Over the weekend, new promo art for the back half ofStar Wars RebelsSeason 3 revealed thatRogue OnecharacterSaw Gerrerais coming toStar Wars Rebels. BeforeForest Whitakerplayed him in the blockbusterRogue One, this character was first featured in four episodes of the earlier animated seriesStar Wars: The Clone Wars, voiced byAndrew Kishino, and now we’ll get to see this character go back to his animated roots inStar Wars Rebels. Today, LucasFilm has confirmed the news of Saw Gerrera’s return with a new preview video, which also confirms thatForest Whitakerhimself returns to voice this beloved character.
Academy Award-winning actorForest Whitaker, who stars as Rebel freedom fighter Saw Gerrera inRogue One: A Star Wars Story, will join the cast of the hit animated seriesStar Wars Rebels, which is set in a time period just prior to the events ofRogue One.Whitakerwill reprise his role as Gerrera, providing the voice of the character as he makes his debut onStar Wars Rebels: Ghosts of Geonosis, Parts One and Twopremiering Saturday, January 7 (8:30-9:30 p.m. EST), on Disney XD. Here’s whatStar Wars Rebelsexecutive producerDave Filonihad to say in a statement.
“It’s an incredible honor to haveForest Whitakerplay Saw inRebels. Forest did a great job at capturing Saw in a way that is a bit mad, a bit crazed, a bit afraid, but also a bit sympathetic. He sees something coming, but no one will take action before it’s too late.”
The character of Saw Gerrera was first introduced in the TV seriesStar Wars: The Clone Wars(2008-2015) as a guerrilla fighter for his home planet. Created byGeorge Lucas, Saw received training from the Jedi - Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano - and served as an early harbinger of the Rebel Alliance, an assortment of disparate groups coming together to fight for a common cause. It has yet to be confirmed ifForest Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera will appear in more than just this two-part episode ofStar Wars RebelsSeason 3, but this story could provide some insight and back story into the events ofRogue One. Be warned, if you haven’t seenRogue Oneyet, there will be SPOILERS below, so read on at your own risk.
Saw Gerrera didn’t make it out alive after the Empire blew up the holy Jedi planet of Jedha. Thankfully, sinceStar Wars Rebelsis set before the events of thisStar Wars standalone movie, we can get a glimpse at Saw before he meets Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) and the other members of the rebel team that set out on a dangerous mission to steal plans for the original Death Star. It seems from this preview that Saw Gerrera knew about the Death Star before anyone else, with executive producerDave FiloniandLucasFilm’sKiri Hartshedding light on how Saw comes into the story.
Rogue Onedid feature a brief cameo appearance of the Ghost ship fromStar Wars Rebels, but it was never fully confirmed that the ship, piloted by Hera, made the jump to hyperspace in time. It’s possible that all of the otherStar Wars Rebelscharacters were aboard the Ghost at the time, and if it wasn’t able to make it out of Scarif alive, this could be why these characters aren’t featured at any other point within theStar Warstimeline. While we wait for more onStar Wars Rebels, take a look at the new preview and image of Saw Gerrera, beforeStar Wars Rebelsreturns withGhosts of Geonosis, Parts One and Twoon Saturday, January 7 (8:30-9:30 p.m. EST), only on Disney XD.
