See the new trailer for the upcoming female-centric "Star Wars" TV show

The new animated Disney series stars Daisy Ridley reprising her role as Rey

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published June 27, 2017 3:41PM (EDT)

Daisy Ridley as Rey in "Star Wars: Forces of Destiny" (LucasFilm)
Daisy Ridley as Rey in "Star Wars: Forces of Destiny" (LucasFilm)

The second trailer for "Star Wars: Forces of Destiny" has been released and — moment to moment — it's a showcase for the badass female heroes from the "Star Wars" pantheon and promises to  help girls of all ages feel a little bit like heroes themselves.

Top billing goes, of course, to Rey (voiced by Daisy Ridley), who we see outsmarting and outfighting Stormtroopers while trailed by her trusty sidekick, the lovably dual-sphered droid BB-8. We also see Leia (tragically not voiced by Carrie Fisher), who reassures an assistant that seemed unclear as to whether "senator" or "princess" was the correct job title. Given that Leia is much younger here than she was when Rey entered the story, her appearance likely indicates that the series will tell stories from multiple different periods in the "Star Wars" timeline.

There is also an appearance by Ahsoka Tano, a character best known to fans of the animated TV series "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" and was voiced by Ashley Eckstein both for that program and this one. Even Jyn Erso, who was played by Felicity Jones, will appear in the new series (once again voiced by Jones).

Other central characters in the series include Padme Amidala from the prequel trilogy, Mandalorian warrior Sabine Wren and Twi’lek pilot Hera Syndulla.

According to Carrie Beck, who served as executive producer of the shorts and works for Lucasfilm's larger story group, these tales are all part of the official "Star Wars" canon.

"One of the opportunities here was to tell the stories in between the larger moments and imagine some of the ways our characters have crossed," Beck told Entertainment Weekly. "It’s all part of the larger swath of storytelling."

Said Paul Southern, head of Lucasfilm licensing "Everybody who looks at Star Wars, they take something out of it for themselves,” he says. “The strong female leads that we have, going back to Leia . . . they provide very strong role models.” Indeed.

The series debuts on YouTube.com/Disney on July 3 with further episodes on the Disney Channel premiering July 9.


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a staff writer at Salon. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012 and was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022.

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Carrie Fisher Daisy Ridley Feminism Partner Video Star Wars Star Wars: Forces Of Destiny