Star Wars Rebels: First Look At Darth Vader's Return

Legendary screen villain Darth Vader is returning as part of new Disney animated series Star Wars: Rebels, and now we have our first look at how the iconic character will be shown.

Vader will appear in a special scene being added to the show's pilot, which will receive a special airing on US TV network ABC on Sunday 26 October.

The first look in fact comes from Vader himself, Dave Prowse, who played the body of Vader in the original trilogy. The voice was of course provided by the baritone of James Earl Jones, who is returning to voice the character.

Prowse tweeted a screengrab from a special advanced copy of the episode apparently sent to him.

Star Wars: Rebels is set five years before the original 1977 Star Wars, and as the title suggests is about the efforts of the Rebellion to overturn the galactic Empire. Vader will not be the primary villain of the series however, that honour goes to a new character, The Inquisitor, a Sith hired by Vader to hunt down the remaining Jedi.

The scene, going by Prowse's tweet, appears to play homage to the famous scene in The Empire Strikes Back, which introduced Emperor Palpatine via a holographic message to Vader. Instead this time Vader is the ominous hologram with the Inquisitor sat beneath him.

Do not expect Vader to appear regularly, but his appearence does open the door for more down the line.

Since its debut the show has garnered numerous positive reviews from the likes of the Washington Post and Variety. The quality was really to be expected after the creators' last show, another celebrated Star Wars animation about The Clone Wars.

Star Wars: Rebels is currently airing on Disney XD. The episode featuring Darth Vader's appearence will air on Sky1 this Monday (27 October) at 4:30pm.