The Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023 convention reveals a first look at the forthcoming live action show following Ahsoka Tano.
Over the weekend, it was announced that the highly anticipated Star Wars: Ahsoka series is landing on Disney+ this August.
It follows the adventures of Anakin Skywalker’s former padawan learner Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson). First appearing in the animated series The Clone Wars and Rebels, Ahsoka made the leap to live-action for The Mandalorian and later The Book of Boba Fett.
The show will also debut several other characters making the leap from animation to a live action series; Natasha Liu Bordizzo appears as Sabine Wren, Mary Elizbeth Winstead as Hera Syndulla and Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger.
The event also revealed that Lars Mikkelsen (Sherlock) is playing the former imperial villain Grand Admiral Thrawn. The actor previously voiced the character for Star Wars: Rebels. His inclusion is a call back to the trilogy of early 1990s Star Wars books by author Timothy Zane.
While we only see Thrawn from behind in the trailer, his status as “Heir to the Empire” – the title of the first novel – is confirmed in dialogue.
There’s also a glimpse of Mon Mothma in the teaser too, whose rebel backstory is being fleshed out in Andor. Plus, Ray Stevenson as a lightsabre wielding, possibly Sith, villain.
Additionally, another actor making the leap from animated Star Wars to appear in Ahsoka. David Tennant is returning to the role of the robot Huyang, having voiced him in The Clone Wars.
Dave Filoni
Showrunner Dave Filoni, teased the threat of Grand Admiral Thrawn and praised his creator Timothy Zahn, saying:
“That all starts with Tim Zahn’s books. When we were all kids, hungry for something else, and Heir To The Empire hit, it was so unique and so wonderful. The result is a villain not to be messed with, one known for his strategic mind and keen intelligence: “He doesn’t have the Force, but it doesn’t matter. He will outsmart you.”
We also learned a bit more about the show’s production team. Dave Filoni has written all the episodes, with The Clone Wars composer Kevin Kiner returning to score the show. The directors are Filoni, Rick Famuyiwa (The Mandalorian), Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse), Steph Green, Jennifer Getzinger and Geeta Patel.
Star Wars: Ahsoka is coming to Disney+ in August 2023. We’ll keep you posted.