Star Wars: Ahsoka’s Main Villain Finally Revealed
After first getting a brief peek into the upcoming Disney+ series Star Wars: Ahsoka earlier this year, fans have finally been treated to a full-length trailer, available on the official Lucasfilm YouTube channel. The trailer reveals our first look at the series villain and Star Wars‘ new big bad, Grand Admiral Thrawn, played by Lars Mikkelsen.
Grand Admiral Thrawn has arrived in the Star Wars: Ahsoka trailer is our first time seeing him in action.
The trailer reveals a number of fan-favorite characters, including the titular Jedi knight who first appeared in 2008’s The Clone Wars, as well as Sabine Wren, Hera, and Chopper, as voiced by series showrunner Dave Filoni.
Thrawn is expected to be a significant threat in the series, as his character has been built up and referenced in a number of scenes within the extended live-action Disney+ canon.
Star Wars series such as The Mandalorian have referenced the Grand Admiral’s importance in advance of the Ahsoka series premiering, with menacing characters such as Giancarlo Esposito‘s Moff Gideon and the Shadow Council singing the ruthless military leader’s praises.
Star Wars: Ahsoka stars Rosario Dawson in the titular role, according to the Space Jam: A New Legacy star’s IMDb. The series follows in the wake of her groundbreaking live-action performance as the character in other Disney+ series’ such as The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
Star Wars: Ahsoka takes place during the same time period as The Mandalorian and the upcoming Skeleton Crew.
Though her appearances in other extended Star Wars series’ were brief, Ahsoka played a major role, giving us some of our first bits of background information on Grogu.
Star Wars: Ahsoka takes place within the same canon and timeline as The Mandalorian‘s third and most recent season.
In addition to Rosario Dawson, the show touts an all-star cast, including Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera, the former rebel pilot turned New Republic general, as well as Ray Stevenson, who filmed his appearance as Baylan Skoll before his untimely passing on May 21 of 2023. Skoll is a former Jedi who survived the Order 66 genocide which saw nearly every Jedi in the galaxy executed.
Baylan Skoll is said to be an ally of Thrawn in Star Wars: Ahsoka, alongside Ivanna Sakhno’s Shin Hati, who serves as the Grand Admiral’s apprentice. Lars Mikkelsen is reprising his role as Thrawn for the first time since 2018, when he lent his voice to Star Wars: Rebels. Ahsoka is said to continue where Rebels left off after Eman Esfandi’s Ezra Bridger sacrificed himself to save Ahsoka and her cohorts.
Star Wars Ahsoka was created by Dave Filoni, the same creator behind Rebels and The Mandalorian.
Rebels was created by The Mandalorian co-creator, Dave Filoni, paving a clear path up the Star Wars ladder toward his latest position as series showrunner for Ahsoka. Lars Mikkelsen’s brief appearance in the trailer serves as a menacing tease for significant events to come, though there is little information regarding the show’s plot.
We’ll surely have a great deal of additional information regarding the schemes of Grand Admiral Thrawn in the near future, as the series is set to premiere with an explosive two-episode premiere on August 23.
