Dave Filoni Seemingly Confirms Captain Rex In 'Return Of The Jedi'

Star Wars Rebels showrunner Dave Filoni seemingly confirmed at Star Wars Celebration Orlando 2017 that Captain Rex, a character we first met in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is also around in 1983's Return of the Jedi. Let's take a look at the evidence.

During Thursday afternoon's Dave Filoni: Animated Origins and Unexpected Fates panel, the Rebels and Clone Wars creator seemed to confirm a popular fan theory. During the presentation, Filoni showed the above concept art featuring Captain Rex in a camoflage outfit from the upcoming fourth season of Star Wars Rebels.

Filoni joked about the significance of Rex's new camo outfit, and while he wouldn't say anything for sure, the image suggests that Rex is the old rebel trooper who was part of Han Solo's raiding party on Endor in Return of the Jedi. Of course, Filoni could have just been joking, but would he have created concept art for a practical joke?

This isn't the first time that Filoni has mentioned this. After the premiere screening of the Star Wars Rebels season 2 finale, the executive producer said the following:

The one thing that I have toyed with and we'll see how I feel about this, this is probably a spoiler, Carrie Beck, but I gotta give them something.  I've said absolutely nothing today.  And my wife's like yeah, it's just like being home.  But I think the one thing I have really thought about is I really do think that Rex is that guy on Endor.  I really do.  Why else is there a bearded old guy on Endor, Tano?  Why?  It makes no sense.  If you don't want that to happen, do you know what that means?  I'm gonna make that happen.  I'm getting like Palpatine, I'm getting power crazy.

This theory has been going around since Captain Rex was reintroduced in Star Wars Rebels season two. As we get closer to the events of A New Hope, Filoni is going to have to explain the fate of these characters. Some will surely die, but it makes sense that some will survive the series and not end up in a far-flung corner of the Star Wars galaxy. The former Imperial Army captain had his Order 66 brainwashing chip removed and is now helping the Rebellion in their fight against the Empire, so it's very possible that he might be part of the important mission on Endor.

The fan theorizing has assembled story evidence like "as a commander of the celebrated 501st Legion, Rex was sent on various missions during the Clone Wars that involved acquiring technology for the Death Star" which "would have made him invaluable to the Rebellion's efforts to destroy the super weapon." This could explain why he would be there helping to disable the shield generators on the moon of Endor.

And now ,it seems like Rebels creator Dave Filoni is considering this as the possible end goal for the character, which is very cool, even if it'ss just a retcon of old material from the original trilogy. However, just because Filoni thinks that Captain Rex is in Return of the Jedi doesn't make it so...although the Star Wars Rebels showrunner certainly has the power to change Star Wars canon.