Rebels and Rebels Recon return with ‘Steps Into Shadow,’ and Andi chats with Taylor Gray, Henry Gilroy, Dave Filoni, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Pablo Hidalgo.
Rebels returns – with Grand Admiral Thrawn in tow – on Saturday
Rebels debuts their third season Saturday with the one-hour ‘Steps into the Shadow’ at 8:30 p.m. on Disney XD. Get prepped with another Dave Filoni interview on io9, where he talks about how this season riffs on Tarkin’s line “the Jedi are extinct, their fire has gone out of the universe.” He also talked to Blastr, /Film, Teenplicity and Comicbook.
Lucasfilm has released a new clip featuring Ezra and the Sith holocron:
And a special Rebels Recon preshow, featuring interviews with cast members Vanessa Marshall, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Dee Bradley Baker:
Check out more stills below the cut. Continue reading “Rebels returns – with Grand Admiral Thrawn in tow – on Saturday”
Another look at Rebels’ Thrawn in new clip
Entertainment Weekly has a new clip featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn from an upcoming episode of Rebels, plus an interview with Dave Filoni about bringing him into the show, and the appeal of the character:
He really stuck out because he was through and through an Imperial officer. He was not facing doubt, he didn’t have these abilities that make all the big arch villains up to that point arch. He wasn’t inept so much like Piett, he wasn’t playing politics like the rest of the Imperial officers, he was purely a military strategist.
‘Hera’s Heroes’ will be the season’s fifth episode. Rebels S3 premieres with with ‘Steps into Shadow’ on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
New Rebels promo highlights more Thrawn
There’s a new Rebels promo today with a further look at the show’s upcoming third season – and more Thrawn dialogue.
The Rebels page on Disney XD’s website also got a facelift.
The third season will debut with ‘Steps into Shadow’ on Saturday, September 24 at 8:30 p.m. ET.
New Thrawn trilogy covers now contain approximately 275% more Grand Admiral Thrawn
Jedi Bibliothek has our first look at the new covers for Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn trilogy. This time, they’re a triptych!
They are, without a doubt, a vast improvement over the very dated originals. And that’s certainly a lot of the eponymous Grand Admiral Thrawn, which makes sense as his forthcoming Rebels appearance is the catalyst for the long-overdue refresh.
The new artwork is by Rick Kelly, we learned from Del Rey’s Tom Hoeler. The official Star Wars Books page has also shared the new covers.
I am sad to see that our namesake Mara Jade didn’t make the cut this time. Sure, Thrawn is becoming canon and she isn’t, but she is a major character in these books – and one of the most popular Legends characters ever. Did they just not want to get our hopes up?
In any case, here’s hoping that the new look gets more people reading. Legends or not, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising and The Last Command are some of the best Star Wars novels on the shelves.
The new covers are expected to begin appearing in stores late next month, as the existing paperbacks are restocked.
Thrawn makes his Rebels debut on September 24 , with a new canon Timothy Zahn novel coming in April.
EUbits: Tom Veitch on Dark Empire, LFL’s Rayne Roberts
An interview with Dark Empire writer Tom Veitch sheds some new light on the early ’90s Star Wars literature revival, including just how much input George Lucas had and how DE and Heir to the Empire somehow ended up in the same continuity.
→ The Lucasfilm Story Group’s Rayne Roberts recently appeared on the Black Nerd Girls podcast, where she talks about The Force Awakens, Star Wars lit, and even dodges a Rogue One question.
→ At StarWars.com, our own James interviews Jason Fry about Aliens of the Galaxy, a new guidebook for younger readers.
→ Timothy Zahn was named Grandmaster at the tenth annual Scribe awards for media tie-ins.
→ Jay Shah unpacks the Thrawn ‘mystique’ for Eleven-ThirtyEight.
Rebels returns on Saturday, September 24
The third season of Star Wars Rebels will debut Saturday, September 24 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Disney XD. The hour-long season premiere ‘Steps into Shadow’ features the introduction of classic villain Grand Admiral Thrawn into canon – the first character to make that leap since the old Expanded Universe was reclassified as Star Wars Legends.
As we learned at Celebration, the new season also introduces new looks for Rebels characters Ezra and Sabine, plus a new character voiced by Doctor Who’s Tom Baker. Here’s a new teaser:
EUbits: Del Rey’s interactive Star Wars timeline, Thrawn primer, Han Solo mini has a VIP fan
Del Rey revealed their complete timeline of Star Wars books this week, featuring their new canon novels (and a short story.) It doesn’t include books from the other publishers (like Marvel’s comics or Disney Lucasfilm Press’ Lost Stars or the upcoming Ahsoka) but it’s a good starting place for anyone who needs it.
→ Speaking of starting places, StarWars.com has a nice primer on Grand Admiral Thrawn from Linda Hansen-Raj for anyone who wants to do some reading before he returns on Rebels. (Or just to learn what all that fuss was about.) On that note, Zahn’s Thrawn is now available for pre-order.
→ It turns out that George Lucas is a really big fan of Marvel’s Han Solo mini-series – he wants to buy all of Mark Brooks’ original pages from the first two issues.
→ Celebration Europe gave us a glimpse of what the Lucasfilm Story Group does – and it’s so much more than just maintaining continuity. This article is Pablo approved!
The Thrawn trilogy getting new cover art in the fall
Jedi Bibliothek noted a listing saying that Timothy Zahn’s original Thrawn trilogy – Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command – will be getting new cover art in the fall. (The listing may only be visible to logged-in users – here’s a screenshot.) The new art hasn’t been revealed, but it certainly makes sense to give them a refresh, particularly given that this information appears in a listing for Zahn’s upcoming Thrawn novel. The new book will be canon and tied to the character’s Rebels appearance, but his Legends origins aren’t exactly a secret.
In short: Whatever the covers are, expect Grand Admiral Thrawn to be much more prominent. (And will we finally see ‘The Thrawn Trilogy’ as an official designation?) Which has apparently already happened, my bad.
The current cover art has been the same – with occasional design and typography tweaks like the Legends banner – since the books were released in the early 90’s. A 2011 anniversary edition of Heir introduced a more graphical look, but proved to be a one-off.
The editions with the new art are due out on September 27, but will maintain their current ISBNs and may be slow to find as stores restock.
Personally, I’m happy to see the Thrawn books get a cover update – the old ones are extremely dated and among the worst covers of the old Expanded Universe – a real pity considering the novels themselves are among the best of Legends. Bring on the new look! (Perhaps something in the vein of the Brazilian covers?)
SDCC: Jaina Solo wins fan figure vote; new Hera, Thrawn figures coming
Despite early leads by Darth Talon and Starkiller, Jaina Solo won Hasbro’s 2016 fan choice figure poll. (Here’s the percentages just before the poll closed.)
Jaina, the oldest child and only daughter of Leia Organa and Han Solo in decanonized Legends timeline, has had at least one figure from Hasbro in the past, plus a Bishoujo-style statue from Kotobukiya. The new figure will take some time: The fruits of last year’s poll – Darth Revan and Sabine Wren – aren’t expected to hit the shelves until late this year.
Hasbro announced several new figures at SDCC, including a 6′ Hera Syndulla and an Imperial Royal Guard inspired in part by the (also Legends) comic Crimson Empire.
And getting a 3.75 figure, the newly canonized Grand Admiral Thrawn, who will appear in the upcoming third season of Rebels. (His rank will be correct on the final figure.)
