RESISTANCE ISN’T FUTILE
What significance does new animated series Star Wars Resistance have for the saga?
1 __ THE TIMELINE
For the uninitiated, Resistance follows Kazuda Xiono, a rookie pilot recruited by the Resistance who is assigned a top-secret mission to spy on the mounting forces of the First Order. It’s set between Return Of The Jedi and The Force Awakens — though, in a bit of espionage of his own, Star Wars spy Jose Ruiz mined metadata on Starwars.com and discovered a description that says the story is set six months before The Force Awakens.
2 __ THE OLD HANDS
Given the timeline, it is perhaps no surprise that Kaz’s mentor here is ace pilot Poe Dameron, voiced by Oscar Isaac. (Thankfully, the animation maintains Isaac’s good hair.) Obviously where there is Poe, there is BB-8, who shares a moment in the trailer with Kaz staring out at twin moons — any relationship to Luke/twin suns is purely intentional. Gwendoline Christie also returns to voice Captain Phasma, but the big news is the return of General Leia, voiced here by Rachel Butera, who played the equally regal Meryl Streep in Family Guy. There’s no detail on the size of her role, but will it inform her appearance in Episode IX?
3 __ THE NEW PLAYERS
Resistance introduces a new clutch of characters who could cross over into movies à la Saw Gerrera from The Clone Wars to Rogue One. The first episode, ‘The Recruit’, sees Poe assign Kaz to the Colossus, a huge floating refuelling station, to work as a mechanic. Once on board, Kaz encounters Poe’s old pal, veteran pilot Jarek Yeager and his repair crew: Tam, Neeku and an old astromech droid called Bucket. Given the time frame, all these characters could impact the saga’s future.
4 __ THE LINKS TO THE PAST
Look around the margins of the Resistance trailer and you’ll find some bridges to Star Wars history. From aliens (Green Nikto, first seen on a skiff in Return Of The Jedi) to tech (hyperdrive rings for single fighters, first seen in Attack Of The Clones), Resistance represents the past, present and future of Star Wars.
STAR WARS RESISTANCE IS ON DISNEY XD FROM OCTOBER