After revealing that a “Mando-Verse” crossover movie is in the works at Lucasfilm, longtime Star Wars director Dave Filoni might’ve just confirmed who its “big bad” will be after widespread fan speculation.
This year’s Star Wars Celebration Europe offered plenty of exciting announcements and updates about projects currently underway in the galaxy far, far away.
In addition to screening a teaser trailer for Disney+’s upcoming Ahsoka show and footage from the Jude Law-led Skeleton Crew, the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase also gave fans the news they’d long been hoping for: three new Star Wars movies are in active development.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) director James Mangold is helming a movie about the dawn of the Jedi Order, while Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy will take up directing duties for a solo film focused on Daisy Ridley’s Rey.
Perhaps most anticipated of all is Filoni’s “Mando-Verse” crossover movie, which will bring together the various Star Wars stories being told on Disney+ (The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew) in an epic culmination event only fit for the big screen. While an official release date has yet to be confirmed, it’s rumored that the movie will premiere sometime in 2025 or 2026.
With so much new content being added to Disney’s slate of upcoming releases, there’s no denying that it’s a good time to be a Star Wars fan. And with plenty of time to go before the “Mando-Verse” crossover movie lands in theaters, fans are already theorizing about who will act as the story’s main antagonist.
Over the years, we’ve seen dozens of new villains introduced to the Star Wars universe, from Darth Maul (Ray Park/Sam Witwer) and his brother, Savage Opress (Clancy Brown), to Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), and more recently, Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito).
The Book of Boba Fett brought the animated Cad Bane (Corey Burton) to live-action as a worthy adversary to the titular bounty hunter, while Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) went head-to-head with Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano in Season 2 of The Mandalorian.
While the former was bested by Boba in the season finale (for now, at least), the latter has been confirmed to have a major role in Ahsoka, prompting many to wonder if Morgan Elsbeth will play a significant part in the events of the “Mando-Verse” crossover.
But Ahsoka won’t have just one villain. After years of waiting patiently, the sinister Grand Admiral Thrawn is finally making the leap to live-action in the Disney+ series, where he’ll be played by Lars Mikkelsen. And just as fans have suspected, it seems like he’ll be the main villain of the “Mando-Verse” crossover.
Speaking with Empire Magazine, Filoni was asked if he saw Thrawn, who was first introduced in the animated Star Wars Rebels series, as “the big bad of this New Republic era,” to which he responded, “Definitely, in my eyes:”
Definitely, in my eyes. When Timothy Zahn wrote ‘Heir To The Empire,’ Thrawn became this very iconic villain, because he was different than anything we’d seen before. He wasn’t another helmet-wearing, lightsaber-wielding bad guy, you know? There’s a lot of pull to make characters that are like Vader, because it is so iconic.
With the Chiss Admiral essentially being confirmed to be the main antagonist of the New Republic era, it’s safe to assume that he’ll also play a major role in the “Mando-Verse” movie, which is set to “close out [these] interconnected stories:”
But the boldness that Tim had was to make somebody that wasn’t like that, that didn’t have those abilities, but could fight in a different way. In the words ‘Star Wars’, the ‘war’ part of it — him being a Grand Admiral, a leader, a military strategist, a Moriarty archetype, someone that will out-think you, out-strategise you — that really resonated. He’s a critical player in this time period. We’re fortunate to have that character, and fortunate to have Lars playing him.
While this might not exactly come as a surprise to fans who have long suspected that Thrawn’s part in the greater “Mando-Verse” will extend far past Ahsoka, it’s still surprising to hear Filoni himself confirm the news years ahead of the movie’s release.
It remains to be seen what Thrawn’s intentions will be in the New Republic era, as we haven’t seen Thrawn since before the downfall of the Galactic Empire. Is he still loyal to Palpatine? Or is he entirely self-serving, hoping to get revenge on Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), Ahsoka, and the rest of the Ghost crew?
For now, only one thing’s for sure: if there’s a threat worthy of bringing together an entire “Mando-Verse” of legendary Star Wars characters, it’s Thrawn.
Are you excited to see Grand Admiral Thrawn in future Star Wars projects? Share your thoughts in the comments below.