Classic Clones return in 'Star Wars Rebels'

Brian Truitt | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Exclusive: Attack of the Clones in 'Star Wars Rebels' Voiceover actor Dee Bradley Baker and others discuss the return of Captain Rex and other Clones to the "Star Wars" universe in an exclusive preview of the new "Star Wars Rebels" season.

Look out, Star Wars fans: There's about to be an attack of the Clones. Again.

Captain Rex and other Clone Trooper characters, who haven't been seen since the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series went off the air, are returning to the galaxy and meeting the likes of Kanan, Ezra and Chopper when the second season of Star Wars Rebels gets rolling Oct. 14 (9:30 ET/PT) on Disney XD.

This exclusive new video digs into the history of the Clones in the Star Wars universe and their role in Clone Wars and the movie prequels, plus gets into how they've changed over the years since the timeline of Rebels falls prior to the events of the original Star Wars movie — Order 66 has already wiped most of the Jedi, the Clone Wars are over and the Empire is gaining strength.

Ahsoka Tano (voiced by Ashley Eckstein), another holdover from Clone Wars, appeared in the first season finale of Rebels, and that's when executive producer Dave Filoni started hearing the fandom's drum beat to bring back Captain Rex, the most popular of the Clones. So when he showed up in a trailer shown at Star Wars Celebration earlier this year, the crowd freaked out.

"It was a marvelous kind of homecoming," says Dee Bradley Baker, who voices Rex and all the Clones on Rebels as he did on Clone Wars.

The upcoming Rebels season catches up with the aging bearded Rex and a couple of his buddies, introduces a little bit of a rivalry between Rex and Kanan (Freddie Prinze Jr.), and will explain why these Clones were not involved with Order 66.

"I think that Rex ultimately is a heroic person," Baker says. "Most of the Clones are — that's kind of baked into their DNA. And ultimately when push comes to shove, they're not going to react to things in a selfish way. They're going to make the sacrifices and step up and do what needs to be done to make the world better (and) to make the universe better."