Now that The Force Awakens hype has begun to simmer down just a bit after a month of destroying all-time movie records Lucasfilm has begun shifting their focus by releasing the trailer for the second half of Star Wars Rebels Season 2.
And with this action-packed trailer comes a bunch of guest-stars from the Star Wars universe. Joining Ahsoka and Rex, this season will feature characters from The Clone Wars such as Hera’s father Cham Syndulla as well as a few Jedi Temple Guards (with one having a very Snoke-ish tone) followed by a Matt Lanter-voiced Anakin Skywalker via a Holocron. Returning from The Prequels will be Bail Organa and the undefeatable Darth Maul whom is now referred to as “Old Master”.
And finally from The Original Trilogy we meet Princess Leia in animated form for the first time since the Holiday Special (not counting Lego or other spoofs), Darth Vader returns to continue his personal Jedi Purge and Yoda gets a body to pair with his disembodied voice from last season. What makes this last appearance so significant is the origin of Yoda’s appearance. Entertainment Weekly chatted with Dave Filoni who spilled the beans:
This Kenner cameo is added to our list that already includes TIE Fighters, Stormtrooper blasters, the noise of the Falcon’s gunnery turret, Hammerhead and the Imperial Troop Transport inspired from the vintage toy line.
Whether or not we will see any of these appearances in action figure form is anyone’s guess as Hasbro most likely has their hands full creating new sculpts from The Force Awakens and the upcoming yet mysterious Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Perhaps we’ll find out more next month during Toy Fair 2016.
For those watching Star Wars Rebels and keeping count of guest appearances:
Original Trilogy Character Appearances in Star Wars Rebels
- Darth Vader (James Earl Jones)
- Obi-Wan Kenobi via Hologram
- c-3PO (Anthony Daniels)
- R2-D2
- The Emperor via Holonet
- Yoda (Frank Oz)
- Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams)
- Grand Moff Tarkin
- Princess Leia
Prequel Era Character Appearances in Star Wars Rebels
- Bail Organa
- Luminara Unduli via Hologram
- Ahsoka Tano as Fulcrum (Ashley Eckstein)
- Captain Rex
- Commander Wolffe
- Clone Commando Gregor
- Hondo Ohnaka
- Darth Maul as Old Master
- Anakin Skywalker via Holocron
- Cham Syndulla
Sequel Era Character Appearances in Star Wars Rebels
- Snoke??????
We are simply taking from EW’s lead in speculating that a voice in the trailer could possibly be that of the unidentified Dark Side master of Kylo Ren. We enjoy the speculation which is why we are creating our own insane theory that perhaps the young Ezra Bridger evolves into Snoke himself.
Ezra Bridger is Snoke. He will be introduced to the Dark Side from the teachings of Darth Maul. He has already learned the Light from multiple masters. He has faced Vader and will see his and the Empire’s eventually fall (along with Ahsoka and Kanan). In addition, he will be exposed to what appears to be a Starkiller Base concept. And will in the end ‘bridge’ the Light Side and Dark through his teachings to Kylo (hence the cross-guard lightsaber).
All speculation aside Season 2 is providing loads of great action figure fodder and we are crossing our figures Hasbro can make good on some later this year.
We are currently at work updating our Rebels Base page for all things Rebels figure related so make sure to check back but until then,
May the Figures be with you!