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Star Wars Rebels: Meet Kanan

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On Tuesday, February 11, the world was introduced to the third official character for the upcoming animated series Star Wars Rebels. His name is Kanan. Played by Freddie Prinze, Jr., Kanan is the leader of the rebel crew.

“He is a Jedi, but he’s not a Jedi in the traditional sense,” said animation supervisor Keith Kellogg. Being that he’s on the run and constantly trying to survive, he’s a bit rough around the edges and has forsaken the Jedi principles he was once taught.

According to executive producer Dave Filoni, “He saw the destruction of his way of life at the hands of Darth Vader and the Empire. He doesn’t know how they can move forward and survive now.” Having been at the Jedi Temple when it was attacked by Vader and his 501st Legion, Kanan has had a dark past and that has shaped him to be the complex character leading the Ghost and rebel crew against the Empire.

Being that I’m a big fan of Freddie Prinze, Jr., this is exciting news. He has done voice acting in the past (Mass Effect, Robot Chicken), and I’m looking forward to his take on a gunslinging Jedi. With Kanan’s sharp tongue, it sounds like there will be plenty of banter and sarcasm on The Ghost with the cantankerous Chopper zipping through the halls as well. Freddie’s also prepping his daughter to be a Star Wars fan. Parenting done right, in my opinion.

In a recent IGN interview, executive producer Greg Weisman stated, “We have a character who’s our focus character, and then five other characters that make up this group of six rebels. Even within the first season, that cast expands, and there are more people, but the focus is still on this small group of rebels.” Is Kanan the focus character? Or do we have another character that will be the key player for the formation of the rebellion? Although there is one focus character, I expect to see character development for the remaining members of the crew. Also, I assume Chopper is included in this group of six rebels. Like Weisman said, there is room for expansion, so I imagine there will be recurring characters and familiar faces from the existing Star Wars universe throughout the journey.

So far, we have three official Star Wars Rebels characters. New York Comic Con revealed the Inquisitor in October 2013, and German site Movie Pilot revealed the astromech droid Chopper on January 27, 2014. StarWars.com made the official announcement for Chopper on Tuesday, January 28. Could we expect another character announcement on Tuesday, February 25? We will have to wait and see!