Why Star Wars Rebels Isn’t As Popular As Clone Wars

Star Wars Rebels was acclaimed for its narrative and relatable characters, and yet it still didn’t grow as popular as Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but why? During the space opera’s hiatus following the end of the prequels, creator George Lucas was able to find a way to continue its story via animation. The Clone Wars debuted in 2008, long before Disney acquired Lucasfilm, and had an initial run of five seasons. Additional episodes dubbed the Lost Missions were released, functioning as its sixth season, with the story finally being properly wrapped up in the last season on Disney+ in 2020.

Given the success of  The Clone Wars, Disney wanted to continue exploring animation as a means of Star Wars storytelling. Two years after the House of Mouse acquired Lucasfilm, Rebels was released on DisneyXD in 2014. The show lasted for four seasons and wrapped up in 2018. While Lucas was no longer involved in the show, his mentee, Dave Filoni, who worked with the franchise creator directly on The Clone Wars was the primary creative force behind the show. This ensured that the new concepts introduced in Rebels were consistent with Lucas’ storytelling principles for Star Wars.

Both The Clone Wars and Rebels explored the prequel era, albeit the show falling on separate points in the timeline. Clone Wars was set just after the events of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones running up to Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and Rebels was set several years before A New Hope. Considering they both came at a time where there was a scarcity of Star Wars content, it’s curious that Rebels never became as popular as its predecessor. But this was for a few reasons, starting with the characters. The Clone Wars brought back well-established players in the franchise like Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala, and Jedi Master Yoda. This was more than enough for fans to be intrigued and tune in; once it became clear that it was also a solid addition to the franchise, viewers were hooked. Given how badly executed the storytelling was in the prequel movies, the show functioned as an animated extension of the prequel trilogy, clarifying several plot points and further developing the characters.

Meanwhile, Rebels introduced an entirely new band of heroes in the Ghost Crew. Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus, Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren, Zeb Orrelios and Chopper were the small band of freedom fighters who mainly operated in and around the planet of Lothal. While each member of the squad did have ties to the larger Star Wars universe, the show mostly focused on them. Occasional cameos from more prominent characters from the franchise such as Mon Mothma, Lando Calrissian, and Princess Leia Organa enticed longtime fans to tune in to the new series, and it slowly built its own fan community. Still, it could never compete with The Clone Wars, which not only had a more well-known cast of characters, but also an already familiar story.

Over the years, however, Star Wars Rebels and its characters have slowly endeared themselves to a bigger fan base as proven by the interest generated by rumors of the potential live-action debut of some of its characters. The Mandalorian season 2 springboarded several spinoffs, including one with Ahsoka Tano, which is expected to feature live-action versions of Ezra and Grand Admiral Thrawn. As for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, its story will continue through Star Wars: The Bad Batch and maybe even the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

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