We can finally put a name to the face of Ahsoka's villain – the upcoming Disney Plus series will see Grand Admiral Thrawn played by Lars Mikkelsen, the actor who voices the character in the animated Star Wars: Rebels.
The news was revealed during the Ahsoka panel at this year's Star Wars Celebration, where Total Film, SFX, and 12DOVE are on the ground to bring you all the news as it happens. "It's wonderful," Mikkelsen told the crowd about returning as Thrawn. "Thank you so much." He appeared in some exclusive footage shown to the crowd, which featured the first look at his epic live-action look.
We also learned that David Tennant will return to voice the droid Huyang, a role he played in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and the lineup of directors for the series was revealed: Dave Filoni, Steph Green, Peter Ramsey, Jennifer Getzinger, Geeta Patel, and Rick Famuyiwa are all helming episodes of the show.
Plus, the names of two more villains were revealed – Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati are the characters being played by Ray Stevenson and Ivanna Sakhno, but co-showrunner Dave Filoni was keeping coy about their role in the series. "‘Absolutely nothing," is what he said he could tell us about the characters. "It’s all spoilers from here on out."
A remixed trailer featuring exclusive new footage just played for the Celebration crowd, featuring a first look at Lars Mikkelsen’s Thrawn, Sabine igniting a lightsaber and skidding on a speeder Akira-style, and a close encounter with a Purrgil #SWC2023 pic.twitter.com/SzqvimAmtFApril 8, 2023
As you may have guessed, the upcoming series will follow Ahsoka Tano, played by Rosario Dawson, who previously took on the role in both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. While plot details are being kept tightly under wraps, we know that the series will follow her search across the galaxy far, far away for Thrawn, while fans have previously speculated that a moment in The Mandalorian season 3 may have set up the Ahsoka spin-off.
The cast also includes Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera Syndulla, and Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger. It's currently rumored that Hayden Christensen might reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker again, although there's been no confirmation on this yet.
The full Ahsoka trailer was released during the main Lucasfilm Studio panel, as well as confirming that the show will be released in August 2023.
You can keep up to date with the galaxy far, far away with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows.
