New ‘Ahsoka’ Trailer Drops Potential ‘Rebels’ Bombshell

 

If you weren’t already salivating like a womprat at a bantha roast over Ahsoka, you probably are now.

Lucasfilm unveiled a new trailer for their upcoming Star Wars Disney+ series that gives us new looks at Lars Mikkelsen’s Grand Admiral Thrawn, Eman Esfandi’s Ezra Bridger, Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Hera Syndulla, the villainous Shin Hati and Baylan Skoll (Ivanna Sakhno and the late Ray Stevenson) post-Rebels relationship between Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) … or apparently their lack of one.

“You never made things easy for me,” says Sabine, her arms crossed in defiance. “… Master.”

Wait.

WAIT.

Did I miss something? Indeed, it seems as though Ahsoka and Sabine had a falling out that ended their Master/Apprentice kinship, which either means that Ahsoka simply served as a secular mentor to the younger Sabine … or that the Mandalorian demolitions expert and graffiti enthusiast is Force-sensitive.

This is either Dave Filoni shrugging his shoulders at four seasons of his own TV show that hardly hinted at Sabine’s Force abilities, or we’re due for a massive retconny revelation about her when the series debuts next month.

Join me in obsessing over the Ahsoka trailer below, and don’t miss the series’ two-episode premiere Aug. 23, exclusively on Disney+.

Chewbacca Set to Appear on the Season Three Finale of 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars'

Based on all of the familiar faces that keep popping up in Cartoon Network’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars, that galaxy far, far away might not be as expansive as we once believed. Lucasfilm has revealed that everyone’s favorite loveable Wookiee Chewbacca will appear in the season three finale of The Clone Wars, helping Anakin Skywalker’s padawan Ahsoka Tano escape from the scaly clutches of some Trandoshan hunters on a planetary game preserve.

The series’ supervising director Dave Filoni told Yahoo! Movies that the two-part finale is some of his team’s best work yet, largely due to the involvement of the live-action Chewbacca himself, Peter Mayhew. The towering actor advised the animators on the movement, posture and mannerisms of the character during the episodes’ production. “We couldn’t have done it without him; it just wouldn’t have been Chewie,” Filoni said.

Having had the chance to meet Mayhew at New York Comic Con back in 2009, I’m glad to see him still involved with the saga. However, Chewbacca’s forced inclusion in Revenge of the Sith was more distracting than anything, and his debut on The Clone Wars seems equally motivated by the desire to sell new Chewbacca merchandise. Star Wars? Driven by toy sales? A shocking revelation, I know.

The season three finale of Star Wars: The Clone Wars airs April 1 at 8 p.m. on Cartoon Network. Watch a brief clip from the episode below.

Looking Back and Moving Forward at Star Wars Celebration V

As most geeks are probably well aware, Star Wars Celebration V took place this past weekend in Orlando (ha, Lando). This particular Force-centric convention celebrated the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back, considered by many to be the best film in the saga, but it also clued fans in on some upcoming developments pertaining to that galaxy far, far away.

George Lucas and co. unveiled an exciting new trailer for the anticipated third season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which kicks off September 17. The clip introduces Savage Oppress, a servant of the dark side and a formidable new threat to the Galactic Republic. Oppress is a Zabrak, the same species as Phantom Menace baddie Darth Maul. I’m guessing he’s savage and, well, oppresses people from time to time. Sigh.

“It’s important that when creating a new character that they become iconic,” says Clone Wars supervising director Dave Filoni. “It was important that you don’t confuse him with Darth Maul—we couldn’t make him red and black so we made him yellow and black.”

Okay, cool, I dig the look of the character (pictured above), but the name? After General Grievous, Cad Bane and now this guy, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next major Star Wars villain gets saddled with the name Evil Vicious. it’s almost as if the creative team at Lucasfilm just picks synonyms for “bad” out of the thesaurus and calls it a day when it comes to naming new villains. I’d go on, but since The Clone Wars is an excellent show overall, I’ll let the lazy monikers slide for now.

Perhaps the biggest piece of Star Wars news to come out of Celebration V was the announcement that the entire Star Wars saga will arrive on Blu-ray in the fall of 2011. The boxed set will feature all six films and extensive special features, including deleted scenes. Among this never-before-released footage is an introductory sequence from Return of the Jedi that shows Luke Skywalker building his lightsaber.

Reportedly (and expectedly), the set will not include the unaltered pre-Special Edition versions of the first three films. On the contrary, we’d all be wise to expect entirely new alterations to the original trilogy when the set hits shelves next fall.

For complete Celebration V coverage, visit StarWars.com.