New Star Wars Animated Series on the way! Star Wars: Resistance

From Lucasfilm:
 

This fall, welcome to the Resistance!

StarWars.com is thrilled to announce that production has begun on Star Wars Resistance, an exciting new animated adventure series about Kazuda Xiono, a young pilot recruited by the Resistance and tasked with a top-secret mission to spy on the growing threat of the First Order. It will premiere this fall on Disney Channel in the U.S. and thereafter, on Disney XD and around the world.

Featuring the high-flying adventure that audiences of all ages have come to expect from Star Wars, Star Wars Resistance — set in the time prior to Star Wars: The Force Awakens — will feature the beloved droid BB-8 alongside ace pilots, colorful new characters and appearances by fan favorites including Poe Dameron and Captain Phasma, voiced by actors Oscar Isaac and Gwendoline Christie, respectively.

The series was created by renowned Lucasfilm Animation veteran Dave Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels); executive-produced by Athena Portillo (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels), Justin Ridge (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels) and Brandon Auman (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles); and art-directed by Amy Beth Christenson (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels).

“The idea for Star Wars Resistance came out of my interest in World War II aircraft and fighter pilots” said Filoni. “My grandfather was a pilot and my uncle flew and restored planes, so that’s been a big influence on me. There’s a long history of high-speed racing in Star Wars, and I think we’ve captured that sense of excitement in an anime-inspired style, which is something the entire team has been wanting to do for a long time.”

Marc Buhaj, senior vice president, Programming and general manager, Disney XD, said, “Our colleagues at Lucasfilm have created a compelling narrative for an untold moment in the Star Wars galaxy, and we are excited to partner with them again on this new original series. Star Wars Resistance will bring viewers across generations an engaging story with heart, humor and both new and familiar characters.”

In addition to Isaac and Christie, the voice cast includes actors Christopher Sean (Days of Our Lives), Suzie McGrath (East Enders), Scott Lawrence (Legion), Myrna Velasco (Elena of Avalor), Josh Brener (Silicon Valley), Donald Faison (Scrubs), Bobby Moynihan (DuckTales), Jim Rash (Community), and Rachel Butera (Tammy’s Tiny Tea Time).

Source: Star Wars.com

Commentary: I am surprised that the new series is launching this fall...usually when we get an announcement like this, it takes forever for the series to actually get here.  I was a huge fan of STAR WARS: REBELS, so I am definitely looking forward to this.  We really haven't gotten a lot of information about what happened between RETURN OF THE JEDI and THE FORCE AWAKENS.  There were a handful of books, but they didn't give all that much of an understanding of what led to the rise of the FIRST ORDER. I am hoping that we get more of that in STAR WARS: RESISTANCE. 

I am also surprised that we are actually getting Star Wars actors to do the voice work for their character with Oscar Isaac and Gwendoline Christie returning as Poe and Captain Phasma. To be fair, we have gotten quite a few STAR WARS actors to reprise their roles for FORCES OF DESTINY, but those were all shorts.  I hope that we can get quite a bit of Poe and Phasma in RESISTANCE...especially Phasma as she basically was a total jobber in THE FORCE AWAKENS and THE LAST JEDI.