Rebels Rewind: "Droids In Distress"

Zeb faces his past as familiar faces join the Ghost crew to lay the groundwork for the larger rebellion...

It should not be understated how big a deal it was for Star Wars Rebels to cast David Oyelowo.

When his casting as Agent Kallus was announced, he was just coming off an acclaimed performance in Lee Daniel’s The Butler (alongside future Rebels guest star Forest Whittaker). And within the first year of the series’ premiere, he followed it up by starring as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in Selma. His portrayal of the late civil rights leader was so powerful that the Academy’s failure to nominate him at the Oscars helped kick off the #OscarsSoWhite campaign about black actors and filmmakers being overlooked for accolades.

This is to say that it was a huge “get” for Star Wars to land Oyelowo, and for an animated series on DisneyXD, no less.

As we discussed last month, Rebels was Disney's first major Star Wars release. Rightly or wrongly, some viewed it as a statement about how seriously the company was taking the franchise, especially when it came to non-cinematic, non-live-action releases.

George Lucas had treated Rebels’ predecessor, The Clone Wars as though each episode were a 22-minute animated movie, pumping money into the project and encouraging the crew to push the boundaries of what was possible (and expected) from animated TV.

While Rebels was always going to have a significantly lower budget, the creatives making the series looked to elevate it in every possible way. This included casting, and bringing in top talent—regardless of whether they were known for animation or live-action. Oyelowo was at the vanguard of that.

For his part, the actor admitted (in the official introduction to his character, no less) that he took on the role mainly so that his kids could actually watch something he was in. He would later expand on this in interviews saying he had never even seen Star Wars before meeting George Lucas on the set of Red Tails (a 2011 Lucasfilm production in which he played a supporting role).

Regardless of his reasons for signing on (I should note, being in Star Wars for your kids is a completely valid reason and makes you one of the coolest dads in the world), he quickly became entrenched in the story, portraying Kallus’ shift from villain to hero with great passion and subtlety.

And through his participation in the series, a clear message was sent about how seriously the new Lucasfilm regime was taking all Star Wars projects.

Rebels would go on to have an incredible list of guest stars, including returning Star Wars icons like Frank Oz, James Earl Jones, Forest Whittaker, and Ian McDiarmid. The series also introduced another swath of Hollywood’s top talent to the galaxy far, far away, including stars like Lars Mikkelsen, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Josh Gad, and Ray Stevenson. All worked alongside the beloved and equally talented regular cast of the series.

Though Rebels is now regarded as a classic, some felt it needed to prove its legitimacy during its initial release. The stand-out cast, including its recurring and guest stars, helped establish that.

And that all started with David Oyelowo.

Season One, Episode Three: “Droids In Distress”

Written by: Greg Weisman

Directed by: Steward Lee

Air Date: October 3rd, 2014 (on demand), October 13th, 2014 (Disney+),

Original US Viewership: 1.03 million