Star Wars Zero Company Is Bringing Back A Fan Favorite Character
He fought in the Clone Wars.
For as much grief as the Star Wars prequel trilogy gets, it radically expanded the franchise’s lore and introduced some of its most enduring characters and concepts. Darth Maul and Qui-Gon Jinn have lived on in other media far beyond their on-screen demises in The Phantom Menace, podracing has captivated audiences since it was first introduced as a form of in-universe entertainment (and now there’s a brand new podracing game on the way), and without the prequels, we would never have seen iconic and stunning locations like the towering metropolitan planet of Coruscant. But the most crucial addition the prequel trilogy gave us was the Clone Wars – an intergalactic conflict referenced in the original trilogy, but only seen in its fullness in the prequels.
While Lucas’ three films laid the foundation for what the struggle between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems looked like, supplemental material like the acclaimed animated show Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the 2005 FPS video game Republic Commando greatly expanded the conflict's scope. Now there’s another project using the period as a launchpad to tell an original story in the Star Wars universe... and it just so happens to include the return of a beloved Clone Wars-era character who’s also transcended the context he was introduced in.
Star Wars Zero Company Is Bringing Back Captain Rex
Electronic Arts just dropped the final trailer for Star Wars Zero Company ahead of its release at the end of August. Alongside glimpses of the game’s strategic turn-based combat, it also gives us a closer look at the sinister, CIS-aligned paramilitary cult called Infinite Coil that former Republic officer Hawks assembles the Zero Company crew to fight. While the trailer’s biggest mystery is the ominous Shadow Plague the cult is trying to release throughout the galaxy, another mystery is the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it presence of Captain Rex, a fan-favorite Clone Trooper introduced in The Clone Wars.
Captain Rex, aka Clone Trooper 7567, was a Galactic Republic officer under the command of General Anakin Skywalker and Commander Ahsoka Tano. In Season 6, Rex discovers that the inhibitor chips implanted in the clones can (and will) be used to turn them against the Jedi, a discovery that eventually allows him to override his programming and escape alongside Ahsoka during Order 66. Rex has since appeared in Rebels, The Bad Batch, Tales of the Jedi, and the live-action Ahsoka; each of his animated appearances (as well as Zero Company) has been voiced by Dee Bradley Baker, while his lone live-action appearance was played by Temuera Morrison (the actor for Jango Fett and his genetic clones).
Captain Rex has appeared in a long list of Disney-era Star Wars projects.
Will Zero Company Be A Clone Wars Reunion?
A huge draw of Zero Company so far has been the numerous characters who can join the squadron, with each having distinct personalities that can clash and trigger side-quests and narrative consequences, including their potential demise. It’s not yet known if Rex will be a permanent party member, playable for a single mission, or not playable at all. But what we do know is that Rex won’t be the only Clone Wars character-and-voice-actor combo returning: Matt Lanter is also coming back to voice Anakin Skywalker, another mysterious inclusion in the game’s ensemble. Where Zero Company takes place in the timeline isn’t known just yet, but there’s certainly a strong possibility that the two characters will interact on-screen, and might even be working together as Captain and General the same way they do in the show.
The Clone Wars is a massive and expansive period of Star Wars canon, specifically in terms of how many iconic characters, locations, and events it added to the franchise. Star Wars Zero Company is yet another excavation of one of the series’ most pivotal eras, and it already appears as if it’ll be tipping its hat to previous adventures when it finally arrives later this month.
