ILM CLASSIC IMAGE: B-WING BLITZKRIEG!

Barely seen in Return of the Jedi due to Visual Effects problems, the B-wing fighters of the Rebellion nonetheless remain an intriguing and beloved fighter craft, seen in the above storyboard as a vital part of the Battle of Endor.

EPISODE IX: THE DANGEROUS JOURNEY...

They're taking the fight to the resurrected Emperor Palpatine on Exegol, but first our Resistance heroes in their small fleet must thread the intense spacial regions - known to spacers as the Blood Net - leading to that dangerous world, in this great effects shot from The Rise of Skywalker.

EPISODE IX: BATTLING B-WINGS!

Their original onscreen involvement in the Battle of Endor for Return of the Jedi may have been curtailed by model filming problems at ILM in 1982, but that won't be the case for the upcoming The Rise of Skywalker, as fans will finally get to see the flexible fighting ships in full CGI action, and hopefully in the way they were originally intended to be seen...

In action for The Rise of Skywalker.

ILM CLASSIC IMAGE: FULL SPEED AHEAD!

Racing fast across the surface of the second Death Star to its reactor core, the surviving Rebel fighters are too much for the Imperial ground cannons to catch their fire on, in this great ILM storyboard from Return of the Jedi of 1982/83 that we wish had made it to the screen.

ILM CLASSIC IMAGE: TO CHASE A TIE!

An early storyboard for the Battle of Endor space sequence which would have showcased one of the B-wing squadron ships of the Rebellion in pursuit of a TIE fighter. As we all know, the difficulties and often impracticality of filming the intriguing model design ultimately rendered most of the B-wings shots planned for Return of the Jedi prior deleted.

ILM CLASSIC IMAGE: NOTHNG WILL STOP THEM NOW...

Rebel X, Y, A and B-wing fighters fly past the heavy flack and turbolaser ground defences of the second Death Star, heading towards its reactor core in this great angle storyboard shot for RETURN OF THE JEDI that sadly never made the final movie.

STAR WARS REBELS: SOARAWAY SYNDULLA!

Hera Syndulla's love of flight beyond that of evading the Imperial Starfleet is shown at its finest whilst piloting a new and experimental B-wing fighter that could make all the difference to the Rebel Alliance, in the hugely popular STAR WARS REBELS Season Two episode, Wings of the Master.

DARK TIMES, BOLD HEROES! 'STAR WARS REBELS' SEASON TWO IS HERE!

Battle beyond the stars! Darth Vader seeks the STAR WARS REBELS. All images: © 2015 & TM Lucasfilm Ltd.

Note: This feature contains potential SPOILERS...

The iconic return of big baddie Darth Vader and animated favourite heroine Ahsoka Tano looks set to be just a small part of the overall grand dessert for fans that is the all-new second season of STAR WARS REBELS, debuting on the DISNEY XD platform this week (from the 14th October in the US, and Saturday 17th, at 9am, in the UK). Prepare for the out of the wilderness, old but certainly not obsolete Captain Rex, alongside two of his loyal former Clone Troopers, coming back to sprightly action, plus that wily and scheming pirate Hondo Ohnaka, soon taking a liking to former rascal and young Jedi-to-be Ezra Bridger. On planets beyond Lothal, there's battles with Imperial Walkers, the testing of a protoype B-wing, and the emergence of two unique new power-vying Inquisitors dispatched by Vader and the Empire to find and destroy our brotherhood of the brave: the playfully deadly Seventh Sister (voiced by BUFFY's Sarah Michelle Gellar) and the formidable Fifth Brother. All this and much, much more in this longer-run season.

Kanan and his dedicated crew return.

Out of hiding! In a sure crowd-pleasing moment, Ahsoka Tano returns to battle!

Ezra meets the older, ORDER 66 conflicted Captain Rex.

New baddies on the block: the Fifth Brother and the Seventh Sister!

Star Wars Rebels Season Two NYCC 2015 Trailer (Official) - YouTube
Star Wars Rebels Season Two Trailer (Official) - YouTube
The Might of the Empire Grows and Fan Favorites Debut in New Episodes of Star Wars Rebels Season 2 | StarWars.com
This Season on Star Wars Rebels - Star Wars Rebels Season 2 Trailer - YouTube
Star Wars Rebels - Ashley Eckstein Season 2 Interview - NYCC 2015 - YouTube
Star Wars: Rebels Season 1: Director Talks Season 2 Blu-ray/DVD Bonus Feature - YouTube
Sarah Michelle Gellar's 'Star Wars Rebels' Character Revealed! | The Star Wars Underworld
http://buzzfeed-video1.s3.amazonaws.com/video/2015/10/01/SarahMichelleGellar_CharacterReveal_H264-624x350.mp4
Star Wars Rebels Season Two Preview at New York Comic Con - UPDATED! | StarWars.com
12345 - YouTube
Rumor: 'Star Wars Rebels' Season Two Episode Names & Descriptions Revealed | The Star Wars Underworld
Star Wars Rebels Magazine Reveals New Inquisitors | The Star Wars Underworld
NYCC: 'Star Wars Rebels' Cast & Co-Creator Look to Season 2 & Beyond - Spinoff Online - TV, Film, and Entertainment News DailySpinoff Online – TV, Film, and Entertainment News Daily

A striking new Imperial warship: the Immobilizer!

David and Goliath, but with Imperial Walkers!

Hera tests a new hope for the Rebels: a B-Wing Fighter!

Oh, and by season's end, don't be too surprised at seeing a certain young, very young, plucky Alderaanian senator and future Rebel Alliance veteran becoming linked to the team...

OFFICIAL UK SITE:  Star Wars Rebels | Home | Official Disney UK

Also available on DVD.

STAR WARS REBELS Season One is out now on Blu-ray and DVD. Get it here:
Star Wars Rebels [Blu-ray] [Region Free]: Amazon.co.uk: DVD & Blu-ray

Review: STAR WARS AFICIONADO WEBSITE: OUT NOW ON BLU-RAY AND DVD: 'STAR WARS REBELS - COMPLETE SEASON ONE'

CLASSIC IMAGE: B-WING BRUISER!

Seen in so little of the finished film but nonetheless a popular addition to the STAR WARS spaceship league: the Rebel B-wing fighter prepares to enter the Battle of Endor, during the gargantuan action-packed finale of RETURN OF THE JEDI.

I always wanted its toy incarnation as a young teen, but it was quite hard to find in the UK during the mid-eighties. Here's hoping this unique craft-type gets more glory if the rumours of its reappearance prove true for EPISODE VII...

CLASSIC ART: BRAVURA B-WING!

A very cool poster for RETURN OF THE JEDI from 1983 (if I recall correctly it was originally part of the revised STAR WARS FAN CLUB package for the new film) of the classic Battle of Endor space conflict, and showing one of the underused, and at the time kind of impractical to shoot, B-wing fighters. It's a shame that with the revisions made to the recent Blu-ray release of JEDI that they couldn't have added a few new CGI B-wings into the background of the battle here and there fighting/chasing TIE's. It would have at least been relevant to the film and much better than seeing an unneccessary and out of place Dug wandering about Jabba's Throne Room, or hearing Vader scream "Nooooo!!!"