This weekend will see the release of the new animated miniseries LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy on Disney+, and Laughing Place was provided with advance screeners of all four episodes. Below are my mostly spoiler-free thoughts.
For years, I’ve seen Star Wars fans on social media asking for a version of the Marvel animated series (and long-running comic-book series that preceded it) What If…? set in A Galaxy Far, Far Away. Well, LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy isn’t exactly that, but the concept is close enough that it should satisfy those who have wanted to see something like, say… Darth Jar Jar in action on screen. The overall story of this animated miniseries takes place after Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker and concerns two brothers who are literal nerf-herders (you should prepare for plenty more Star Wars and LEGO in-jokes and Easter Eggs like that peppered throughout) from the planet Fenessa. The younger brother Sig Greebling (voiced by Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo) is well-versed in the Skywalker Saga, and is content with retelling the tried-and-true tales of Jedi Knights Anakin, Luke, and Rey to all the younglings on the planet, while his older brother Dev (Tony Revolori from Marvel Studios’ recent live-action Spider-Man trilogy) yearns for adventure out there in the wider galaxy. But after Sig reveals to Dev that he has developed Force abilities, they discover that they’re about to take their first steps into an entirely different world.
Enter Jedi Bob (another deep-cut LEGO Star Wars reference, voiced here by Bobby Moynihan from the DuckTales reboot), who is the guardian of a secret temple on Fenessa, and specifically of the “Cornerstone” brick, which acts as the MacGuffin for this miniseries. In a way it’s sort of like the Piece of Resistance from The LEGO Movie, the hit 2014 animated film that’s celebrating its tenth anniversary this year and from which a lot of basic storytelling DNA has carried over to Rebuild the Galaxy. Anyway, Jedi Bob fails in his duties and neglectfully allows Sig and Dev to remove the Cornerstone from the temple, causing the entire galaxy to reform around them into something new and nearly unrecognizable. Here, many heroes from the iconic Star Wars universe have become Sith Lords (because now there can be more than two) including the aforementioned Jar Jar (Ahmed Best, reprising his role from the prequel trilogy), Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran from the sequels), Kit Fisto (Phil LaMarr), Nubs (Dee Bradley Baker), and even Hammerhead– Sig can’t quite remember that particular character’s real name.
But Sig figures that there must be one person who can help put back things the way they’re supposed to be– namely Luke Skywalker, who in this remixed galaxy is no longer a noble Jedi but has ended up as a laid-back pod-racer on his now-water-based home planet of Tatooine. In what is perhaps the miniseries’ most entertaining bit of stunt casting, Mark Hamill returns to voice the role that made him most famous, but now plays Luke as more of a self-serving dude-bro than the hero of the Original Trilogy. That’s about as much as I want to spill here, spoiler-wise, but I will say that a number of other familiar faces and voices pop up in role-reversals, like Anthony Daniels back once again to play a decidedly dastardly version of C-3PO. And there are also several other appealing new characters like the ambitious pilot Yesi Scala (Marsai Martin from Black-ish) and the zany Gonk droid Servo (Smiling Friends co-creator Michael Cusack) to round out the cast. It’s clear that everyone involved in Rebuild the Galaxy– from the voice cast to the writers (Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem), animators, and first-time director (Chris Buckley, who helped animate The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part)– are all having a blast, and that gleeful, free-wheeling spirit is sure to carry over to the audience as well.
The other really fun thing that I think LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy (much like The LEGO Movie before it) accomplishes is encouraging imaginative play among young fans of this property and the enduring brick-building system that helps bring it to life at home. Want Jabba the Hutt to be a Jedi Master? Why not? Should Princess Leia have fallen in love with Greedo instead of Han Solo? Sure! Ultimately Star Wars can be whatever you want it to be, and while these animated LEGO specials have never quite fit into the official Lucasfilm “canon” per se, that doesn’t make them any less worthwhile on their own merits. And those merits are on plentiful display here– Rebuild the Galaxy is at once funny, touching, and rewarding for those who are capable and willing to give this franchise a bit of free rein. Plus, while again I don’t want to spoil too much, I do want to mention that the ending of this miniseries feels particularly mature-minded in embracing and accepting one’s own fate, not to mention the fact that I could easily see it acting as a pilot to set up an ongoing animated series. I think that possibility could make for even more fun in the future, but even if this is all we get of Rebuild the Galaxy, I absolutely think Star Wars fans of all ages are going to have a great time with it.
LEGO Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy will be released in its entirety on Friday, September 13th, exclusively via Disney+.