The Skywalker saga of films may have ended with The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, but the Star Wars galaxy continues to expand. Thanks to Disney+ there are more Star Wars projects than ever coming down the pipe and one of the most exciting is Ahsoka.
Fans of animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels would be very familiar with Ahsoka Tano, but it was the second season of The Mandalorian that really got everyone talking about the character.
Lucasfilm confirmed late last year that Ahsoka would be getting her own live-action spin-off show on Disney+. Here’s what we know about it so far.
Who is Ahsoka?
Ahsoka Tano is an exceptionally skilled Jedi. She was first introduced in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars as Anakin Skywalker’s padawan and the two formed a close friendship over the series’ seven seasons.
Following Order 66, Ahsoka faked her death and went into hiding. She then reappeared in Star Wars Rebels as a secret agent for the rebel alliance.
We first met Ahsoka in her live-action form in Chapter 13 of The Mandalorian, when she teamed up with Din Djarin to free the city of Calodan and help guide young Grogu towards his Jedi master (and a name).
The last we saw of Ahsoka was in The Book of Boba Fett, where she was residing at Luke Skywalker’s new Jedi academy along with Grogu. At the end of the episode she leaves Luke to continue her travels, presumably to find more information on Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Who is in the cast?
Rosario Dawson will of course star in Ahsoka as the lead character herself, Ahsoka Tano.
At Star Wars Celebration in 2022 it was also revealed that Natasha Liu Bordizzo will bring young Mandalorian and Star Wars Rebels character Sabine Wren to live-action.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ivanna Sakhno have joined Ahsoka in unknown roles and Ray Stevenson is also on board.
The first footage from Ahsoka also teased an appearance from Rebels character Hera Syndulla, but it’s unclear who is cast in this part.
Some exciting news also came from The Hollywood Reporter that revealed Hayden Christensen, who portrayed Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episodes I-III, will reprise his role in the Ahsoka series.
Christensen is also returning as Anakin in the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series, so it appears he will be pulling double duty in the role that made him famous.
Star Wars regulars Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau are on board Ahsoka as executive producers.
What will the Ahsoka series be about?
Very little is known about Ahsoka’s spin-off show right now, but we do know the Togruta Jedi will be front and centre.
Ahsoka will sit within the same timeline of Star Wars stories as The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, and will likely continue story arcs from the animated series as well.
The plot is anyone’s guess, but given we last saw Ahsoka hell-bent on finding Admiral Thrawn and her lost friend Ezra Bridger, we can assume that’s where we will pick up.
Ahsoka, a new Original Series, starring @RosarioDawson and set within the timeline of @TheMandalorian, is coming to @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/ZojpCkhPS7
— Disney (@Disney) December 10, 2020
The return of Hayden Christensen as Anakin also raises some questions. The Mandalorian, and therefore Ahsoka, takes place years after The Return of the Jedi, in which Darth Vader notably died.
This possibly opens the door for flashbacks featuring a younger Ahsoka and Anakin, or Christensen could also appear as a Force ghost.
Alongside Anakin, it’s expected some other legacy Star Wars characters could appear in the series.
Hera, Sabine and Chopper have all already either been cast or teased and while Ezra Bridger hasn’t been confirmed, it seems very likely we’ll learn his fate in Ahsoka.
Ahsoka on Disney+: Release date
News has been thin on the ground about Ahsoka, but thanks to Star Wars Celebration we do know the series is set to debut in 2023, after The Mandalorian season 3.
Before that, we still have Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor to look forward to, so the time will surely fly by at hyperspeed.
If you want to catch up on the Jedi’s appearances in The Clone Wars, Rebels and The Mandalorian, you can do that right now over on Disney+.