Star Wars Resistance

[Jeff]

All New Animated Series will focus on the era before The Force Awakens -

StarWars.com is thrilled to announce that production has begun on Star Wars Resistance, an exciting new animated adventure series about 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. It will premiere this fall on Disney Channel in the U.S. and thereafter, on Disney XD and around the world.

Featuring the high-flying adventure that audiences of all ages have come to expect from Star Wars, Star Wars Resistance — set in the time prior to Star Wars: The Force Awakens — will feature the beloved droid BB-8 alongside ace pilots, colorful new characters and appearances by fan favorites including Poe Dameron and Captain Phasma, voiced by actors Oscar Isaac and Gwendoline Christie, respectively.

More here: https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-resistance-set-for-fall-debut?cmp=smc%7C1496800781

[Dave]

I'm not sure how excited about this I am if it is tightly tied to the characters and story line of TFA.  However, I really liked the "Rogue Squadron" comic series where it was Wedge and a bunch of new characters off on missions.  I'm hopeful that this new series only lightly uses Poe and familiar characters and can run down story arcs more freely.

[Muftak]

I asked it when they started "Rebels" and I'll ask it again...

Why can't they just give us an animated series following the main characters from the OT in all-new adventures? Especially now that we have thirty years of story between Episode VI and VII they could wade through? Why is Disney adverse to the money they could make with such low-hanging fruit? I mean, I thought that's what Disney stood for...

I'm not all that interested in the further adventures of young Poe and BB-8...even if it finally answers what the Resistance is resisting (I bet it won't, and I'll never know.)

[GrandMoffNick]

And that makes me laugh. I imagine the get off my lawn group would melt down as Disney dared mess with them

[Nicklab]

I asked it when they started "Rebels" and I'll ask it again...

Why can't they just give us an animated series following the main characters from the OT in all-new adventures? Especially now that we have thirty years of story between Episode VI and VII they could wade through? Why is Disney adverse to the money they could make with such low-hanging fruit? I mean, I thought that's what Disney stood for...

I think that it seems easy.  But what is the impact of following the Big 3 (Luke, Leia & Han Solo) through a timeframe between ANH and TESB?  Does it diminish those characters?  You also have a situation where there doesn't seem to be any sort of real jeopardy for them since we know that they all get to TESB intact, minus an interaction with a bounty hunter on Ord Mandell.  The timeframe between TESB and ROTJ seems like it's sensitive at best because Shadows of the Empire went there, so what do you do in that timeframe that has some meaning?

That leaves you with that post ROTJ era.  But to me, that era seems complicated because of the implications that it could have on the Sequel Trilogy.

[Jesse James]

Not trying to be an ******* here but a wise man once told me “Disney didn't spend $4 BILLION on Star Wars to just put it on a shelf and stand back and look at it and enjoy the stuff that already exists”

I mean hey we are getting stuff like Rebels with all the OT fan wanking in it, we got FoD which had stories from all 3 core eras in pretty even quantities, we got an OT set movie in Rogue One and a may as well be OT set movie with Solo I think...  I’m kinda ok they’re making a show about the Resistance fighting the FO and whatever else they do before TFA.

I like Poe as a character, I liked the bombers and the new AWings...  I’m curious to see what the Resistance is all about.  I didn’t care for Rebels a lot but it had elements I liked and I figure this will at least have that too and may be really cool overall.  Like anything I’m going in with an open mind and a hope it’s cool.🤷‍♂️

I’m hoping there is some OT based stuff someday, and something more adult focused too.  That said, this is kinda sounding like hallway playsets to me right now haha. 

[GrandMoffNick]

Not trying to be an ******* here but a wise man once told me “Disney didn't spend $4 BILLION on Star Wars to just put it on a shelf and stand back and look at it and enjoy the stuff that already exists

I agree with this. I read a comment elsewhere that this seems like a way just for Disney to push their era of stuff. Well no 💩 Sherlock

[Muftak]

I dunno.  I loved the Anime-style "TIE Fighter" short that got produced a few years back. I'm not adverse to the concept, but two sentences into the blurb and I was tired of this show already.

It's as easy as this to me: you could have a "Kazuda Xiono" show, or you could spend the same money and have a "Luke Skywalker" show. Which one is gonna have a better return on your investment? Do you think the "Ezra & Zeb" show was more successful than a "Han & Chewie" show would have been?

I don't buy for a second that Disney is trying to "not dilute the brand" by not focusing on legacy characters. There is more crappy merchandise than ever, and for Star Wars that is really saying something. I'm talking Spaceballs proportions.

Nor do I think they are overly concerned with preserving the narrative. I'd point to the conflict between the storylines of TFA and TLJ but that horse is far beyond dead.

I get why Jon Favreau's live-action series would have a focus away from the OT stuff. I understand why 30 years later the Sequel Trilogy takes place 30 years after ROTJ. I can appreciate why George Lucas put "Ewoks" on Saturday Morning TV in 1984. But today, here and now,why can't the most recognizable segment of the brand be put to work on a weekly basis in animated form?

My 8-year old son was scanning through the "Forces of Destiny" shorts and was mesmerized by the Luke/Yoda story and the Maz/Leia/Bouush story. It doesn't have to be adult-aimed stuff, in fact I'd argue it shouldn't be. Why can't they just do more of that?

Have I really become an old angry grump?

[GrandMoffNick]

Just for the record I wasn't calling you an old angry grump if that's what you're asking. You, as well as I, would be fine with a show with OT characters. But I think there are a lot of people that would not be. And I think a lot of those people's reasonings are irrational. Go read the discussion on Yakface's comment section about this.

I also get Disney is killing off the OT characters and I don't think it's just because the actors are getting old or sadly actually becoming one with the Force. Disney wants "their" characters out there.

Anyway I'm up for more Star Wars as long as it's not too much in the realm of one of Disney's 1.5 sequel money grabs

[Darby]

Once the ST is finished I think we'll see a deeper dive into the post ROTJ lives of the OT heroes. They want to preserve some mystery for the films I'm sure, but sadly no one is getting younger. You have Mark Hamill - one of the best voice actors alive in any case - use him. Nothing about this premise for Resistance excites me. I don't mind it, and the animated shows always deliver something special. I'm sure Resistance will be the forum where we get a lot of the things we wanted in the ST - who is Snoke? Phasma=BAD ASS and etc. - that we didn't get in the films.

[Dave]

If there ever was a time to do an OT animated series it would be now.  Essentially all the main characters are dead (you gotta think Leia will either be dead at the start of E9 or die quickly in to the beginning) and their stories have run their course.  Filling in some gaps and telling what happened post ROTJ should be fertile ground and hit home with both old farts like us and potentially a younger generation that the story lines are geared towards.

[McMetal]

I just hope they have a half-assed line of toys they can trickle out and then neglect severely the rest of the time the show is on the air like the last two animated shows. 

[Nicklab]

I think that the remarks about Disney wanting to flesh out their era of the Star Wars universe are on point.  Previous TV projects have covered significant periods in time between the movie eras.  So why would Lucasfilm and Disney not explore the timespan before THE FORCE AWAKENS?  Sure, books have covered that timeframe, and that material is all canon.  But I think a TV series can help flesh out that timeframe much better for a wider audience. 

For a while I had difficulty discerning why Leia was leading the Resistance, and how that operated relative to the Republic.  And how did the First Order manage to rise up?  Granted, when I got through the book Bloodline, a significant number of questions got answered.  But it does seem like putting that sort of material in print only reaches a narrow audience.  I also like the fact that they're going to be utilizing film actors like Oscar Isaac and Gwendoline Christie reprising their roles for this series.  Having that kind of crossover is great.  I know that when I saw some of the FORCES OF DESTINY pieces I was really impressed by the number of movie actors they had voicing those animated pieces.

I'm also interested to see the style and design elements of this series.  The announcement that it's going to be done in more of an anime style sounds like it's going to be a departure from the 3D animated style we saw in both CLONE WARS and REBELS.  But it harkens back to some of Filoni's previous work as showrunner for Avatar - The Last Airbender which was done along those lines.

[Scockery]

I just hope they have a half-assed line of toys they can trickle out and then neglect severely the rest of the time the show is on the air like the last two animated shows. 

Yeah. Though TCW line wasn't neglected until near the end.

[Jeff]

You, as well as I, would be fine with a show with OT characters. But I think there are a lot of people that would not be. And I think a lot of those people's reasonings are irrational. Go read the discussion on Yakface's comment section about this.

I was lol quite a bit yesterday as people posted comments at Yakface or on twitter about how this show is more Disney garbage or is doomed to failure based on the simple fact it had the audacity to be set in the pre-TFA era. 

It could turn out to be the best cartoon of all time with an amazing story and amazing characters, but nope - it's garbage because Poe or Phasma or whatever.  This could be the "X-Wing Squadron" show people have always clamored for but because it's a guy named 'Kazuda' and not 'Wedge', it's garbage.   

Would I like to see an OT cartoon or a Han/Chewie buddy cartoon that gave us a bunch of their adventures? Absolutely... but I'm a 44 year old man with an OT man-crush.  I cannot blame Disney for trying to create some new pilot that some new group of fans/kids is going to fall in love with just like a number of kids out there fell in love with Han or Luke or Obi-Wan or Hera or Chopper or Ezra or Ahsoka or whoever.

Honestly, I have no patience anymore for the entitled Star Wars fans, the ones who think everything Star Wars should be things they specifically want and nothing else.  Bad news for you dudes - your time is over and it's only gonna get worse for you.  This cartoon is not OT focused.  Many of the new movies and TV shows will not be OT focused.  There will be TONS of new Disney Star Wars characters introduced in the coming years.  And you know what?  That's OK. You might even accidentally like some of it.

I can only imagine what the world would have been like if Twitter existed in 1990s -
- "Lucasfilm, stop introducing all these lame new characters like Grand Admiral Thrawn and Mara Jade and give us a new Han and Lando book!!!"
- "KOTOR?  Try NOGAF! LOL.  Why are you wasting time on a stupid video game involving a bunch of made up characters when you could make a Luke Skywalker video game instead?
- "A whole Marvel comics series about Jedi who existed thousands of years before ANH?  WTF - we want more Luke comics!"