Dave Filoni Breaks Down New 'Rebels' Trailer for Entertainment Weekly

By: Dominic Jones

Everyone is still reeling from that amazing trailer for the second half of Star Wars Rebels Season Two that was released earlier today.  Entertainment Weekly caught up with Rebels executive producer Dave Filoni to break it all down.

About the Kylo Ren-esque green lightsaber Ezra picks up in the trailer, Filoni said,

“I wanted to put a nod to this new history we’re seeing in The Force Awakens. It’s important to have these links between stories in major ways and subtle ways.  Here you find a sword we’ve encountered before and it gives a little more context to something that turns up later.”

About that temple we see Kanan, Ahsoka, and Ezra approaching, Filoni told EW,  "It is it is an ancient place. And it is a dangerous place and one that will challenge our characters.  They come out the other side and are not the same."  He adds, "This place would be well liked by the Sith, I’ll say that much."

Filoni described how they approached Princess Leia's upcoming appearance in the midseason premiere, "A Princess on Lothal," saying,

“We were really focused on trying to discover who Leia was prior to A New Hope. We know that she’s very strong, somewhat rash, super intelligent, but how did she develop those skills?  In A New Hope, she’s really an impressive character when you think of her standing face to face with Tarkin, standing face to face with Vader, talking back to them, lying to them, deceiving them, misdirecting them.”

He added,

"Leia is technically a part of the Empire at this time. Her father is still working within the Senate, and she would be seen by the Imperials as someone who's more on their side. She can't just pick up a blaster, necessarily, and start shooting Stormtroopers like she did on the Death Star."

 Filoni also discussed Darth Vader and The Emperor's interest in finding Ahsoka, saying,

"Vader and The Emperor think that if they can get Ahsoka she would be a key that leads them to other Jedi survivors," says Filoni, who says he plans to wrap up that storyline by the end of the season. "The Emperor has a most-wanted list. Yoda and Obi-Wan are right up there."

About the holocron Ezra see's of Anakin Skywalker, Filoni explained,

"It occurred to me that as Ezra had a Holocron because of Kanan. It had a recorded message from Obi-Wan Kenobi in there, so maybe one of the things, some of the lessens the Holocron was teaching, was how do you sword fight? And who would be better at teaching that than the great Anakin Skywalker?"

He also confirmed that it was indeed Matt Lanter, who provided Anakin's voice on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, who voices Anakin this season (don't worry, James Earl Jones is still voicing Vader).  Filoni said, "It makes it actually very emotional since we loved working with Matt. So it was a fun day in the studio."

When asked if the new character pictured above is really a young Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) from The Force Awakens as some fans have theorized (they do sound a little similar), Filoni said,

"That’s part of the mystery, part of the fun. There will be so much more to talk about once this stuff is out.  Star Wars fans are brilliant about running with stuff. Give them a tiny little kernel and they will run all the way to the finish line and practically produce a whole trilogy in their minds. That’s why I love them. They’re a creative group."

However it seems this character is unlikely to be Snoke, as Filoni went on to say,

"For anybody in Star Wars, I think one of the questions you’re going to get asked is 'Is that Snoke?' It's one of the mysteries right now. So, anybody could be seen as Snoke.  Maybe Chopper’s Snoke, you know, and his hard drive gets uploaded into the mind of an organic being. Chopper seems kind of evil at times."

He also confirmed that this character is one of several old Jedi Temple guards we saw in The Clone Wars that will appear this season.  But they will be battling both our heroes and the Dark Side Inquisitors.  This will apparently have a big impact on Kanan.  Filoni told EW,  "I will say that it plays very strongly into Kanan’s character and who he is, and becomes an important moment for him."

Filoni also talked about the increased Mandalorian presence we'll be seeing the upcoming episodes, saying,

"People have been very excited about Sabine, and we wanted to get more into her background, and her history and her family history, and [actress Tiya Sircar] has done a great job at evolving the character. So there will be some episodes which dive back into the Mandalorian realm and show a couple new things about them that perhaps fans didn’t know.  I think it opens up the door for more Mandalorian madness in the future."

One of the biggest surprises of the trailer was an appearance by Darth Maul (we think!)  While Filoni wouldn't confirm or deny that that was Maul, he did say,

"Even if they guess right about everything they think they’re seeing, they won’t know how it comes together, which really becomes the fun part for me.  So if you’re guessing right and the character is who you think it is, it still doesn’t answer: what in the world is that character up to?"

And finally, Filoni discussed how Rebels characters will be exploring the Force this Season.  He said,
“I think that the challenge for everybody who decides to take an active part in the Force, is: Am I doing it for myself, or am I doing it for others? Am I controlling this power? Am I using for good, or what I perceive to be good, in Anakin’s case? Have I become a force for evil?  [Ezra] has to ask himself those questions, especially because he’s taken up arms and is very much involved in a resistance against an empire.”

You can see more stills from the trailer and read more of Filoni's teases about the rest of Season Two over at Entertainment Weekly!

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