Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Star Wars Rebels: Princess Leia to appear in pre-A New Hope TV show

She will be 'almost a double agent' in the animated show

Jack Shepherd
Tuesday 12 January 2016 10:54 GMT
Comments
Princess Leia was unimpressed by certain lines in George Lucas' Star Wars script
Princess Leia was unimpressed by certain lines in George Lucas' Star Wars script

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

When all the promotional material for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released, Princess (now General) Leia wasn’t used as much as people expected.

The film itself - mild spoiler - doesn’t really use Carrie Fisher a whole lot either, only re-introducing her in the second half. It was a shame because the character is so brilliant, she could have been used so much more and no-one would mind.

Well, if you’re looking for more Leia, you can find her in Disney’s Star Wars series, Rebels, a computer animated TV series set before the original film, later subtitled A New Hope.


Leia in Star Wars: Rebels

 Leia in Star Wars: Rebels

“We thought we had an opportunity to show her learning to be a leader, experimenting with the personality that becomes the stronger more resolute character you see in A New Hope,” explained Executive Producer Dave Filoni.

“One of the complex challenges of depicting Leia in Rebels is that we have to remind the audience that at this point she is part of the Empire. She doesn’t believe in the Empire, but she is acting the part, almost a double agent.”

Double agent Princess Leia? Sounds great! The only catch is that Fisher won’t be reprising the role for the TV show. Instead, Julie Dolan - who voiced Leia in the mobile game Star Wars: Uprising - will be taking over.

In other Star Wars news, JJ Abrams recently explained why The Force Awakens is so similar to A New Hope while the shortlist for who will play a young Han Solo has seemingly been revealed.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in