The Resistance is Coming

It was announced on Thursday that production has begun on the new animated TV show: Star Wars Resistance. From the announcement on StarWars.com the show will follow Kazuda Xiono, “a young pilot recruited by the Resistance and tasked with a top-secret mission to spy on the growing threat of the First Order.” The show is set to premiere in Autumn.

Since Rebels finished, there has been a weekly Star Wars-sized hole in my life so I am looking forward to watching this. Being created by Dave Filoni, I am instantly interested as he has done such a wonderful job with The Clone Wars and Rebels. It has already been confirmed that BB-8, Poe and Phasma will all feature, with the latter 2 being voiced by Oscar Isaac and Gwendoline Christie respectively. I am also looking forward to seeing more in the period just before the Sequel Trilogy, as we know from the novel Bloodline that the Resistance was formed about 6 years before The Force Awakens. I’m also interested in Filoni’s comments that the idea came from his interest in World War II aircraft and fighter pilots, as I think this could allow for some good action sequences whilst also a good chemistry between the characters.

Unlike the last 2 TV shows, it looks like the animation will be 2D, which combined with its airing on Disney Channel and Disney XD makes me think that it is set for younger audiences. However I got used to the different animation style on Rebels and was only occasionally put off in Forces of Destiny, so I am happy that I will be able to look past this and as long as it is not overly childish, I should be able to get past the light-hearted tone – even Rebels turned darker as we went through the series.

And that’s about it for what we know at the moment (other than the announcement of the cast), so now I’m going to make a couple of predictions of things I think (or hope) will happen:

• We get some more information on Snoke – I don’t expect much of his backstory, but at the end of Bloodline Leia is only just becoming aware of the First Order. It could be that this top-secret mission involves them finding out about the Supreme Leader and where he comes from. Tied into this, we may also find out what happened to Rae Sloane, who was last seen leading the remnants of the Empire into the Unknown Regions.
• Cameos – we already have Poe Dameron confirmed as appearing in this show, so it is highly possible that other Resistance pilots could appear in this. From the films, we have pilots like Snap Wexley, Jess Pava and Tallie Lintra, while Bloodline also introduces us to Greer Sonnel and Joph Seastriker. Cobalt Squadron by Elizabeth Wein also introduces us to the bomber crews, who could potentially make an appearance too, giving us an earlier canon introduction to the Tico sisters. Away from the pilots, we may see other members of the Resistance who have appeared in the movies like Kaydel Ko Connix and Korr Sella. I doubt very much we will get all of these characters appear as that may be too much fan service, but Dave Filoni is very good at bringing in characters from other parts of canon provided they fit the story being told. We could also see Ben Solo and Luke Skywalker, along with the Jedi Academy if the show is set before Ben’s turn to the Dark side – We know that he was still with Luke at the end of Bloodline so the question becomes how long before The Force Awakens Ben Solo became Kylo Ren.
• 3-4 seasons – Much like Rebels, I don’t expect this show to on for a long period. Children age so will potentially grow out of the show if they are not completely hooked or Star Wars mad. Further to that, I think that Filoni’s experiences with The Clone Wars’ cancellation means that he will prefer to stick to just a handful of seasons to ensure he can tell the entire story.
• New ships – If it’s going to focus on the pilots of the Resistance then it is highly likely we will see some new ships. The image on the announcement appears to show a fighter design we have not seen on film/TV before, while we may finally see the first on-screen appearance of the Starhawk-class battleships as first featured in Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy.

What are your thoughts on the announcement? Are you excited for Resistance? What are you hoping to see in this show? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading and May the Force be with you…