Why ‘Star Wars’ Fans Should Embrace ‘Star Wars: Resistance’
By Shana Oneil/May 27, 2019 7:00 am EST
Like Star Wars Rebels before it, Star Wars Resistance met some, no pun intended, resistance with certain Star Wars fans – especially fans who feel the Disney XD series is targeted specifically to kids and not themselves. But Star Wars Resistance is already showing signs of moving past its initial childlike wonder into a richer story that will weave itself into the larger Star Wars tapestry as a whole.Fans aren’t wrong in the sense that both Resistance and Rebels have a younger age demographic target. When you’re a Star Wars animated series on a Disney Channel, that’s sort of par for the course. That said, as we learned with Rebels – where a Star Wars animated series starts and where it ends up are two completely different things.I won’t lie to you. The first episodes of Star Wars Resistance left me… wanting. It was cute. I like cute but it didn’t grab me. Rebels grabbed me from the beginning. But, while I liked everyone on the show as a character, I didn’t hook in immediately. I didn’t watch the episodes multiple times. It was cute. It was amusing. It was Star Wars for kids and that was great and I was happy to leave it at that.Then I changed my mind. Star Wars Resistance is much more than cute and amusing. It’s important.
The Basics
The overall premise of Star Wars Resistance is fairly straightforward. Resistance starts about six months before the events of The Force Awakens. Kazuda Xiono (Christopher Sean), a wealthy senator’s son, is a pilot in the New Republic who gets recruited into the Resistance by Commander Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). Poe needs a spy on the Colossus, a refueling station on Castilon in the Outer Rim near Wild Space. The Colossus is home to all sorts of people and species, essentially a floating cantina, and hosts some of the best racers in the galaxy. The racers, known as the Aces, also serve as the station’s security forces so they’re deployed if there are attacks from pirates or other outside threats – but racing is what the Colossus is all about.Poe sends Kaz in to pose as an aspiring racer, but his real job is to spy for the New Republic as word has reached them that there’s a First Order spy on the Colossus. Poe sets Kaz up with a former Republic pilot and current repair shop owner Jarek Yeager (Scott Lawrence), who’s doing this as a favor but isn’t going to give Kaz an easy ride, telling him, “You can work as a mechanic on my team. But when it comes to your mission as a spy, I don’t want anything to do with it.“Soon, Kaz is part of Jarek’s repair crew, also known as Team Fireball thanks to a ship they’ve been working on (and working on, and working on). Team Fireball includes Neeku Vozo (Josh Brener), Tam Ryvora (Susie McGrath), and R1-J5 aka “Bucket”. Now in place, Kaz has to try and balance life on Team Fireball and his duties there with his spying duties.Let’s just say wacky hijinks ensue. Kaz is, well, Kaz. He’s a kid who comes from a pretty easy life. Life on the Colossus is very different than what he’s used to and many of the early episodes include Kaz getting himself into situations, alone or with his friends, and then having to get himself out. It’s a little slapstick. A little serious. And a whole lot of lesson learning. Sweet, funny, cute.
What We Can Expect In Season 2
While I personally don’t know what happens in Season 2, Star Wars Celebration did offer some insight on what we’ll see going forward.The character we saw make a choice to go with the First Order isn’t regretting her choice. We’ll see her side of the story in greater detail and that means a better look behind the scenes of the First Order itself, not to mention a potential ally should she realize the First Order isn’t what it seems to be.As for Kaz, the rest of Team Fireball, and everyone on the Colossus, they’ll have their hands full with their own challenges. The Season 2 premiere, according to StarWars.com, picks up right where the season finale ended – with everything in chaos and their future up in the air.
Why It’s Worth Getting Caught Up
Like I said earlier, where a Star Wars animated series starts and where it ends up are two completely different things. It happened with The Clone Wars. It happened with Star Wars Rebels and it’s showing signs of happening with Star Wars Resistance.The truth is, we’re talking half-hour episodes here. You could get caught up in a relatively short amount of time, have some fun, see some legacy Star Wars characters, meet new characters, and generally have a good time. But you’ll also get an unexpected amount of lore and canon dropped in your lap along with a fair amount of emotion. That, for me, is what Star Wars is all about.Star Wars has always been a mix of fun, adventure, drama, action, and real emotion that resonates with kids and adults alike. That’s why I think Star Wars Resistance is worth sticking around for. Sure, it may be geared toward a younger audience, but we’ve definitely learned that there’s some really good Star Wars out there in the animated universe – why miss out now?
Why ‘Star Wars’ Fans Should Embrace ‘Star Wars: Resistance’
By Shana Oneil/May 27, 2019 7:00 am EST
Like Star Wars Rebels before it, Star Wars Resistance met some, no pun intended, resistance with certain Star Wars fans – especially fans who feel the Disney XD series is targeted specifically to kids and not themselves. But Star Wars Resistance is already showing signs of moving past its initial childlike wonder into a richer story that will weave itself into the larger Star Wars tapestry as a whole.Fans aren’t wrong in the sense that both Resistance and Rebels have a younger age demographic target. When you’re a Star Wars animated series on a Disney Channel, that’s sort of par for the course. That said, as we learned with Rebels – where a Star Wars animated series starts and where it ends up are two completely different things.I won’t lie to you. The first episodes of Star Wars Resistance left me… wanting. It was cute. I like cute but it didn’t grab me. Rebels grabbed me from the beginning. But, while I liked everyone on the show as a character, I didn’t hook in immediately. I didn’t watch the episodes multiple times. It was cute. It was amusing. It was Star Wars for kids and that was great and I was happy to leave it at that.Then I changed my mind. Star Wars Resistance is much more than cute and amusing. It’s important.
The Basics
The overall premise of Star Wars Resistance is fairly straightforward. Resistance starts about six months before the events of The Force Awakens. Kazuda Xiono (Christopher Sean), a wealthy senator’s son, is a pilot in the New Republic who gets recruited into the Resistance by Commander Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). Poe needs a spy on the Colossus, a refueling station on Castilon in the Outer Rim near Wild Space. The Colossus is home to all sorts of people and species, essentially a floating cantina, and hosts some of the best racers in the galaxy. The racers, known as the Aces, also serve as the station’s security forces so they’re deployed if there are attacks from pirates or other outside threats – but racing is what the Colossus is all about.Poe sends Kaz in to pose as an aspiring racer, but his real job is to spy for the New Republic as word has reached them that there’s a First Order spy on the Colossus. Poe sets Kaz up with a former Republic pilot and current repair shop owner Jarek Yeager (Scott Lawrence), who’s doing this as a favor but isn’t going to give Kaz an easy ride, telling him, “You can work as a mechanic on my team. But when it comes to your mission as a spy, I don’t want anything to do with it.“Soon, Kaz is part of Jarek’s repair crew, also known as Team Fireball thanks to a ship they’ve been working on (and working on, and working on). Team Fireball includes Neeku Vozo (Josh Brener), Tam Ryvora (Susie McGrath), and R1-J5 aka “Bucket”. Now in place, Kaz has to try and balance life on Team Fireball and his duties there with his spying duties.Let’s just say wacky hijinks ensue. Kaz is, well, Kaz. He’s a kid who comes from a pretty easy life. Life on the Colossus is very different than what he’s used to and many of the early episodes include Kaz getting himself into situations, alone or with his friends, and then having to get himself out. It’s a little slapstick. A little serious. And a whole lot of lesson learning. Sweet, funny, cute.
Just When You Thought You Knew
What We Can Expect In Season 2
While I personally don’t know what happens in Season 2, Star Wars Celebration did offer some insight on what we’ll see going forward.The character we saw make a choice to go with the First Order isn’t regretting her choice. We’ll see her side of the story in greater detail and that means a better look behind the scenes of the First Order itself, not to mention a potential ally should she realize the First Order isn’t what it seems to be.As for Kaz, the rest of Team Fireball, and everyone on the Colossus, they’ll have their hands full with their own challenges. The Season 2 premiere, according to StarWars.com, picks up right where the season finale ended – with everything in chaos and their future up in the air.
Why It’s Worth Getting Caught Up
Like I said earlier, where a Star Wars animated series starts and where it ends up are two completely different things. It happened with The Clone Wars. It happened with Star Wars Rebels and it’s showing signs of happening with Star Wars Resistance.The truth is, we’re talking half-hour episodes here. You could get caught up in a relatively short amount of time, have some fun, see some legacy Star Wars characters, meet new characters, and generally have a good time. But you’ll also get an unexpected amount of lore and canon dropped in your lap along with a fair amount of emotion. That, for me, is what Star Wars is all about.Star Wars has always been a mix of fun, adventure, drama, action, and real emotion that resonates with kids and adults alike. That’s why I think Star Wars Resistance is worth sticking around for. Sure, it may be geared toward a younger audience, but we’ve definitely learned that there’s some really good Star Wars out there in the animated universe – why miss out now?
