Just like Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels is also a great addition to the Star Wars universe. Although this one isn't as good as its predecessor. After going through The Clone Wars and finding out what happened between the second and third Star Wars movies, we now get to have a look at the period between the third and the fourth movie. In the nineteen years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, the galactic empire is at the height of its power. The Jedi are pretty much exterminated and Emperor Palpatine and his right hand Darth Vader rule the universe with an iron fist. But there is hope on the horizon. Everywhere, small groups of rebels are active who are trying to fight against the Empire. Teenager Ezra Bridger (Taylor Gray, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2017)) finds one of those groups and joins them to become a Jedi.
On its own, Rebels is a decent animated series that manages to fill the gap between two movies, just like The Clone Wars. The big difference between Rebels and its predecessor is that we mainly see new heroes. Ezra Bridger and this rebel squad are original characters who we haven't seen in any of the movies. Naturally, there are some more well-known characters from the movies and The Clone Wars. But this show mainly revolves around Ezra and his team. And that is - especially in the beginning - something to get used to.
Star Wars Rebels has a nice blend of older known elements and new surprises.
Nonetheless, these new characters are all fun and complement each other well. Especially rebel leader Kanan Jarrus (Freddie Prinze jr., Freddie) and pilot Hera Syndulla (Vanessa Marshall, Young Justice) are two examples of complex characters who undergo an intense character development. These characters succeed in claiming an iconic status within the Star Wars universe. New villains such as Agent Kallus (David Oyelowo, Spooks) and Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen, Forbrydelsen) are also positive highlights.
Furthermore, this series doesn't shy away from more adult themes, which also makes it more interesting for adult Star Wars fans. The links to the films and other series are also numerous. How great is it to once again see the likes of Moff Tarkin (Stephen Stanton, Family Guy), Ahsoka Tahno (Ashley Eckstein, That's So Raven), Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor, Johnny Test) and Rex (Dee Bradley Baker, Phineas and Ferb)? It is pretty much a great continuation of The Clone Wars.
A comparison to The Clone Wars is easily made, which makes Rebels the lesser series.
But still, somehow the feeling of having watched all this before creeps up, but only better. Even though it is a standalone series, it can't diverge too much from The Clone Wars. There are too many connections to truly see the two as separate from each other. And then The Clone Wars beats Rebels on most fronts. The set-up of Star Wars Rebels is much smaller, there is less at stake, and therefore emotional blows have less of an impact. The animation is inferior at times, especially during action scenes, which is a shame.
Comparisons to Star Wars: The Clone Wars are often made when talking about Star Wars Rebels. When compared, Rebels usually ends up being the lesser of the two. Nonetheless, Star Wars Rebels is a great animated series packed with adult themes and exciting adventures in an interesting period in the Star Wars timeline. I would say, give this series a chance.
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
