Towards his destiny...Anakin Skywalker in Season Four of THE CLONE WARS.
A new extended trailer for Season Four of THE CLONE WARS debuted today and it was fabulous - The Clone Wars Season 4 "Battle Lines" Trailer - YouTube - full of incredible imagery and action/adventure. Plus more of the baddies we want to see (alongside lots more new ones), and not necessarily fighting against the Republic, more Obi-Wan, more Mon Calamari, more new worlds and creatures, and, most importantly, a lot to come on the Dark Side of the Force and its relationship to Anakin Skywalker, as we finally get to see his anger come out of its bottle regarding slavers-perhaps one more scheme pre-EPISODE III designed by Darth Sidious to get Anakin closer to the Sith.
We'll find out more from September 16th in the US, and probably October in the UK.
Here's some more great images from the trailer...
Sidious launches a new scheme of terror alongside Count Dooku.
New look Clone Troopers in action.
New laser whip wielding baddies for the Jedi to deal with...
Ahsoka and Artoo-always ready to help!
More great space vistas.
Ventress and the Nightsisters fight back.
More explosive action for the Clone Troopers.
Ahsoka mans the speeder bike turret! Dig those glasses once more!
Always the best man to have on your side: Obi-Wan Kenobi
Jedi mission: liberate the Togrutan slaves.
Fight! Grievous versus Ventress!
Time for another Anakin/Ahsoka explosion!
Those Death Watch warriors rear their heads once again.
On the steps of an abandoned, rain soaked Massassi temple, on the faraway world of Yavin IV, Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker is taunted by the evil Sith wannabe Asajj Ventress in this great image from the second half of the CLONE WARS animated premiere series of 2003.
Clash of the Titans! Anakin Skywalker and Asajj Ventress lock sabers once again!
The clock is expectantly ticking for UK STAR WARS fans with the new season of THE CLONE WARS, and SKY MOVIES have very kindly sent us this great publicity info below in red, and some great photos linked to early episodes of the season:
The war wears on, and the Republic is pushed to its breaking point. Support for the Jedi Knights and their noble cause comes in the form of valiant clone troopers – steadfast defenders of peace and justice, even as the Jedi falter and the mighty Republic begins to crumble. Joined by familiar faces and confronted with deadly new threats, these everyman heroes lead the charge into a transformative new season of Clone Wars adventures – where alliances will be tested, truths will be questioned and galaxy-changing secrets will be uncovered to shake the very foundations of the Star Wars universe. The next chapter of Star Wars: The Clone Wars begins with a must-see two-part premiere at Saturday 23rd October on Sky Movies Premiere/HD.
Shaak Ti addresses the Clones, and makes her first appearance in the series
Can the Clone Domino Squad succeed in their training?
In “Clone Cadets,” five headstrong cadets – Hevy, Cutup, Droidbait, Fives and Echo – struggle to complete their training on the ocean planet of Kamino. Unable to work together as a team, they must learn to embrace their future as soldiers before they are drummed out of the academy.
“It’s a band-of-brothers story that takes you back before most of the episodes we’ve seen so far; it’s one of the earliest episodes – chronologically – in the series,” says Dee Bradley Baker, voice of the clones. “We’re going to see how the ‘shinies’ [new recruits featured in the first season episode, ‘Rookies’] learn to work together. Starting off, they’re not a team at all. They’re just everymen; they’re human. And now they’ve got to pull it together. There’s something really cool about how the show brings out the heroism from characters like that – not just the superpowered ones.”
A revealing look at clone development and training, the episode also introduces a unique new character. Clone Number 99 is a unique clone – and imperfect model relegated to menial, custodial duties at the Kamino production facility. Still, despite his physical flaws, he nonetheless identifies with his genetic brethren – and he aspires to make his own small contributions to their noble war efforts.
“He’s a great example of the show’s creative risks,” says Baker. “I was nervous going into this episode. Does he sound real? Is he believable? I agonized over it; he’s a very special character, and a very unique challenge. Kinda high stakes for me, because I wanted so badly to get it right. He’s a little bit slower…quieter…softer than your basic clone voice. I skewed his dialect toward cockney to give him a blue collar, salt-of-the-earth flavor. I’ve got a lot of favorites, but 99’s definitely one of them. His story is very affecting – really beautiful on a lot of different levels.”
The Clone Trooper valiantly defend their home world of Kamino in ARC TROOPERS
On the heels of “Clone Cadets” comes “ARC Troopers,” which revisits the clones after the notable events of “Rookies” – with the surviving squad members tasked with defending Kamino from a large-scale Separatist attack. After the Republic repulses the Separatists’ first assault, the real threat begins. Asajj Ventress, General Grievous and an army of droids rise out of the planet’s oceans, determined to destroy the clone production facilities – and the clones themselves are the last line of desperate defense.
“This episode raises the stakes in a really spectacular way. This is big space opera; this is why you want to own an HD TV. It’s basically the scale of a Star Wars movie – on TV,” says Baker. “It’s awesome. I’m so very proud of this show; it’s exciting to make this kind of episode work. And it’s such a team effort. There’s an army of artists working to make this compelling and moving. This is extraordinary storytelling.”
New character Jedi Master Di (left) makes his first appearance in SUPPLY LINES
And it’s just the beginning. In a galaxy far, far away…much to learn there still is.
With THE CLONE WARS then still under wraps, aside from some early art and a wow factor trailer, for the most part of the previous Celebration IV, the gloves were now off and the secrecy shackles removed from Dave Filoni for this years Celebration V, as he presented two spectacular digital screening panels to packed and eager audiences for the upcoming third season of THE CLONE WARS. Here's some of the great information I was able to glean from the event, on what looks set to be an absolutely fantastic new season of epic battles, grand heroics and truly evil deeds.
Please note, there are lots of spoilers below.
The opening episodes see a stunning attack on the clone facilities at Kamino by the Separatists, led by Asajj Ventress, in underwater attack ships (similar to the one that captured Rotta the Hutt's Tatooine Sail Barge from the Clone Wars movie) that literally latch themselves onto the Kaminoan cities and smash their way into the superstructures, unleashing destruction on a grand scale (including an incredible scene where the Clone vats are destroyed) and a new series of Super Battle Droids.
Several new Jedi faces will be added to the ranks, though one will be killed by a mysterious assassin or creature during the series run. Shaak Ti is also a new face to the series- the decision was taken to introduce her later in the run so that kids would not get her confused with the similar looking Ahsoka.
Its been hinted at by Filoni that the previously thought to be destroyed Slave One vessel of Boba Fett is in the hands of pirate Hondo Ohnaka, and is getting a refurbishment that will make the ship look a little closer in appearance to the way it will be in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.
There will be a link/character from the Classic Trilogy appearing in Season Three (our money is on a teenage Han Solo, whose planned appearance was cut from EPISODE III).
The series may go beyond its planned five year run (Lucas and co. are currently working on Year Five as you read this), and looks set to run for as long as its popular with fans and audiences.
In a question I asked Filoni at one of the talks he confirmed that, with the advances in series CGI realisation (including rain and sea waves for Kamino, fire and costume material for the characters), we will one day see Wookiees and Kashyyyk in the series.
The action sequences have been amped up with better lighting and angles and a greater sense of realism now that the CGI has been improved and refined even further. Expect to see a lot more believability of movement and more shadows and reflections.
Count Dooku, in very stylish pyjamas no less!, will have a stunning lightsaber duel with a group of mostly invisible assassins-an idea that was conceived by Lucas (though it's initial concept did put a smile on Filoni's face at the thought of invisible people!) and looked superb in the footage shown at the event. Overall, there will be more of Dooku in this season and we'll also find out what the title crawl to EPISODE III meant when it said "There are heroes on both sides. Evil is everywhere."
Based on designs originally conceived by Ian McCaig for EPISODE ONE, the scarily drawn Sith Witches become reality, now known as the Witches of Dathomir, the home race of Asajj Ventress, revealed in Season Three. In the episode/s, Ventress is seemingly on the run from Dooku/Sidious and seeks refuge with her "family" on Dathomir, on a planet where the male and female races have evolved separately from one another. Its been hinted at that this season will be the last for Ventress's character-which is a bit of a shame.
From the new mega trailer (first shown exclusively at the CV event, and edited by one of Filoni's best friends, who now also works for LUCASFILM), the Duchess of Satine and the Mandalorians will return, as do the Toydarians, Aurra Sing, Clone Commander Wolf, Jabba and Ziro the Hutt (the latter, possibly along with Boba Fett (?), busted from prison on Coruscant and heralding the start of a Hutt clan war later in the season), Jar Jar Binks (once more voiced by Ahmed Best), plus General Grievous and Cad Bane (who gives Obi-Wan Kenobi an "electrifying" time in one lightsaber duel).
The big highlight for many though was the reveal of Darth Maul's brother, Savage Opres, who will become a regular enemy for the Jedi to fight this season- a gift from the Witches of Dathomir to Count Dooku.
The Clone Commandos also make a brief cameo in one episode, in a sequence shown at the convention that brought the house down with applause after years of waiting for a visual appearance somewhere in live action or animated Prequel-dom.
Katie Lucas has written quite a few episodes for this season, including the Ventress/Dathomir episodes and one coming up which will star the entire Lucas family as the blue skinned Papanoidia family, with George's Baron heavily involved in an action sequence in a cantina, though son Jett was unhappy that his animated character's gun wasn't as big as his dad's!
The Year Three mega trailer for THE CLONE WARS can be seen on the official STAR WARS site's main CELEBRATION V home page, and is coming to the US CARTOON NETWORK from September 17th 2010, and on SKY in the UK by at least the end of October this year.
