EW has broken the story that Star Wars Rebels, a one-hour animated pilot already in production at Lucasfilm, is scheduled to premiere in Fall 2014 on the Disney Channel before the new brand leaps to Disney XD for the ongoing series, according to Lucasfilm sources.
The series will mine material in the 19 years that follow Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and precedes the Episode IV: A New Hope. In other words, using the life of the Skywalker twins as a measure, the series will be active in the story years that come after their separation as newborns and before their (unwitting) reunion on the prison level of the Death Star.
No word on whether the show will feature Darth Vader (who would be in the Empire’s power consolidation years and earning his reputation) or even pull in a character like Han Solo, the smuggler and cynic who becomes an unlikely freedom fighter when he opts to stand by his friends against cosmic odds.
The series has three executive producers: Dave Filoni, the point man on The Clone Wars animated series that launched in 2008; screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg, whose has a flair for tonal rewiring and energizing familiar brands with new edge (e.g.:X-Men: First Class, Sherlock Holmes); and Greg Weisman, whose credits include well-regarded work on Young Justice and The Spectacular Spider-Man.
Check out the announcement video below!
