<i>Ahsoka</i>: Everything We Know About the New <i>Star Wars</i> Series
The Star Wars universe has never been lacking in ardent followers, but few characters have captured the imagination and adoration of fans in quite the style of Ahsoka Tano, first introduced as Anakin Skywalker’s apprentice in the beloved animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Quickly becoming as important to the franchise as some of its much more established figureheads, Ahsoka finally made her live-action debut in 2020, when Rosario Dawson slipped on her tentacular wig for the second season of The Mandalorian.
Now, a new live-action series from the world of Lucasfilm and Disney+ is on the horizon. Ahsoka will follow Dawson as the former Jedi, reeling after the loss of her once-respected mentor. Here’s what we know so far.
Who is Ahsoka Tano?
Part of an alien race known as the Togruta from the homeworld Shili, Ahsoka Tano was once the Padawan (a.k.a. apprentice) of Anakin Skywalker, who would later become the villain Darth Vader. She fought alongside Anakin during the Clone Wars and eventually become a Jedi in her own right. But after she was falsely framed for an explosion at the Jedi Temple, she lost faith in the Jedi Council and left the Jedi Order to carve out her own path. By joining up with the Rebellion, she was eventually reunited with her old master, who had since donned the iconic black helmet and sold his soul to the Dark Side. During a heart-wrenching battle with Vader, she was rescued by another Padawan named Ezra Bridger, who later disappeared in a battle against the Empire.
What’s Ahsoka about?
An alleged casting breakdown offered this logline to describe the show back in 2021:
Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) is on the hunt for the evil Grand Admiral Thrawn in the hope it will help her locate the missing Ezra Bridger, the young Jedi that disappeared with Thrawn many years ago. Based on characters from the “Star Wars” franchise. A spinoff of the TV series “The Mandalorian”.
That description was confirmed with the release of the show’s official teaser trailer on April 7, 2023: Ahsoka is on the hunt for Ezra, and is wary of the looming threat of Thrawn’s return as “heir to the Empire.” The series is set five years after The Return of the Jedi, in which Darth Vader dies at the hands of Emperor Palpatine. Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin in the Star Wars prequel films, is set to reappear in Ahsoka, which leaves us wondering how he will figure into the story. Perhaps in flashbacks? As a hologram?
The limited series is written by Dave Filoni, who’s also co-producing with Jon Favreau. At least one episode will be directed by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse co-director Peter Ramsey, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Watch the series’ first full teaser trailer below.
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Who is in the cast?
Along with Dawson and Christensen, it was confirmed by Deadline in November 2021 that The Society’s Natasha Liu Bordizzo had been cast in the role of Sabine Wren, originally from the Star Wars: Rebels animated series. The character is a “young Mandalorian warrior and graffiti artist, Imperial Academy dropout and a former bounty hunter” who apparently knows a lot about blowing things up.
The rest of the cast includes:
- Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger, a thief trained as a Jedi who was lost along with imperial leader Grand Admiral Thrawn.
- Winstead as Hera Syndulla, a Twi’lek pilot and another key character from Rebels.
- Stevenson as Baylan.
- David Tennant as Huyang, a droid friend used to create lightsabers.
- Christensen as Anakin Skywalker.
- Genevieve O’Reilly as Mon Mothma, the senator most recently seen in the Disney+ series Andor.
- Diana Lee Inosanto as Morgan Elsbeth, a former apprentice of Thrawn.
- Sakhno in an undisclosed role.
When will Ahsoka come out on Disney+?
Disney+ announced that production began on May 9, 2022, shutting down earlier reports saying it would begin in March or April. Finally, on April 7, 2023, the company announced Ahsoka would arrive in August 2023. An exact date has yet to be publicly shared.
This story will be updated.
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.
Culture Writer
Lauren Puckett-Pope is a staff culture writer at ELLE, where she primarily covers film, television and books. She was previously an associate editor at ELLE.
