NYCC: Star Wars Rebels Panel

Saturday afternoon, Pablo Hidalgo hosted a panel to speak about the new animated show Star Wars Rebels.

The panel covered the Empire side of the show although Hidalgo started off covering some of the same info that was presented at San Diego Comic-Con, including how Ralph McQuarrie’s original concept artwork inspired the look and feel of the new show.  Hidalgo showed off several images of the planet Lothal, which will be the center of the show, along with the main ship that will be used by the heroes, the Ghost.

Star Wars Rebels will take place about 14 years after the end of Revenge of the Sith and looks at the Empire as they expand outside of the core worlds to spread their control of the galaxy.  While, at first, their presence on Lothal seems to be positive, slowly things will decline and that’s what will help the Rebellion grow.

As the panel progressed, Hidalgo showed off several character and vehicle designs for the Empire.  There will be familiar characters such as Stormtroopers and TIE Pilots which appear very close to the A New Hope versions that we’re used to.  A new character, the AT-DP Driver will be a cross between an AT-AT and AT-ST Driver with a hint of McQuarrie’s concept Snowtrooper thrown in.  The AT-DP, which stands for All Terrain Defense Pod, is based on some 1970’s Joe Johnston concept work.  Rebels also features a new style Speeder Bike and even looks to vintage Kenner for one design; the Imperial Troop Transporter.

One of the key aspects of the new show will focus on Sienar Fleet Systems, who manufacture TIE Fighters on Lothal.  The TIE design in Rebels will be based on McQuarrie’s early work, showing smaller wings and a larger cockpit.  The design is also similar to what Kenner based their classic toy on, with a top hatch for the cockpit and similar scale.

There will be a newly designed transport ship that’s used to deliver TIE Fighters into battle but it wouldn’t be the Empire without the classic Star Destroyer.  The model used in Rebels will be similar to those from ANH but with a few changes to show that they are an earlier design to that iconic ship.

To finish off the presentation, we were treated to a glimpse of the new villain of the show, the Inquisitor.  He’s been tasked by Darth Vader himself to hunt down any remaining Jedi as the rise of the Rebellion is believed to have their influence.

During the presentation, Hidalgo noted that many of the concepts and ideas used in Rebels will be directly from notes that George Lucas left on the history of events taking place between the end of ROTS and ANH.

A brief question and answer session followed the presentation and there were a few highlights, including the detail about the Empire believing that a Jedi may have a hand in the Rebellion.

Also brought up during the Q&A portion, and covered somewhat at the beginning, is that Stormtroopers and TIE Pilots of this era are volunteers and not clones.  However, it was mentioned by Hidalgo that there are still older clones hanging around and we may see them as trainers.

When asked if any Clone Wars characters would show up in Rebels, Hidalgo wouldn’t commit but did comment that the show is by the same producers as the Clone Wars, hinting that it’s possible.

The focus of Rebels will be on the Rebellion but the Empire will have a large presence in the show and that’s why much of the presentation was centered on discussing them.

No casting announcements were made and a direct question about a composer for the series was not answered with any specifics.  There was another “no” when asked if any other Kenner designs, besides the TIE Fighter and Troop Transport, would be used in the show.

The panel wrapped up with Hidalgo mentioning that Dave Filoni has finished working on the final Star Wars: The Clone Wars episodes from Season 5 and they will be released in 2014.

A nice bonus for those that attended the panel was a Sienar Fleet Systems pin which was handed out as people exited.

StarWars.com has posted an article with some of the same information from the panel and included a better shot of the Imperial Inquisitor, which we posted above.