Peter Sciretta for /Film:
Disney XD has ordered a third season of its animated series “Star Wars Rebels” from Lucasfilm. The third season is currently in production and scheduled to premiere in 2016.
That said, Star Wars Rebels can’t last forever, as Scrietta notes:
We heard from a very good source last year that Star Wars Rebels would last only three or four seasons before Disney launched a whole new Star Wars animated series, with all new characters, set in the timeline of the current movies (the Star Wars sequel trilogy).
Everyone knows what happens after Rebels: Star Wars happens. There’s really only so much story to be had in the in-between Episodes III and IV. Moreover, I’m sure Rebels creator Dave Filoni doesn’t want his latest effort to suffer the same overly long and drawn-out life that his other series was forced to endure.
Despite it being a TV series aimed at children and young adults, I’ve enjoyed Star Wars Rebels quite a bit. Yes, there have been times (like right now in the midst of Season 2) where the plot seemed to really stagnate: no character development, no Clone Wars fan-service, and no Darth Vader. But overall, the series has been a noble effort from Filoni and the rest of the team. This is the first ‘new’ thing from Star Wars that didn’t invariably suck.