Photo Flash: Disney and Lucasfilm Reveal New Villain for STAR WARS REBELS

At Comic Con today, Disney and Lucasfilm released the first image of the Inquisitor, a new villain hired by Darth Vadar in the upcoming animated series STAR WARS REBELS, set to premiere on Disney XD in fall 2014.

The action series is set during the nearly two-decade span between Episode III and IV of the Star Wars films - a time frame never chronicled onscreen. The Empire is fortifying its hold on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion is taking shape, but plot details are in the vault."

The first STAR WARS film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year intervals. Sixteen years after the release of the trilogy's final film, the first in a new prequel trilogy of films was released.

The three prequel films were also released at three-year intervals, with the final film of the trilogy released on May 19, 2005. In October 2012, The Walt Disney Company acquired Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion and announced that it would produce three new films, with the first film, Star Wars Episode VII, planned for release in 2015. 20th Century FOX still retains the distribution rights to the first two Star Wars trilogies, owning permanent rights for the original film Episode IV: A New Hope, while holding the rights to Episodes I-III, V and VI until May 2020.

Reactions to the original trilogy were mostly positive, with the last film Being considered the weakest, while the prequel trilogy received a more mixed reaction, with most of the praise Being for the final movie, according to most review aggregator websites. All six of the main films in the series were also nominated for or won Academy Awards.

All of the main films have been box office successes, with the overall box office revenue generated by the Star Wars films (including the theatrical Star Wars: The Clone Wars) totalling $4.49 billion, making it the third-highest-grossing film series. The success has also led to multiple re-releases in theaters for the series.