The Star Wars saga still has plenty of unexplored corners, and the upcoming animated series Star Wars Rebels will take the first on-screen look at one of those areas: the events between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Executive producer Simon Kinberg recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the premise and tone of the show, and he’s revealed enough to induce rancor-like drool from fans.

The new series will take place in a galaxy feeling the impact of the Empire, and the beginning of the rebellion will be revealed. Overall, even though Kinberg states Rebels “goes to some dark places,” it will harken back to the vibe of Episode IV.

Kinberg told EW:

“We took all our cues from the original films. Obviously there are slight tonal differences between New Hope, Empire and Jedi. But I think the closest intended voice of the show is A New Hope. So there are places where we get into darker backstories, there are places we see how cruel and malevolent the Empire can be, but for the most part it’s a fun and character-driven story.”

Kinberg said the reason he wanted to work on the series is that he feels there’s “an opportunity to tell an untold story.” The story will center on new characters, but the only one we know about right now is the Inquisitor. Kinberg couldn’t go into specifics but he did divulge some information about the plot of the first episode:

“I will say when we pick up the show when the Empire is in power and the inciting incident is the Empire doing their bad-Empire thing and our heroes meeting up.”

Basically, he said as little as possible while still saying something, but hey, aren’t secrets nice once in a while?

Star Wars Rebels premieres this fall on Disney XD. Are you excited for the show? Let us know in the comments below.

HT: Entertainment Weekly