Many opinions have been given about the state of the Star Wars franchise since Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm back in 2012, but there’s one truth I hold to: Star Wars Rebels grew to be one of the best stories. A large part of that was the creative crew which included Greg Weisman (Gargoyles, Young Justice, The Spectacular Spider-Men), Simon Kinberg (writer/producer on X-Men films) and Dave Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars.) But most of it is due to how the characters grew and changed over the years Rebels was on the air, and that was the major focus of the How Star Wars Rebels Became An All Time Star Wars Story.
It was a panel stacked to the brim with Star Wars fans and creators, including Crystal Kyber, Jazmin Duarte, Camela Castro, Nayra Mcfly, Isabella Shipley, and Catrina Dennis. The panel kicked off with a mention of the ‘Stand with Animation’ rally (quite fitting, given Rebels is an animated series) and the panels’ first memories of Star Wars (the prequels were a major touchstone.)
They were then asked: “What does Rebels mean to you?” The answers varied from doing what’s right, to finding hope – whether it be in others or yourself – and “sticking it to the man” (a theme every Star Wars project should aspire to.) But the theme that kept resonating was found family, as the crew of the Ghost came to care for and love each other in different ways. That included the father/son dynamic between Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger, which bled into their Jedi training; Sabine Wren fighting to save her family; and how Hera Syndulla pulled the Ghost crew together. Everyone also agreed that Kanan and Hera are the healthiest couple in Star Wars history.
In fact, Hera and Sabine were among the panelists’ favorite characters, while Zeb Orrellios tended to trend toward the bottom. This prompted the question: “Why do you hate Zeb?!” But they all said that they loved Zeb – they just loved the others more! This prompted the discussion about what makes each character great: Sabine’s story of redemption for her time with the Empire, Zeb’s choice to spare Agent Kallus, and Ezra and Kanan’s sacrifices while battling Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Star Wars Rebels is a series that means a lot to me: alongside Jason Aaron’s Star Wars run for Marvel and Star Wars: The Force Awakens it re-ignited my love for Star Wars, and proved to me that the franchise thrives in animation. A decade later, I’m glad to see it resonated with so many others.
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