Following the debut of the Star Wars: Visions trailer and cast list on August 17th (Missed it? Click HERE) we now have our first look at the heroes from the upcoming anthology show, which premieres on Disney+ on September 22nd.
Star Wars autograph collectors will especially enjoy seeing some of the first images of the heroes from the show in Dan Brooks’ piece for Starwars.com “INSIDE STAR WARS: VISIONS: MEET THE HEROES” which you can read in it’s entirety HERE.
Japanese: Chinatsu Akasaki (Photo: Bulbapedia)
English Dub: Kimiko Glenn (Photo: IMDb)
“The Ninth Jedi” from Production I.G. imagines a galaxy in which the Jedi Order is long gone, but a mysterious master named Juro hopes to revive it. And central to this possible Jedi renaissance is Kara, who has never been trained in the ways of the Force but still holds a connection to the guardians of peace and justice. “Kara’s father is a legendary lightsaber-smith, which is totally unique to this tale,” Rimes tells StarWars.com. “The lightsabers he makes are also different from anything we’ve seen before in Star Wars. Writer/director Kenji Kamiyama really leaned into this new and different vision of what a lightsaber can be and how it can reflect the nature of those who might wield it. Of course, Kara is in awe of her father and his very important job, and feels that one day she’ll have what it takes to wield a lightsaber and learn the ways of the Jedi.”
For Rimes, Kara follows in a tradition that’s key to Star Wars — but with a Visions twist. “Thematically, Kara has familiar hopes and dreams as heroes like Luke or Rey. She longs for more, wishes to become a hero and get off her tundra planet where great harpoon cannons farm for kyber crystals from the asteroids above,” he says. “What’s new, though, is that Kara has a stable, loving relationship to her father. He’s everything to her and she’s everything to him. He has an important job and when trouble comes she must take up her father’s mission and become the hero she’s meant to be — but despite her natural skill, she realizes this adventure is only the beginning and will need all the training she can get as she becomes a part of a group with a mission that’s bigger than herself.”
“She’s gifted with the use of a sword” adds Shirasaki, “but she’s not aware of her hidden power.”
Japanese: Junya Enoki (Photo: Anime News Network)
English Dub: Neil Patrick Harris (Photo: IMDb)
Trigger’s “The Twins” follows dark side siblings Karre and Am, an almost flip-version of the Skywalker saga’s well-known brother and sister. This is no hero’s journey, however. When the story begins, the twins already hold great power. Still, always in motion is the future, especially for Karre. “Along with his sister Am, Karre was created by dark side forces who plan for the powerful twins to rule the galaxy,” Shirasaki says. “However, Karre makes his own choice to free himself from a life that had been designed by the people around him.”
“Imaishi-san at Trigger really dug into his own style and the ‘twin’ themes with Luke and Leia to create dark-side twins Karre and Am,” adds Rimes. “While this set of twins has a destiny that is seemingly already written, with them both sitting up on their thrones on a giant Twin Star Destroyer, Karre has a crisis of conscience born out of love for his sister that drives his choice.”
Indeed, the conflict for Karre forms the heart of “The Twins.” And by inverting a classic Star Wars motif to follow protagonists aligned with the dark side, storytelling possibilities opened up.
“Karre brings a whole new point of view to Star Wars, but it also feels so familiar,” says Rimes. “He’s fighting for Am, the only family member he’s ever loved or known — and she is against it with every fiber of her being. Karre’s drive to protect and hold onto those he loves can be traced back to Anakin with his love for his mother or for Padmé, and Luke when it comes to his love for his friends and his ultimate forgiveness of his father. He’s making a choice that will forever shape his destiny. What’s really unique is that he’s doing it from an all-powerful position that’s set against a wild, exaggerated, burst of sound and fury and color. But it’s all because he wants his sister to live.”
Japanese: Yuichi Nakamura (Photo: My Anime List)
English Dub: Jordan Fisher (Photo: Facebook)
“The Elder,” also from Trigger, explores the classic master-Padawan relationship. And the short’s Jedi learner, known simply as Dan, has much to learn.
“Dan is a Jedi Padawan who is a bit impatient and sarcastic — he just wants to see a little Jedi action. His master Tajin is wise and cautious, but trusting,” Rimes says. “Dan learns the hard way about what it means to seek out a fight or to underestimate an opponent.”
Japanese: Asami Seto (Photo: Anime News Network)
English Dub: Karen Fukuhara (Photo: Twitter)
“Kinema Citrus’ “The Village Bride” finds a fallen Jedi, known only as F, observing a small village’s wedding rituals. Little is known about F, but what she does not reveal speaks volumes.
“From her cloak, to her mask, to her one letter name, F is mysterious, hidden, cautious due to a great tragedy in her past,” Rimes says. “Despite her Jedi heroics in an earlier time, she is really much more of an observer here as she takes in an unfamiliar world and village and must decide: will she step back into her old Jedi life and reveal herself?”
Japanese: Masaki Terasoma (Photo: My Anime List)
English Dub: Brian Tee (Photo: IMDb)
Taking inspiration from Samurai lore and films that inspired Star Wars itself, along with a mashup of newer forms and other genres, “The Duel” follows a Jedi known simply as Ronin.
“Ronin is a wanderer, an anti-hero, a mysterious warrior directly influenced by Toshiro Mifune and Kurosawa films like Yojimbo,” Rimes explains. “He exists in a realm where old Kurosawa films, manga, Westerns, and Star Wars all collide in a feudal style world full of stormtrooper remnants and alien bodyguard squads — and his sidekick is a killer droid in a straw hat. Everything about this character feels so right for Star Wars: Visions and the kinds of stories and influences we wanted to explore.”
Experience the entire anthology when it debuts exclusively on Disney+ on September 22, 2021.
And learn even more about the character in “The Duel” in Star Wars: Ronin: A Visions Novel by Emma Mieko Candon, which arrives October 12 and is available for pre-order now.
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