Lucasfilm and Disney have released the first teaser trailer for "Star Wars Rebels" season 3 during this year's Star Wars Day celebration. As noted in a report from Star Wars.com, the trailer gives a lot of little details about the story to come and introduces a fan-favorite character as the season's main villain.
One of the first noticeable elements in the trailer are the new character designs for Ezra, Kanan and Sabine. Kanan is seen wearing a new mask now that he is blind and Sabine sports a brand new hair style. Ezra has his hair cut and all of the characters look a little worn out and older, hinting the events take place closer to "Star Wars: A New Hope."
The trailer also reveals Ezra is still being trained by Darth Maul and there are even more indications that the former is being pulled to the Dark Side of the Force, with comments such as "I need to become more powerful" prominently being heared in the trailer.
Wedge Antilles, originally played by Denis Lawson in the original trilogy, also makes his appearance in the trailer.
However, the biggest reveals were that of Bendu and Grand Admiral Thrawn. Bendu, according to the report, is a new kind of Force user not associated with the Jedi. Instead, it appears more like a giant elemental creature that thrives on the Force. It is also revealed that "Doctor Who" veteran Tom Baker will be voicing the character.
Thrawn, the blue-skinned genius military tactician for the Empire, was first introduced in the 1991 novel "Heir to the Empire" by Timothy Zahn. Thrawn was originally depicted as a villain who took up arms after the events of "Return of the Jedi" but the books are now a part of "Star Wars Legends" and are no longer considered canon.
Despite this, Thrawn is being re-introduced as a main villain in "Star Wars Rebels" and will be retaining many of his qualities from the books. To ensure the character is as fans expect, Zahn has been consulted by the studios when season 3 was in development and being written. Zahn is also writing a new Thrawn novel that is now going to be a part of "Star Wars" canon.
"Star Wars Rebels" season 3 premieres this fall.
