Credit: LucasfilmThe latest Star Wars series to come from creator Dave Filoni is the live-action Ahsoka, starring Rosario Dawson, as the titular Ahsoka Tano, Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren, and Lars Mikkelsen as Grand Admiral Thrawn.
The series ties into the other Mando-Verse shows from Disney+, including The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett and acts as a continuation of Star Wars Rebels. Ahsoka was first introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars in 2008 and rapidly became a fan-favorite character, reappearing in Rebels in 2014 and creating a high demand to see more of her in other projects.
The Mandalorian is one of the most-watched shows on Disney+, and created an entirely new universe and cast of characters for Star Wars fans to love and get to know. However, the ever increasing amount of Star Wars content has started to feel like the Lucasfilm version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), as the shows feature constant cameos, tie-ins, and references to other Star Wars media.
Related: Anakin and Ahsoka’s Reunion Copies an Iconic ‘Star Wars Rebels’ Moment
This period of “Star Wars fatigue” also comes as Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger has lost popularity among fans and Disney+ has announced the removal of tons of content even as it raises prices. As a result, the live-action Ahsoka series has been met with wildly mixed reviews, with some excited at the prospect of their favorite character finally being the focus of her own dedicated series and others slamming the overall quality of the show.
In a post to X/Twitter, @zachsilberberg slammed the show, stating
“ahsoka is THE show for people who love to be on their phone while they watch tv. visually bland. every scene drags. tons of filler shots of people staring at objects. important dialogue once every 5 minutes. the first show to feel like all it’s missing is subway surfers under it”
ahsoka is THE show for people who love to be on their phone while they watch tv. visually bland. every scene drags. tons of filler shots of people staring at objects. important dialogue once every 5 minutes. the first show to feel like all it’s missing is subway surfers under it
— zach silberberg supports the WGA (@zachsilberberg) September 8, 2023
They continued, pointing out that, in their opinion, “everyone in this show speaks so slowly and pauses before every line so they can give the audience a second to catch up to whats happening” and “every shot feels like it goes on a second or two too long. especially establishing shots. and i really think its for people on their phones. this show isnt meant to be watched, its meant to be idly consumed.” The post was bombarded with mixed but heavily-opinionated responses.
Related: New Marvel VFX Union Sets to Fix Disney’s Quality Issue
“No it isn’t. It’s a more dramatic, less action packed show- which star wars fans have asked for- it’s not the show runner’s fault that you got addicted to TikTok and YouTube Shorts so now have an attention span worse than a pigeon with ADHD,” stated @CatboyKaczynski.
“People can’t actually find anything real to complain about so they’ve resorted to making up bullshit,” @CursedLemon99 responded.
“I hate Andor fans holy shit. If u don’t like #Ahsoka don’t watch it. Most of us have been waiting for years for Star Wars to feel like this,” snapped @speckIer.
Related: Ahsoka’s Transformation Is Complete: Ahsoka the White Explained
However, other users agreed with the original post.
“I hate that he’s right. I was REALLY looking forward to this show (and I love Dawson and Filoni), but Ashoka the series is arse,” complained @jasdye.
“This show is kind of off from even the other bad Star Wars shows. With Obi Wan we were constantly making fun of something and laughing but with Ahsoka you make a joke about the scene, laugh, and then the scene continues statically for 5 min and provides no additional material,” explained @americanwombat.
Related: Legendary DC Creator Wants Royalty Checks Given to Black Lives Matter
“okay but this also perfectly describes The Mandalorian and the fact no one else besides me seemed to notice really confuses me,” @basedlady chimed in.
Unfortunately, Ahsoka has clearly been divisive, even though–or maybe because of–it was so highly anticipated. The complaints sound similar to those of Marvel fans who have been trying to bring attention to the drop in quality of recent MCU series. As Disney struggles to make its streaming platform profitable, responses like these aren’t doing much to help boost numbers.
What do you think of Ahsoka? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!