Star Wars is returning to the small screen this month thanks to the long-awaited premiere of Star Wars Resistance on Disney Channel. Resistance promises to explore a place in the epic Star Wars timeline that hasn't been covered on previous shows or movies, and given that Rebels aired its finale early this year and there's still a while to wait before The Clone Wars is back, the new show should whet our appetites for new Star Wars action. Star Wars Resistance executive producer Justin Ridge spoke with CinemaBlend about the new series and how it was impacted by the two series that came before, saying this:
Well, I really had the fortunate opportunity to work with Dave Filoni on both Rebels and Clone Wars. And worked with George Lucas on Clone Wars, too, which was a surreal experience, to actually learn from the man himself. But I think a lot of the things that I learned and was inspired by on those shows were basically Filoni's style of filmmaking. And just the style of Lucas as well, to help make this feel like it belongs to Star Wars. Because even though we have new characters and it's kind of an interesting hybrid where you have some old tech, some X-wings and things that are familiar from the old movies, but then you have the new tech coming in from the new movies. Trying to make sure that everything fits together in that it feels like Star Wars, I think my experience on the other shows has really come in handy. To be able to pick Filoni's brain and to get his sensibilities as to what, in his opinion, what doesn't work.
Justin Ridge had already worked on two popular animated Star Wars series before Resistance, so he had experience with what it takes to bring Star Wars to television. Although the animation style for Resistance is quite different from both Rebels and The Clone Wars, Ridge's work on the two earlier shows taught him and inspired him in ways to guarantee that the new series fits into the saga so many have come to know and love. Dave Filoni was quite successful at the helm of Star Wars Rebels, and of course George Lucas himself was an asset in developing the magic touch for bringing Star Wars to TV.
All of this said, Star Wars Resistance is not going to just be Clone Wars 2.0 or Rebels: Part Deux, and not just because of the different animation style. By taking place between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens (although much closer to The Force Awakens than the previous movie), Resistance will get to show off some of what Star Wars fans haven't gotten to see too much of.
After all, we only have two movies in the sequel trilogy at this point, and Resistance will get to show a lot more of this era in the timeline than we could get in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. The movies can't spend precious minutes of limited screen time focusing on technology and world-building, but Resistance can. Clone Wars and Rebels both provided far more hours of their respective eras than were found in just the three movies of each trilogy. Justin Ridge went on to say this about using the TV format to do what the movies can't necessarily in this new era:
This is definitely a bigger canvas for us to play with, and there's a lot of unexplored storylines and things within the new movies in this time period. So for sure, it's definitely a lot of fun for us to explore. We have a lot of ideas in mind, and if people like the show, then hopefully we can continue telling the stories.
Star Wars Resistance follows talented young pilot Kazuda Xiono after he is recruited by Poe Dameron himself for a top-secret mission on behalf of the Resistance as the First Order continues to expand. Kaz takes an undercover assignment at the aircraft refueling platform known as The Colossus, which is located on an Outer Rim water planet. Working with a mechanic and joined by some unexpected new friends (as well as some very familiar to Star Wars fans), Kaz continues his mission to become the best pilot in the galaxy while also continuing his mission for the Resistance.
You can catch the first two episodes of Star Wars Resistance on Sunday, October 7 at 10 p.m. ET on Disney Channel and DisneyNOW. Be sure to tune in to experience the next chapter in Star Wars television.
