4/14/2017

'Star Wars' Spotlights Female Heroes In 'Forces Of Destiny' Animated Micro-Series

By View Comments

With the additions of Daisy Ridley as Rey and Felicity Jones's Jyn Erson, Star Wars is ushering in a new generation of strong female heroes. And it looks as if Lucasfilm is going to take that ball and run with it even further. Star Wars Celebration got underway with a pretty cool announcement for Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, a series of 2-3 minute animated shorts that will follow the most iconic female characters in the galaxy far far away.

The series will run beginning this July on Disney's Youtube channel, followed by a special to air on the Disney Channel. The shorts will feature Rey, Jyn Erso, Leia, Ahsoka Tano, Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren, and others with Maz Kanata as narrator. In many cases the original actresses have returned to voice each character. As far as the timeline goes, each story will take place at a different point critical to that character. So we'll see Padme Amidala during the prequels nobody likes, Rey during 'The Force Awakens', Sabine and Hera around Star Wars Rebels time, and so forth. Here are a few other details from EW that io9.com has put together...


  • The shorts with Rey will all actually take place within the runtime of The Force Awakens (to avoid revealing details from her past or The Last Jedi), exploring moments like her meeting with Teedo to rescue BB-8, or an off-screen encounter with a deadly nightwatcher worm on Jakku.
  • One Princess Leia-focused short is actually inspired by an infamous Empire Strikes Back deleted scene, about a Wampa attack in Echo Base. The short, now set just before the events of the film, sees Leia rescue Chewbacca from a Wampa trapped in the base.
  • Meanwhile, shorts focusing on the Star Wars Rebels heroes will not be set specifically within the show’s timeframe, but bridge the world of the shows with that of the movies. One short starring Sabine Wren, for example, will see her and Chopper exploring the Yavin 4 base from A New Hope, ahead of the Ghost crew making their way there in Rebels’ fourth season.
  • The most interesting of all, considering these are canonical tales, is one that will see Hera Syndulla from Rebels team up with Princess Leia and Han Solo on the forest moon of Endor, which seemingly pretty much guarantees that Hera sticks around for a while in the new Star Wars canon after Rebels and Rogue One.

    • Check out a teaser, some preview images and *shocker* the accompanying toy line that Disney plans to drop on us weak-willed Star Wars fans who will undoubtedly buy them.