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'Star Wars Rebels' season 3 release date, spoilers news 2016: Trailer video reveals new season's big bad

Bayani Miguel Acebedo
Screencap from the clips released for \"Star Wars Rebels\" season 3 | Youtube/StarWars

The trailer for "Star Wars Rebels" season 3 had fans of the hit animated series rejoicing. Other than the fact that all the characters have updated looks and weapons, the classic Star Wars expanded universe villain, Grand Admiral Thrawn, has been revealed as this season's villain.

Ever since Disney acquired the "Star Wars" franchise, there has been an outcry from fans after the expanded universe was debunked. The expanded universe refers to the stories outside the movies, which include decades' worth of books, comics, and video games. There were pros and cons with the move. With the expanded universe no longer being canon, that means more opportunities for new stories to come. The con, however, is that numerous memorable characters have also been removed from canon, including Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Dave Filoni, showrunner of "Star Wars Rebels" has built a reputation for bringing characters from the expanded universe into the canon of his animated series, and he has not failed to deliver.

The trailer showcases numerous things from the expanded universe. Corellian pilot and Rogue Squadron leader Wedge Antilles makes an appearance as an Imperial pilot. Fans also got to see Dash Rendar's freighter, the Outrider — well not officially the Outrider, but a YT-2400 ship, which is pretty much the same. The ship is sort of like another version of the Han Solo's Millenium Falcon, seeing that they are both ships manufactured on Han's home planet of Corellia. There is also a shot of a fleet of Y-Wing ships; it seems that the show will explore on how the Rebel Alliance was able to build a fleet of fighters without having the economic might of the Empire.

Getting back to Grand Admiral Thrawn, he was known to be a brilliant tactician for the Empire. Unlike Darth Vader, he was calm and composed, and sought to fully understand the enemy in order to destroy them. With his appearance in the show making him officially canon, fans of the expanded universe could not be more pleased.

"Star Wars Rebels" season 3 returns this fall on Disney XD.

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