curve about ways of telling stories, because it’s very different than telling a two-hour feature live action. One of the many things I’ve learned from Dave is how to tell the most story in the least amount of shots, and how to tell things even more visually than I do in live action. That’s an example of one where Dave pushed those shots together and created something. You know, we would have the same information if they were separate. But the idea combining these things, it’s not just about information or the efficiency of storytelling, but it’s also about a feeling. I think it’s so evocative of what this kid is feeling in this moment, because it’s also this sense of he’s a little kid against this massive Empire. You get how small that little kid is, standing up on his tower, alone, looking like he’s a dot against this massive landscape, and then with this thing overhead. You get, “How is that kid, by himself, going to somehow lead to a day when those ships can be destroyed?”
StarWars.com: And you understand his attitude of, “Why would anyone fight back? You can’t.”
Simon Kinberg: Totally, totally. One of the things we tried to do with the show, and not in a heavy-handed way, is we wanted it to feel relevant. George [Lucas] has, so brilliantly, made [Star Wars] relevant to the politics and the reality of the moment. So, it’s a galaxy far, far away, but it resembles ours in some ways.
One of the things we hope that people take from the show, especially the next generation, is that you can make a difference. If you really believe in yourself and trust other people around you and question things, you can make a difference. Part of what’s so fun about the show is that you know eventually the Rebels are going to win. I liken it to watching the five farmers that sat in a farmhouse, talking for the first time about the American Revolution. How could a bunch of farmers take on the biggest empire in the world that’s across an ocean? How can we take the power back? It would have seemed almost science fiction to imagine that they could, and yet it was their belief and willingness to sacrifice and trust each other that enabled them to do it. But yeah, you should feel that sense of, “I’m just a little speck in the universe until people treat me differently.”
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You can check out the full interview over at StarWars.com, and be sure to check back for the final part of the interview later this week.
After the East Coast premiere of “Star Wars Rebels” finished, StarWars.com immediately launched a new video series called “Rebels Recon,” where it will give fans an inside look at the series! The first episode is all about the premiere movie “Spark of Rebellion,” featuring interviews with the cast and crew from the LA premiere, as well as a sneak peak at the next new episode, “Droids in Distress.” You can check out the first episode below:
This is definitely a cool new video series to go along with “Star Wars Rebels,” and it’s just another thing to look forward to every week along with the show!
To get us even more hyped up for the premiere of “Star Wars Rebels” tonight, StarWars.com has posted the first of a series of interviews with Executive Producer Simon Kinberg, where he talks about a wide variety of topics regarding “Star Wars Rebels” and how he got involved working on several different “Star Wars” projects. Here is a portion of the interview:
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StarWars.com: Before we delve into “Spark of Rebellion,” can you talk about how you came to Lucasfilm and got involved with Star Wars Rebels?
Simon Kinberg: Forever, I’ve been a fan of Star Wars and I’ve been a huge fan of [Lucasfilm president] Kathy Kennedy. Star Wars, I never had access to, but Kathy I’d met a bit over the years, and had always wanted to work with her just because I’ve loved so many of her films.
When she was coming to work at Lucasfilm we had a meeting. She said, ‘I’m going to be working on Star Wars, and is it something you might be interested in?’ And I said, ‘Uh, yeah.’ We just started having casual conversations, which led to a meeting with George Lucas.
StarWars.com: Oh, wow.
Simon Kinberg: Yeah. It was one of the most thrilling and daunting meetings of my life, as you can imagine. That meeting was about working on the films. I was really excited about it, and signed on to write one of the movies, which I’m gonna do, and to be part of the community of writers who were talking generally about what to do with the new Lucasfilm and Star Wars properties. That’s how I ended up a consultant on [Star Wars:] Episode VII.
It was about a few months after that — I’d been meeting with them, talking about the movies — that Kiri Hart, who heads up the Story Group, actually e-mailed me. ‘Hey, one of the first things we’re going to do is an animated show for Disney networks.’ She knew that I had a five- and nine-year-old. Two boys. And she knows that Star Wars is a big point of connection for me and my kids. She thought, because of that, it might be a great, fun thing to work on that could access my love for Star Wars, and also theirs.
At [San Diego] Comic-Con [this year], I was standing on the convention floor where they had the huge booth for Rebels. A massive video screen in the middle, huge posters of all the characters, life-size models of the characters. It was really the biggest footprint at Comic-Con this year. It was kind of astounding. I was standing there, in awe of it, just looking up at these characters that hadn’t existed a year and a half before, and suddenly were the new generation of Star Wars characters. I scrolled back to find that initial e-mail from Kiri that sort of set it all in motion, at least for me.
At the time, when I first read that e-mail, they had a general sense of the show, but none of the specifics in terms of the characters and stories, and really, the world of it. So, yeah, I wrote back to that e-mail, ‘Absolutely, anything with Star Wars, I’m interested in. I really like the idea of being able to do something that would be targeted toward my kids and a new generation of Star Wars fans.’ And then we just started meeting: me, and Kiri, and [creative executive] Rayne Roberts, the Story Group, and [associate producer] Carrie Beck. We just built it from the ground up, together.
One of the first things they said was, they had the paradigm of the A-Team, where they wanted it to be a group. We [agreed], from the beginning, that we wanted it to be the origin story of the Rebel Alliance. So, they really loved the structure of the ensemble crew doing missions week to week, and being a little bit on the outskirts of the law the way that the A-Team was. I think the thing I brought to it, initially, was focusing those characters as a family. The A-Team is a different model, because they’re all roughly the same age. They’re all adults, and their dynamic is as friends and peers. I thought it would be great if this crew could be built around the different archetypes of family members. So you have the father, the mother, the older brother, the middle sister, the little brother who’s the sort of runt of the litter, and the pet. I mean, Chopper is the family dog or cat.
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Make sure you check out the full interview over at StarWars.com, where Simon Kinberg talks about developing the different characters of the series, and being involved with kicking off this new era of “Star Wars.”
USA Today has premiered a brand new behind the scenes video for “Star Wars Rebels” that focuses on the look they wanted to have for the lightsabers in the series. In the video you’ll hear Dave Filoni and CG supervisor Joel Aron talk about how they wanted to capture the look of the lightsabers from”A New Hope” for the ones they’re going to use in Rebels, and got help to achieve that from “A New Hope” set decorator Roger Christian.
It’s safe to say they achieved their goal with how they wanted to portray the lightsabers in “Star Wars Rebels,” and you will be able to see it for yourself, when “Star Wars Rebels” premieres tonight on the Disney Channel at 9:00 PM!
The Wrap has gotten a new exclusive clip from “Star Wars Rebels” that features both Hera and Sabine investigating an old base that looks to be from the Clone Wars!
This was a clip that was first shown at San Diego Comic Con back in July, but was never released online until now. But now that it is online, the thing I probably liked most about it, was seeing a bunch of old Republic ships from the Clone Wars in that abandoned base! Looking forward to finding out what and where this abandoned base actually is, and what brings them there.
The Wall Street Journal has an exclusive clip from tomorrow’s premiere movie of “Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion,” where you can check out a great scene that features Kanan explaining the force to Ezra.
You’ll be able to see how the rest of this scene plays out tomorrow, when “Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion” premieres on the Disney Channel at 9:00 PM!
(Update: Greg Greg Weisman has confirmed to Newsarama that he is indeed leaving the series after season 1)
Tomorrow is the big premiere of “Star Wars Rebels” on the Disney Channel, but today is a pretty big day for the series as well, as StarWars.com has just announced that a second season has already been ordered before the series actually premieres! Here is the announcement from StarWars.com:
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One day ahead of a highly-anticipated television premiere, Disney Channels Worldwide President and Chief Creative Officer Gary Marsh announced plans to produce a second season of the animated series Star Wars Rebels from Lucasfilm.
Marsh said, “The global expectations for this series could not have been any higher. And I am proud to say that the team at Lucasfilm has delivered something that has surpassed even that incredibly high bar – artistically and thematically.”
Star Wars Rebels has received acclaim from critics and fans alike since its advance debut screening at San Diego Comic-Con in July, followed by special previews this week on WATCH Disney XD and other digital platforms. Star Wars Rebels will be introduced via a television movie, Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion, premiering Friday, October 3 (9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel in the U.S. and Monday, October 6 (8:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney XD in the U.S. It ushers in the series beginning Monday, October 13 (9:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney XD in the U.S. The series will air in 34 languages across 163 countries in over 400 million households.
“We all love making ‘Rebels,’ so we couldn’t be happier that it’s moving into a second season,” says Lucasfilm VP of Creative Development, Kiri Hart. “Our fantastic creative team is dreaming up new stories for the crew of the Ghost that will expand their experience of the galaxy and deepen their heroes’ journeys. The fan response to the show has been amazing, humbling and inspiring. We’re looking forward to the adventure ahead.”
The creative team behind the second season of Star Wars Rebels includes Executive Producers Simon Kinberg and Dave Filoni, and Co-Executive Producer and Supervising Writer Henry Gilroy.
Star Wars Rebels continues the epic story-telling tradition that has captivated generations of Star Wars fans since 1977. Its story is set in the era between the film’s prequel trilogy and original trilogy and is in a unique position to bridge the two both aesthetically and generationally. Honoring the past while moving boldly into the future, it features fantastic icons from Star Wars while introducing a new generation to the far corners of the galaxy, one full of exotic new creatures and characters. “
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The one interesting note from this announcement is that Executive Producer Greg Weisman was not listed as one of the producers for season 2, but that writer Henry Gilroy will now be the Co-Executive Producer for the second season. So it looks Greg Weisman’s work on the series will only be for season 1. But it’s definitely great to see that Disney is showing this much confidence in the show to already order a second season before the premiere actually airs. But really, there wasn’t any doubt that Dave Filoni and his crew would deliver another great “Star Wars” series!
You’ll be able to see for yourself how good the show is tomorrow, when it debuts on The Disney Channel at 9:00 PM!
USA Today has gotten an exclusive clip from an upcoming episode of “Star Wars Rebels” that shows more of a very cool Lightsaber duel between Kanan and The Inquisitor! While this clip mainly focus on the Lightsaber duel, there is a big spoiler in this clip that you will notice in the background, and there is a piece of dialogue that reveals Kanan’s master to those who haven’t read “A New Dawn” yet. But if you don’t mind some spoilers, you can check out the awesome clip below!
It looks like the Inquisitor is gonna have an awesome debut on “Star Wars Rebels,” and I cant wait to see more of hm! Be sure to check out the full article over at USA Today for some words from Dave Filoni on the Empire and the Inquisitor.