Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Rise of the Bounty Hunters-- bigger, bolder and more intense than ever before
Fierce battles, expanded storylines, and ground-breaking animation raise the stakes higher than ever before in Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Rise of the Bounty Hunters premiering on Cartoon Network in May. With new episodes every Friday at 7:30 PM, the series features the continuing adventures of the Jedi as their lives grow more complex and secretive. Forbidden relationships are revealed and a new breed of villain enters to take advantage of the wartime turmoil. Season two introduces these lawless rogues into the fray along with a host of new characters, locations and creatures. Set against the spectacular backdrop of the Star Wars universe, The Clone Wars – Rise of the Bounty Hunters is bigger, bolder and more intense than ever before!
George Lucas, creator and executive producer of Star Wars the Clone Wars and Dave Filoni, the show’s supervising director share exciting highlights on the all-new season:
George Lucas
What do you see as the biggest differences between this season and the first season?
GEORGE LUCAS: The series is progressing a lot like the live-action movies. In the first season, we were able to keep things light; it was a conflict between good and evil, with clear-cut good guys and bad guys, much like the first movie. We were able to explore the world and introduce our characters, setting the tone. The second season furthers the story like The Empire Strikes Back did for the original trilogy. It’s more complicated, and we’re seeing that an ongoing war isn’t as simple as we’d been led to believe. The only difference is that the original movies led to the victory over the Empire, while our series will finish off at the beginning of Episode III, which is a low point for the Republic. (more below)
DAVE FILONI: Yeah, but that’s not to say that the galaxy is going to be cloaked in darkness by the end. Because we have the luxury of telling so many different stories, we are really able to expand on things and explore all kinds of different aspects of the Star Wars universe. To a degree, things will have to become more difficult for the heroes, but we are still able to look at many different aspects of the Clone Wars. There will be triumphs, and plenty of humor and heroism, too. After all, this is Star Wars.
GL: We’ve also come a long way with our production. To look at the first season versus the episodes that are airing now, the difference is clear.
DF: Absolutely. This was an ambitious project from the beginning; George doesn’t let us compromise, and his vision is basically to produce a 22-minute movie each week. As a new studio, meeting those expectations was tremendously difficult. I am so proud of what we accomplished in the first season, but we have learned so much since then – and it shows. As we produce more and more episodes, we continue to build our asset library and our expertise. And as the fundamentals become second-nature, we can focus on developing new tricks. It’s so exciting to see how that translates to the screen, and I think we’re creating something pretty unique for TV.
What are some of the stories and surprises we can expect to see in the second season?
DF: Well, I can’t give away any surprises, but I can say that you’ll see some appearances by some familiar faces from the live-action films. For example, we’re bringing back Aurra Sing. She didn’t get to do much in Episode I, and we saw her briefly at the end of our first season, but fans are finally going to see her in action. That’s pretty exciting, and it’s fun to have the chance to deliver on these long-standing fan expectations. Plus, she’s a bounty hunter, which means she doesn’t play fair, and that’s always a lot of fun.
GL: We’re also bringing back Bossk, one of the bounty hunters from The Empire Strikes Back. He’ll have a little more to do than just wiggle his toes this time around.
DF: We’ve got some fun new characters, too. We’re finally going to see the Mandalorians, whose famous armor was popularized by Jango and Boba Fett in the live-action films. And we’ve got some really cool new creatures and monsters, too. I think fans are really going to like the Zillo Beast, but I’m not going to say any more right now!
Will we see any more of the Anakin/Padme romance?
DF: We catch glimpses here and there, but we’re not focusing on it. The war effort keeps Anakin out on the front lines, while Padme is caught in the political web on Coruscant. Still, she's definitely a driving force for Anakin, and an ongoing reminder of his tendency toward personal attachments – something that will get him into trouble down the line.
GL: Anakin’s not the only Jedi with romantic tendencies. We’re going to see that even the most serious Jedi Masters have pasts, and that those pasts can sometimes return unexpectedly.
DF: Yeah, in addition to providing an emotional backbone, there is definitely humor to be found in these situations, as well. And that’s something we are very clear about when producing the series; even though we are in the middle of a very tumultuous time for the galaxy, we always try to maintain a sense of humor, and to include some comic relief. The battle droids have really evolved into that role, for example. Beyond that, it’s definitely one of the classic qualities of the Star Wars movies for the heroes to find themselves in over their heads.
What about Ahsoka? She is becoming more like Anakin, even to the point of paralleling his personal attachments. Is this a foreshadow of her eventual fate?
DF: We have ideas about what will happen with Ahsoka, but her destiny changes as her character grows.
(source: Cartoon Network local PR)
