Credit: LucasfilmDave Filoni knew the basic concepts for his story with Ahsoka Tano long before Din Djarin entered the Star Wars universe, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t influence how the story would evolve.
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Three years later, The Mandalorian is debuting with Season 3, and fans are beyond excited for what is to come. Grogu and Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin are back together as The Mandalorian will take the duo to Mandalore as Din tries to redeem himself for his sins.
Right after Season 3 debuts, fans won’t have to wait too long before another Star Wars series releases. Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka will be hitting Disney+ reportedly in the fall, and it will continue Dave Filoni’s story from Star Wars: Rebels.
That means that fans can expect the Ghost crew, Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Hera Syndulla, Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), and Grand Admiral Thrawn. Filoni has been tight-lipped about the series but has made it known that the series will indeed be the long-awaited to Rebels and also continue other stories in the process.
For Thrawn, fans really want Lars Mickelsen to reprise his role as the iconic villain, but a recent remark from the actor makes it seem that Lucasfilm has chosen someone else to star as the Chiss Admiral. Unlike other villains, Thrawn’s words and intellect are some of the iconic features of the villain, and since the character is deeply loved, Filoni knows he can’t mess up with the casting or writing.
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In a new interview, Filoni shared how he had ideas for where to take the sequel to Rebels, but he didn’t know whether or not that story should be told in live-action or not:
“At the time that I did the epilogue in Rebels, I had an idea of what this story would be. And it was definitely… so all of that, to just answer the question, I would say ‘Yes.’ It was definitely an option in my mind that, wow, this could be live-action if I go forward with this.
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Filoni continues by admitting that even when Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian was released, he didn’t know what would happen to Ahsoka Tano until later on:
“You have to decide what’s best for the story. And I think, we found, you know, whatever my story is about [in] Ahsoka, I’m very pleased.
And, you know, I didn’t know Jon would be doing Mandalorian at the time when I did that epilogue. That was all in motion, but I didn’t understand Ahsoka’s role in it, certainly. But I do know this time period because I grew up with a lot of Expanded Universe material in it. And so I think that’s also been an influence on what the future holds for everyone existing post-Return of the Jedi.”
Ahsoka seems to be taking source material from the Expanded Universe, which is rich with stories from the Sequel Trilogy. It also seems that Timothy Zahn’s “Heir to the Empire” trilogy will be a big influence on the upcoming series, which is a great sign. Those three books served as the original trilogy after Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983), but Disney didn’t want to adapt the books into a new trilogy and chose to tell their own story.
Dave Filoni’s Ahsoka will be a big moment for the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian pivoted attention away from Disney’s flaws and presented a compelling story that all fans loved. Hopefully, Ahsoka can do the same thing, but fans must wait and see the series later this year.
Do you like what Dave Filoni says about Ahsoka’s early inspirations? Let Inside The Magic know what you think!