'Star Wars Resistance': Meet Team Fireball, a Lovable Band of Racer Misfits

Team Fireball in the upcoming animated Star Wars Resistance show might “not be caught up in the bigger things going on in the galaxy,” but this small gang of misfits will still encounter plenty of exciting adventures in that galaxy far, far away.

In a new behind-the-scenes video, the show’s creator Dave Filoni explained the motivations of core characters and why they formed a team to enter some dangerous starship races. “What unifies this team is that they need each other,” Filoni said. “They need to try and win races to survive and win money.”

To do that, a bunch of silly weirdos have to work together. Do they call themselves Team Fireball because that’s the name of the ship they race? Maybe.

Filoni describes the show’s protagonist, Kazuda “Kaz” Xiono (Christopher Sean) as a “good pilot” that’s something of a “fish out of water” after he’s tasked with spying on the First Order by Resistance soldier Poe Dameron. Kaz travels to the space station Colossus in the first episode, where he joins a Team Fireball and gets swept up in the “dangerous races” taking place there on the station.

Jarek Yeager (Scott Lawrence) is the “father figure of Team Fireball.” He was a pilot for the Rebellion years ago but now serves as a mechanic aboard the Colossus. But as an old friend of Poe Dameron’s, he finds himself swept up in helping Kaz, who causes a “lot of grief for poor Yeager.”

Tam Ryvora (Suzie McGrath) is a former racer that lost her ship that now works as a mechanic with Yeager. Voice actor Suzie McGrath describes the character as “tough” and “no-nonsense,” but producers from the show say she’s got something of a heart of gold. So she’ll seemingly fill the role of a certain kind of Star Wars archetype we’ve seen before in women lik Jyn Erso.

Neeku Vozo (Josh Brener) is the weird, happy-go-lucky alien of the group that comes off as comically awkward. He’s described as a “genius” that’s “incredibly naive” but has “a huge heart.” Voice actor Josh Brener says, “No matter what kind of day you are having, Neeko is having a great day.” In the midst of what might be a dreary spy mission, it sounds like Neeko will be a beacon of positivity.

Along for the ride is everyone’s favorite bowling ball droid, BB-8, and also Team Fireball’s resident droid, a beat-up old astromech named Bucket. Together, they all form Team Fireball, and if people like Star Wars Resistance enough, maybe these characters could appear in Star Wars: Episode IX or beyond?

Star Wars Resistance premieres on Sunday, October 7 at 10 p.m. Eastern on Disney Channel.*