The NEW between-Trilogy continuity begins here
As you may recall, the production of new Star Wars movies set after the events of Return of The Jedi necessitated deleting the so-called “Extended Universe” continuity of from the official SW canon. While this does free up filmmakers to tell new stories beginning with JJ Abramas yet-untitled Episode VII, it also means that an entirely new set of stories will be needed to fill the gaps between Revenge of The Sith and A New Hope.
That project begins with Disney XD’s new animated series, Star Wars Rebels, which is set five years prior to Hope. The first trailer has now been posted to YouTube.
The main characters are a group of youngsters being led by a mysterious former Jedi who somehow survived the Order 66 massacre in Sith. Of note to hardcore SW fans, several characters, locations and other details have been heavily drawn from Ralph McQuarrie’s Original Trilogy concept art – including an alien and a a droid based on the original designs of Chewbacca and R2-D2. In addition, Billy Dee Williams is set to reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.
Rebels Will debut on Disney XD in October. A panel related to the series is currently set to be the only (announced) presence of the Star Wars franchise at this weekend’s San Diego Comic-Con.
Source: Star Wars