Now that ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ is only seventeen days away, the world is clamoring to get as much content from a galaxy far, far away more than ever. There are plenty of video games, comic books, and novels to satisfy the need, but the franchise’s presence on television will continue to expand thanks to Disney XD as we await the next chapter of Finn, Rey, Poe Dameron, and Kylo Ren’s story scheduled for 2017.
Back in 2013, Lucasfilm announced that production was underway on ‘Star Wars Rebels’, a new animated series on Disney XD from Dave Filoni, Greg Weisman, and Simon Kinberg that is set during the time period between the prequel and original trilogies. The show debuted roughly a year later and we were introduced to Kanan, Ezra, and the rest of the crew of the Ghost, as well as the new operatives for the Empire like the Inquisitor and Agent Kallus. As it progressed into its second season, fan favorite characters such as Lando Calrissian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Ahsoka Tano, and Darth Vader began to pop up as well.
Now according to The Hollywood Reporter, the show has been renewed for a third season and will continue to tell new and exciting stories from the ‘Star Wars’ universe week after week. While making the announcement, Disney XD has been renewed for a third seas Senior Vice President of Programming and General Manager Marc Buhaj had this to say about the return of the series next year:
“We are proud to bring our audience a third season of Star Wars Rebels, a series that has resonated across generations. The creative team behind the series continues to do a brilliant job in delivering on the key tenets that fans have come to expect from a Star Wars property, including adventure, hope and the battle between good vs. evil.”
Though this news is certainly welcome, it hardly comes as a surprise. The cartoon ranks as the network’s #2 show among total viewers, which is about 1.3 million on average. It’s also the channel’s #1 program among adults 18-49 and men 18-49 and has reached over 48 million unique total viewers in 157 countries in 30 languages. For those who don’t speak TV executive, that basically means that the ‘Star Wars Rebels’ is doing incredibly well from a business standpoint. If this continues, it wouldn’t be shocking to see this show last as long if not longer than ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’, which spawned six seasons and a few movies.
Are you excited to see more ‘Star Wars Rebels’ in 2016? What do you think about the most recent season? And are there any other iconic ‘Star Wars’ characters that you’re hoping to see show up in the third season? Let us know in the comment section.
