As the debut of "Star Wars Rebels" nears, Lucasfilm has shed light on another of the show's characters. This one's a villain played by David Oyelowo, who's best known for roles in "The Butler" and TV's "MI5."
The character, Agent Kallus (a bit on-the-nose for a villain's name — sound it out) is an agent of the Imperial Security Bureau, an agency devoted to finding anyone who might cause trouble for the Empire. Agent Kallus' job is essentially "rebel hunter." He's out to squash any hint of uprising before it can bloom into a full-blown rebellion.
Naturally, this puts Kallus in direct conflict with the heroic crew of the Ghost. One assumes Kallus will work in conjunction with the Inquisitor, the Sith villain and Imperial enforcer Lucasfilm previously revealed. The Inquisitor looks to be the more dangerous of the two, but according to the video below, Agent Kallus is no slouch. Ruthless, ambitious, cunning, and uncompromising, Kallus is a black-and-white-world kind of guy. Those who value their lives are advised to stay out of his way.
Kallus' visual design showcases the most aggressive muttonchops ever seen in the Star Wars universe. He wears the traditional gray military uniform, but he gets a unique helmet to wear on dangerous missions (which, hilariously, looks like it was designed to protect the muttonchops). Kallus uses a non-standard issue weapon; the rebel character Zeb Orrelios uses an "honor guard staff," and Kallus wields a modified version of this same weapon.
"I don't know that Kallus would think that what he's doing is really evil," says executive producer Dave Filoni in the video. "He's just doing his job for the Empire, and he believes in the Empire. So, Kallus [is] definitely an interesting character and one to watch out for. Especially if you're a rebel."
The video below shows producers and Oyelowo describing the character and talking about what it's like to work on the show. Oyelowo also shares a humorous story about his kids' reaction to his role on "Star Wars Rebels."
Despite all of the behind-the-scenes videos and a handful of trailers, very little is actually known regarding the story lines Lucasfilm intends to pursue on the show. Some rumors have suggested that "Rebels" could tie in directly with "Star Wars: Episode VII" somehow, perhaps doing world-building for the forthcoming movie. Given that the series stars an entirely new cast of characters, fans have been speculating non-stop on who among the existing casts of the film series and "The Clone Wars" might show up. (Most popular among them: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, and Ahsoka Tano.)
Whatever its plans are, Lucasfilm seems to be doing a much better job of guarding its spoilers than it did during the Prequel era.
