‘Star Wars: Rebels’ Producer “Amazed by How Good The Series Turned Out”

by

It’s been almost eight years since Star Wars: Rebels ended, giving executive producer Henry Gilroy time to look back on making the show. Rebels premiered on Disney XD in 2014 and was the first new Star Wars project released after Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012. The series followed a group of rebels called Phoenix Squadron for four seasons, taking place before the original Star Wars films, and finished its run in 2018.

On the Rebels rewatch podcast, Pod of Rebellion, producer Dave Filoni (as reported by The Direct) discussed the main difference between working on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Rebels. He explained that The Clone Wars involved getting approval from only George Lucas, while Rebels required navigating multiple layers of review from Disney committees. Despite the many notes and requests, Filoni was happily surprised with how Rebels ultimately turned out.

Working on ‘The Clone Wars’ was straightforward because you primarily answered to George Lucas. The goal was to create something he approved of, and he’d then add his own creative touches. ‘Rebels,’ however, was much more complex. Instead of one person, you had input from multiple groups: Lucasfilm’s story team, Disney executives, BS&P (regarding content restrictions), and the Disney studio itself. It went from pleasing one person to managing feedback from five different entities. The notes on scripts were even color-coded to show who they came from, making it a lot to handle. Considering all that, I’m always impressed by how well ‘Rebels’ turned out, and a lot of that was due to our team’s determination and the trust we’d built during ‘The Clone Wars.’

Gilroy also pointed out a significant difference in funding between The Clone Wars and Rebels. Surprisingly, Rebels had a smaller budget despite benefiting from Disney’s resources. The Clone Wars, originally funded solely by George Lucas, likely ended due to its high costs, though Netflix later revived it for a sixth season.

Even when ‘Clone Wars’ was initially canceled, the studio felt they had enough episodes to meet their needs and that the show had already fulfilled its purpose for generating revenue. It was also becoming costly to produce. However, the strong fan reaction to the cancellation led Netflix to decide that funding another season was worthwhile.

It might seem negative that Disney and Lucasfilm provided so much feedback on Star Wars: Rebels. However, this could have been a deliberate effort to ensure the show fit seamlessly with the larger Star Wars film series. For example, the unique cross-guard lightsaber appeared in Season 2 of Rebels shortly before being revealed in The Force Awakens trailer, and the character Saw Gerrera, who became important in Rogue One, had a continuing role in the series. This focus on consistency was something the older Star Wars stories didn’t always have.

Since it ended, Rebels has become a key part of Disney’s plans for the future of Star Wars. Many ideas and characters from the show have now appeared in live-action series like The Mandalorian and Ahsoka. Ahsoka specifically brought characters from Rebels – Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren, and Ezra Bridger – into live action. Zeb Orrelios will also be a major character in the upcoming The Mandalorian & Grogu series. Perhaps most notably, Grand Admiral Thrawn, a popular character originally from Star Wars Legends, was brought into the official Star Wars story in Season 3 of Rebels. He’s now set up to be the primary villain for the New Republic era, with Lars Mikkelsen reprising his voice role in live action.

Since Disney bought Star Wars from George Lucas, there’s been a lot of discussion about the franchise. It’s experienced both successes and setbacks, and recently faced criticism when Disney decided not to move forward with a project called Hunt for Ben Solo, proposed by Adam Driver and Steven Soderbergh. There’s also some concern within Disney about the plan to revive the Star Wars films with a spin-off based on The Mandalorian and Grogu, which started as a Disney+ series. Currently, both Disney and Lucasfilm are undergoing leadership changes: Josh D’Amaro is the new CEO of the Walt Disney Company, and Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan are now co-CEOs of Lucasfilm, taking over from Kathleen Kennedy after her 14 years in the role.

Read More

2026-03-28 17:48