The first trailer for the eagerly awaited 2023 Star Wars series Ahsoka could not look more exciting. It serves as a sequel to the brilliant, animated Star Wars Rebels (our top animation pick several years in a row) and The Clone Wars, while also tying together threads from The Book of Boba Fett, The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the Andor series–even the animated Tales of the Jedi and Star Wars Resistance. Of course, series star Rosario Dawson, the queen of genre roles from DC and Marvel series, Frank Miller, Tony Scott, and Quentin Tarantino movies, made the character of Ahsoka Tano her own in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
Now Dawson will lead a cast of characters we never thought we’d see in live action: Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane) as Twi’lek Hera Syndulla, Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Day Shift) as Mandalorian Sabine Wren, Eman Esfandi (King Richard) as grown-up Ezra Bridger, a loth-cat, the return of the fully-realized astromech Chopper we last saw in Rogue One, the planet Lothal, and the ship, the Ghost. Star Wars Celebration London revealed Grand Admiral Thrawn’s animated voice actor, Lars Mikkelsen, will also play “Heir to the Empire” Thrawn in live-action, and the series co-stars Ray Stevenson (Vikings, Thor) as a quasi-Sith character named Baylan Skoll, Ivanna Sakhno as Shin Hati (possibly Skoll’s Sith apprentice with a Sith anagram name?), with the return of Genevieve O’Reilly in her fifth show as Mon Mothma (this time years after her last appearance in Andor), The Mandalorian’s Diana Lee Inosanto back as Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth, Doctor Who star David Tennant as the voice of The Clone Wars-era droid Huyang, and Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano’s Force master/trainer way back in The Clone Wars. Plus orange light sabers!
One thing to keep in mind: Darth Maul, Sabine Wren, Kanan Jarrus, Pre Vizsla, Tarre Vizsla, Din Djarin, and Bo-Katan have all possessed the Darksaber. Will the two 2023 series tie all of this together? Darth Maul has died a few times, and this would be a good time to see Star Wars’ second best villain one more time–or maybe an appearance by Emilia Clarke as Qi’ra?
This series has something for every corner of Star Wars fandom. Check out this first fantastic trailer and several screencaps for Ahsoka:
The only thing missing is the “Emperor’s Hand” Mara Jade.
Dave Filoni, Steph Green, Peter Ramsey, Jennifer Getzinger, Geeta Patel, and Rick Famuyiwa are the series directors.
Kevin Kiner, composer on The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch, will score the series.
It’s a bit of a wait. Look for Ahsoka to begin streaming this August, only on Disney+.
C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg
