The ‘Star Wars’ franchise is taking a break from the Jedi and The Force and is letting someone else take center stage! Disney Channel’s new animated series, ‘Star Wars Resistance’ is set to premiere on October 7 and will let the pilots take the wheel, literally!
The series takes place before the events of ‘The Force Awakens’ and features Kazuda Xiono (voiced by Christopher Sean) as a young hotshot who is recruited by Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) for a Resistance mission. Their mission is to go undercover on the Colossus, an aircraft-refueling station on a water planet, and spy on the First Order. In the series, Kazuda (Kaz) discovers a competitive community of people who share his love of life-or-death races run for fame and fortune.
Dave Filoni, creator for ‘Star Wars Resistance’ previously led ‘The Clone Wars’ and ‘Star Wars Rebels.’ Filoni has first-hand knowledge of pilots, as his grandfather and uncle both piloted private planes, and his uncle also restored old World War II aircrafts. Speaking about how his life experience shaped his work on ‘Resistance,’ saying:
“When you see movies like ‘The Right Stuff,’ it really connects with you because you know people like that in your life, these pilots who have a really unique sense of confidence.”
In the new series, Kaz sees his confidence get him into trouble as he pilots the Fireball, which is designed to be a cross between an X-wing and a World War II F4U Corsair. Filoni spoke about Kaz’s lack of experience, saying:
“He is a fish out of water somewhat in this extreme environment of the Colossus where people are trying to figure out what is their life now in the years after the Empire fell.”
The Aces are a top group of five pilots who protect the Colossus and take on all challengers in harrowing races. Hype Fazon (Donald Faison) is a cocky Rodian, Griff Halloran (Stephen Stanton) is a gruff ex-TIE pilot, Freya Fenris (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn) is a fierce lady who’s all business, and Bo Keevil is the mysterious, quiet daredevil of the group.
Kaz finds himself teaming up with Torra Doza (Myrna Velasco), a young girl who is an Ace and a beast behind the wheel. Filoni said:
“She’s actually rather fun and lighthearted. It doesn’t mean that she can’t be also a fantastic pilot.”
However, it’s not all fun and games, as Major Vonreg (Lex Lang), a First Order TIE pilot whose crimson armor and spacecraft come from an old-school inspiration, may complicate things for our hero. Filoni said:
“Every time we have a villain pilot, we would talk about, well, is this our Red Baron? And finally it’s like, let’s make one red all out. It seems to fit with the First Order, since they seem to really like that as a color. If the good guys have aces, the villains need them, too.”
