Rebels

Happy Star Wars Day! To celebrate May 4th, Disney and Lucasfilm (who announced the Star Wars Episode VII cast last week) have released two new trailers for upcoming Disney XD series, Star Wars Rebels.

The series takes place between Star Wars: Episode III and IV as the Empire tightens its grip on the galaxy and a rebellion begins to form. Executive produced by Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg, and Greg Weisman, Star Wars Rebels is scheduled to premiere in fall 2014 as a one-hour special telecast on Disney Channel and will be followed by a series on Disney XD.

The animation looks even better than in posters such as the one below, while the addition of some of the classic John Williams themes from the original movies should help to make the day of many fans.

Starring a small band of heroes — Sabine, Kanan, Hera, Ezra, Zeb, and Chopper — Star Wars Rebels is set in a time where the Empire rules through fear and shrouds the galaxy in darkness.

This trailer offers many new glimpses at sequences from the show, including the starship Ghost chased by TIE Fighters; young Ezra watching as a Star Destroyer looms overhead; Stormtroopers marching; a zero-g fight between our heroes and Imperials; and Kanan, a secret Jedi, assembling his lightsaber and preparing for battle.

It ends, however, with an Imperial officer reporting to the Inquisitor — the Empire’s Jedi hunter, seen and heard here for the first time.

Which other Star Wars animated series would we like to see on TV? Find out by clicking here.

Star Wars Rebels