Our next Star Wars Resistance video introduces Team Aces (originally revealed via USAToday), the elite pilots of the show’s Colossus station setting, who were hired to protect it but also get into a bit of fun with the races held there. The video seems to imply they end up helping the Resistance, but since show star Kazuda Xiono is sent to uncover a First Order spy, will it be someone from the Aces or Fireball? We won’t know until after the show premieres October 7, but in the meantime head below for more details on these elite pilots, the red First Order pilot’s name, and a fun little mystery from the video above.
Team Aces consists of Torra Doza (Myrna Velasco), Hype Fazon (Donald Faison), Freya Fenris (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn), Griff Halloran (Stephen Stanton), and Bo Keevil. The idea the Colossus station needs such elite pilots to protect it makes me wonder what else goes on there beyond it being a key refueling station in the outer rim, and is it a sense of duty, thrill of the races, the credits, or a combination that keep these pilots around? Either way, they all have distinct, fun personalities that I can’t wait to meet in the show proper.
Torra is the daughter of the station’s Captain, and she’s played with infectious excitement by Myrna Velasco, just like Kaz’s voice actor Christopher Sean, making my comparison of him to Vanessa Marshall and Freddie Prince Jr. even more apt now as Velasco would be Vanessa and Sean would be Freddie. Executive Producer Athena Yvette Portillo describes Torra as a “competitive force,” and that she’s looking, “…for a set of friends. And she finds a true friend in Kaz.” Moments later Velasco mentions she’s excited for fans to see Torra and Kaz’s friendship, which I’m believing to mean these two, while an obvious ‘ship already, probably won’t be anything more than friends and that’s great, as I’d love to see these two develop a healthy friendship and keep it that way so the younger viewers of Resistance can see it and learn from it. Also, what is that fluffy cuteness that looks like a dog that Torra is holding? I want more of that in more life, pronto. Here’s her Databank entry, as well as her ship’s, Blue Ace. Hype Fazon is probably going to be my favorite character, just ahead of Neeku, specifically because he’s played so spot-on by Donald Faison, who many of you may recall as Turk from Scrubs. Faison says Hype is, “…a little cocky, he’s a little full of himself…” but it seems he can be because his piloting skills match his boasting, and while it might seem like he’s out just for the money, in the end Faison mentioned he’ll come through for the team when it’s necessary. Here’s his Databank entry, and his ship’s, Green Ace. I am so on Team Hype in these races!
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn played Governor Arihnda Pryce in Star Wars Rebels and it’s nice to have her back, as now she plays Freya Fenris, the standoff-ish, calculating member of the Aces who I’m sure Kaz will have a tough time cracking to get on her good side. While Art Director Amy Beth Christenson says she’s trustworthy, I do wonder if she’ll be a red herring for the First Order spy Kaz has been sent to track, considering she’s the red-colored team member and all (and sounds Russian to boot). As a fun side note, it seems a progenitor of Freya Fenris was a background character in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Here’s her Databank entry and the ship’s, Red Ace. Another Star Wars veteran, Stephen Stanton, who has voiced Grand Moff Tarkin in both animated series, as well as Obi-Wan Kenobi for his showdown with Maul in Star Wars Rebels, plays Griff Halloran, the Imperial-clothed pilot people noticed in the previous video. He’s got a pretty cool looking modified TIE, and I’m sure he’ll be even more of a suspect of Kaz, but personally Griff is just, “…looking for that one last great battle,” which brings up some interesting questions to his time in the Imperial Navy. At his age, he had to have been around for the Galactic Civil War, especially the Battle of Jakku, but was he not allowed to fly due to misconduct or does their failure there still haunt him? Also, does he know Jarek Yeager, a member of the Rebellion from back in the day, now on Team Fireball? Here’s Griff’s Databank Entry and the one for Black Ace.
Lastly, and most intriguingly, is the Kel Dor pilot, Bo Keevil, a daredevil pilot with a strange, but very awesome looking ship meant to pull crazy stunts. His name is definitely a shout-out to Evel Knievel, though the really interesting part to Keevil is that they aren’t revealing his voice actor nor do you even hear him talk in the video. At the 3:50 mark you can see he’s truly a Kel Dor, as his helmet is off, so why are they keeping it a secret? Is it going to be Dave Filoni, who flew under the radar as Chopper in Rebels for years, as he’s a big fan of Plo Koon? Would the actor’s name give away a potential alternative identity instead of the name Keevil? I went straight to guessing it’s Plo Koon simply because of Filoni’s involvement, and while even though he was shot down over Cato Nemoidia in Revenge of the Sith‘s Order 66 scene, doesn’t mean he didn’t eject, live another day, and/or have little Plos and one grew up to be Bo. I HIGHLY doubt it, but it’s fun to guess and I enjoy the mystery here, and even if it turns out simply to be Filoni, I won’t be disappointed. Here’s Keevil’s Databank entry and the one for his please-make-a-toy-of-it-it’s-so-cool-looking ship, Yellow Ace.
The USAToday article has Filoni revealing the red armored First Order pilot glimpsed in the previous video is named Major Vonreg, as played by Lex Lang, and is this show’s Red Baron. I wonder if we’ll get another video highlighting the First Order characters, like this Major and Phasma, or if we’ll get another trailer before Resistance premieres, if anything.
The final minute of the Team Aces video is the best glimpse yet at a variety of footage from the series, including (as seen in the screenshot above) Resistance X-wings navigating an asteroid field (Kaz and Poe, maybe?), which isn’t the only footage seeming to hint the show won’t stay completely on Colossus (as I was hoping), a tentacled sea monster attacking Colossus, plus plenty of great racing/piloting footage. 10 year old Ryan would want this show because he’d want them to make toys for all the ships…which is actually how 28 year old Ryan feels too. I’m still hoping we get to see any of this show’s pilots appear in the final issue of the Poe Dameron comic, due later this month, to save Black Squadron in a post-The Last Jedi timeline, and if so, making me wonder if we’ll get to see or hear about Fireball or Aces pilots in Ep. IX.
Check out Star Wars Resistance when it premieres October 7, on Disney Channel (9 p.m. CST) and DisneyNOW, while the official site promises two additional episodes to be available on both the DisneyNOW app and Disney Channel VOD, interestingly enough. I’ll make sure to have a review up as soon as possible after the premiere airs, as well as ones for these extra episodes!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website @MynockManor.
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