'Star Wars Rebels' season 3 spoilers: New season could tie in to future live-action films

One of the reasons Disney XD's 3D CGI animated series "Star Wars Rebels" has attracted fans of all ages is that it frequently features characters and storylines from the "Star Wars" films. In its upcoming third season, there will be even more connections.

But "Star Wars Rebels" season 3 won't only be linking to existing "Star Wars" films. In a recent interview, creator Simon Kinberg said that the new season might also tie in to future live-action films in the popular "Star Wars" franchise.

"What's lovely is, obviously, we've brought in characters from '[Star Wars: The] Clone Wars' in the second season, and we keep sort of bringing characters from the original movies and sort of deepening the relationships between our core characters, the Ghost crew," Kinberg told Moviefone.

As fans know, "Star Wars Rebels" season 2 featured Darth Maul, Ahsoka Tano, and three clone troopers, including Captain Rex.

"So it's trying to balance the two different things, like the original cast from the first season with 'Clone Wars,' with characters from the original movies, and maybe even feeding into future movies," the "Star Wars Rebels" EP added.

This has been the first major hint from the "Star Wars Rebels" production team about the animated series somehow linking to future films in the "Star Wars" anthology. "Star Wars Rebels" is set approximately four years before the events in "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" (1977). With the upcoming stand-alone "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (out December 2016) also set a short time prior to events in "A New Hope," it is entirely possible that there could be overlaps between "Star Wars Rebels" and "Rogue One."

And because the 2018 Han Solo film will also be set around that same time, "Star Wars Rebels" could also link to that film.

Meanwhile, though Disney XD has yet to announce the official premiere date for "Star Wars Rebels" season 3, the two-episode premiere will be screened during this year's Star Wars Celebration, which takes place July 15-17 in London.

"Star Wars Rebels" season 3 was announced in November 2015 and has been in production since.

"Season Three will see our rebel heroes face new obstacles and find new allies in their fight against the Empire," Lucasfilm Senior Vice President of Development Kiri Hart said at the time.