Rumor: Making Star Wars has a few Rebels details. Some of these we’ve already seen in Rebels media and toys. Honestly, I’m surprised we’re not seeing more Rebels stuff at this point, since we’re only a handful of months out from the premiere.
Disney is selling a lot of lightsabers
Disney is selling a lot of lightsabers. 10 million a year, in various forms from keychains to the expensive collectibles. We can also expect to start seeing Rebels products in August.
Rumor: Are these the baddies in Episode VII?
Today we have a rumor that Sith Inquisitors, or “Jedi Hunters,” will figure into Episode VII as villains. The folks at Making Star Wars claim to have heard this from sources at Pinewood.
The characters are not full Sith, but they “worship the Sith and want to resurrect them” and “their mandate was to protect the Sith at all costs and insure their survival.” Supposedly they’ve been hunting Luke since the Emperor’s death – and that’s one reason why we’re not going to see anything like the New Republic in the film.
It’s said that both Adam Driver and Lupita Nyong’o will be among this group. (As well as David Oyelowo, who was rumored to be involved in both Episode VII and Rebels, but has never been confirmed in any way.) Driver’s character has connections to the Big 3 and turned… No, I still don’t think he’s a Skywalker/Solo himself, but it’s not too big a stretch to consider that he’s perhaps a former student of Luke’s. (Shades of many Expanded Universe characters there, though I doubt he’s going to end up being “Kyp Durron” or anything so obvious as that.)
UPDATE: Eric at TFN has doubts about Oyelowo – he think he’s voicing a different Rebels character. UPDATE #2 (6/17:) And now he’s saying it’s all wrong. Shrug.
Still, we do know from Rebels that the ‘Inquisitors’ are indeed making the jump to canon. I’m not going to jump right on board this, but it’s certainly possible. After all, weren’t we just talking at JadeCon about the Sith’s apparent lack of a contingency plan?
Billy Dee Williams is in Rebels
Billy Dee Williams is indeed in Rebels, per himself. Gasp!
Video: Two Rebels clips from Star Wars Weekends
Disney Parks has posted two the Rebels clips shown at the Weekends so far… I’ve heard there’s a different one for each weekend, so expect a few more of these.
A look inside Ezra Bridger’s Rebel Journal
A look inside Ezra Bridger’s Rebel Journal. Making Star Wars’ Johnamarie Macias is at BookCon, where fans can get a look at some of the the Rebels tie-in, which apparently debuts (along with the show?) in October.
Simon Kinberg on Rebels and balancing the trilogies
Simon Kinberg on Rebels and balancing the two trilogies. He doesn’t say too much in this new interview with Screencrush’s Mike Ryan, but hopefully this calms at least some of the worries out in fandom.
Interview: Star Wars Rebels’ Greg Weisman
Greg Weisman, one of the executive producers of the upcoming Rebels animated series, is also an author for the young adult audience with his series-starting Rain of the Ghosts, featuring a young teenager in the Caribbean who can see dead people. I had the opportunity to chat with Greg this past weekend at the Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore’s 21st Birthday Bash, and in this interview we discuss Rain of the Ghosts, the writing process for both print and animation, as well as his work on animated shows such as Young Justice, Gargoyles, and The Spectacular Spider-Man, including some of his own objectives and challenges for hitting a wider audience when creating a show and including diversity. While we couldn’t talk much about Rebels directly, he does provide some perspective for the show.
Thanks to Greg Weisman (Twitter: @Greg_Weisman) for the interview, and Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore for providing the venue. Check out Rain of the Ghosts, available now, and watch for the second book in the Rain series, Spirits of Ash and Foam, coming in July.
Kinberg: First season of Rebels is 16 episodes
In an interview with Collider, Rebels executive producer Simon Kinberg reveals that he wrote the two-part primiere and season finale – and that there are 16 episodes in total.
He also says that the show will have characters “from the original films,” which many are taking as a sort of confirmation that Lando will be appearing… But there is another. (And no lack of other possibilities.)
John Morton clarifies Rebels/Episode VII remarks
So our pal John Morton (aka Dak!) had some speculation on Rebels and Episode VII that some on the internet have kind of taken and… run with. They ran pretty far. Now, in an interview with the East County Times, he’s clarified that while he thinks it’s possible that we’ll see Rebels characters in Episode VII, they might not be the main characters as we know them now, and that he has no official knowledge of this: It’s just speculation, same as us.
He also talks a bit about filming Empire Strikes Back. And apparently I have been lax in pointing out that he’s on Twitter as @tapcaf!