Jordan Maison at Cinelinx says he’s heard that the next season of Star Wars Rebels will be the show’s last., and that it will be succeeded by a new cartoon. This does make a certain amount of sense, and cartoons do tend to have short lifespans.
There have been similar rumors in the past, saying the next cartoon may be set in the sequel era. Personally I find that unlikely until (at least) after Episode VIII, but it’s certainly not impossible.
This is just me speculating, but there’s also the possibility of a new series that takes some of the Rebels characters forward in a sort of rebranding, thus a ‘new’ show. Maybe Rebels becomes Rebellion?
In any case, stay tuned. We already know (officially) that Rogue One is going to come into play, and that certainly could play a role in the series endgame. I also expect, if this turns out to be true, we’ll heard sooner rather than later.
For the record, here’s what Pablo has to say. (He also apparently flat-out called it BS at one point.)
Pablo Hidalgo + what FPJr said in his interview in First Order Transmission #197…
I’d say this is a very piss-poor rumor.
Someone wants to get famous. I think that someone succeeded.
Jordan did say it was from only a single source. But I also wouldn’t count out a rebranding, particularly if something drastic happens in S3. Technically it wouldn’t be a new show…
Also, why don’t more podcasters write up news from their shows? Probably the most effective publicity they have, because how many people actually have time to listen to dozens (hundreds?) of podcasts? (TBF, maybe they did do that and I just never saw it, Rebels not not being my focus in the least. Still, it’s common issue.)
Sigh. Modern fandom.
Disney does tend to err on the side of ending shows sooner rather than later (see a lot of their live-action, “Gravity Falls”, etc, though that one was also the show runner himself wanting to wrap it up). But if Pablo says it’s not so, I’ll believe him. I could also see a “rebranding” based on Rogue One and an eventful season three. Season Two already put a big setup in place–Kanan’s eyes, Ahsoka’s apparent demise, Ezra’s constant tempting to the Dark, Hera being more and more part of the formal Rebellion, Kallus being set up as something other than a pure villain (if nothing else, an honorable enemy). So if Season 3 does wrap it up, or move it on to an entirely different setup, I’m okay with that, too. Really, I’ve seen way more shows that went on well past the expiration date than ended too soon. (X-Files, TNG, I am looking at your both.)
Gravity Falls was such a great show.