James Earl Jones to voice Darth Vader in 'Star Wars Rebels'
The original Darth Vader will reprise his voice role in the upcoming ABC broadcast of the animated TV movie "Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion."
Having entertained 6.5 million fans on its October 3 premiere on Disney Channel and Disney XD, the animated Lucasfilm TV movie "Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion" will make its prime-time network debut on ABC on October 26 at 7pm ET/PT -- with some extra force from the dark side.
Since "Star Wars Rebels" is set between the prequels and the original trilogy, fans will be treated to a special cameo from Darth Vader himself, voiced by James Earl Jones -- who gave the Sith Lord his original commanding tone.
"We wanted to do something special for the ABC broadcast," executive producer Dave Filoni told StarWars.com. "We've added a scene which gives audiences insight into the Inquisitor and includes a cameo by Darth Vader voiced by the distinguished actor James Earl Jones."
Lucasfilm hasn't revealed whether the special scene will be repeated in future showings, or broadcast outside the US.
The "Rebels" story centers on a rag-tag crew: "cowboy Jedi Kanan, ace pilot Hera, street-smart teenager Ezra, the 'muscle' Zeb, warrior firebrand Sabine and grumpy old astromech droid Chopper, who will face threatening new villains, embark on thrilling adventures and become heroes with the power to ignite a rebellion," according to StarWars.com.
The "Star Wars Rebels" voice cast also includes Freddie Prinze Jr. as Kanan, Vanessa Marshall as Hera, Steve Blum as Zeb, Tiya Sircar as Sabine, Taylor Gray as Ezra, David Oyelowo as Agent Kallus and Jason Isaacs as the Inquisitor.
Fans who tuned into the initial premiere on Disney, which included the US, Canada, Europe, Africa and the Middle East, will be happy to know that "Star Wars Rebels" has already been renewed for a second season. You can catch the animated series on Disney XD every Monday at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.
As Darth Vader would say, "Impressive. Most impressive."