Rebelscum's NYCC Star Wars Rebels Panel Report

Our man Rich Alot from Rebelscum.com was at the Star Wars Rebels panel at New York Comic Con, and he's just posted his big photo-heavy report from the event. Click here to check out Rich's report and enjoy the high-resolution pictures from the panel.

If you just want the highlights, here's a quick rundown of the new information we learned from the panel:

• The main villain will be an Imperial Inquisitor wielding a new type of dual-bladed lightsaber. Darth Vader has assigned him to hunt down the remaining Jedi.
  
• The series will be set fourteen years after Revenge of the Sith, i.e. five years before A New Hope.
  
• There will be a storyline involving the frontier planet Lothal, where the Imperials will try to recruit the natives using propaganda posters.
  
• All stormtroopers are volunteers. There is no draft.
  
• None of the stormtroopers will be clones. This is because, according to George Lucas' notes, the clones proved too individualistic, whereas stormtrooper recruits will be more patriotic. Some of the clones still alive went on to train the stormtroopers, while others became disaffected with the new regime.
  
• New Imperial character and vehicle designs include: troopers, an AT-DP (All Terrain Defense Pod), a freighter, a telescoping speeder bike, and a Kenner-inspired troop transport.
  
• No assets from The Clone Wars will be used because the animation style is too different.
  
• The show will feature some kind of Jedi presence.
  
• There may be appearances by characters from The Clone Wars.
  
• Although the crew has less lead time on Star Wars Rebels than they did on The Clone Wars, they are working faster because of the experience they gained on TCW.
  
• George Lucas is not involved in production of Rebels, although his older notes still influence the creative process.
  
• The series will progress in chronological order, following a core group of main Rebel characters.
  
• There will be major emphasis on the Imperial side of things too. Their development will occur alongside that of the heroes.
  
• The series will shift in tone in the fourth episode, although what this means was not made clear.
  
• The Empire and the Rebellion are not the only major forces in the series. There may be bounty hunters as well.

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