Credit: LucasfilmAhsoka Tano is one of the most recognizable characters in the entire Star Wars franchise. Though she got off to a rocky start with fans in the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars, she quickly became a fan favorite while leading the long-running television series of the same name, which launched that same year and ended in 2020 with its seventh season.
Ashley Eckstein’s Ahsoka Legacy
Voiced by Ashley Eckstein throughout her animated appearances and beyond, the Togruta Force wielder would appear in several projects.
These included the animated series Star Wars Rebels (2014 — 2018), the Ahsoka novel by E. K. Johnston in 2016, Star Wars Forces of Destiny (2017 — 2018), the video game Disney Infinity 3.0, Tales of the Jedi (2022), and Lego Star Wars miniseries such as Rebuild the Galaxy (2024) and its 2025 follow-up.
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Ahsoka Tano in Live Action
In 2020, Ahsoka Tano made the leap from animation in the Disney+ series The Mandalorian Season 2, before headlining her own spinoff series Ahsoka in 2023.
However, Ashley Eckstein didn’t reprise the role in live action; instead Rosario Dawson took up the mantle, starring alongside various actors playing live-action versions of the core Rebels characters, including Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi).
Now, a second season is in production, with Dawson reprising her role as the title character. However, while that series has its fans, it failed to make anywhere near as big an impact as The Clone Wars, particularly where the character of Ahsoka is concerned.
Clone Wars Ahsoka Remains the Most Popular
The animated series has carved out a huge portion of the fanbase over the years, and while Ahsoka appears alongside other leads such as Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) and Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter), she remains the figurehead of that show.
Now, she’s widely known not only because of her signature “lekku”, but also for denouncing her Jedi ways in the iconic episode “The Wrong Jedi,” which sees her leave the Jedi Order and embark on a different path in the faraway galaxy.
Another Clone Wars Character Returns
However, one of Ahsoka’s most popular and unforgettable storylines is her encounter with Maul (Sam Witwer) across the last four episodes of the seventh and final season. If Ahsoka is the face of the hero-side of The Clone Wars, then Maul is the face of the dark side.
Now, Maul is also gearing up to headline his own series — but not in live action.
Maul — Shadow Lord retains, for the most part, the same visual style that has been a throughline in several animated Star Wars shows since The Clone Wars (such as The Bad Batch and the Tales of anthology series). Now, Lucasfilm has released the first official trailer for the upcoming series:
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Ashley Eckstein’s Ahsoka Tano Has Been Replaced
Per StarWars.com, Maul – Shadow Lord is “set after the events of The Clone Wars” and finds Maul plotting “to rebuild his criminal syndicate on a planet untouched by the Empire.”
Maul — Shadow Lord features an entirely new cast of supporting characters (many of whom are voiced by Star Wars veterans). However, one standout character is Devon Izara, voiced by Gideon Adlon (The Craft: Legacy).
Devon, who was created for the new series, is a Twi-lek Jedi on the run following Order 66, the galaxy-altering event that marked the end of the Clone Wars. However, she winds up being targeted by Maul as a potential new apprentice.
“On the run from the Empire, Devon Izara is conflicted,” the character’s description on StarWars.com reads. “Living in hiding to survive in challenging times, she must adapt and accept a future far different than the one she expected for herself.”
In the trailer, perhaps the most instantly noticeable things about Devon are the similarities between her and Ahsoka. Not only do the Twi-leks and the Togrutas look very similar aesthetically, particularly with the long appendages on their heads known as lekku, but Gideon Adlon even sounds a lot like Ashley Eckstein.
And then there’s her relationship with Maul. While there’s still a lot we don’t know, in The Clone Wars Season 7’s Siege of Mandalore arc, Maul tries to tempt Ahsoka to join the dark side and help him in reshaping the galaxy, so it seems he’ll have a similar relationship with Devon.
Whether or not Devon will become as popular as Ahsoka remains to be seen.
Maul — Shadow Lord premieres on April 6 with a two-episode event.
The new series stars Sam Witwer (Maul), Richard Ayoade (Two-Boots), Vanessa Marshall (Rook Kast), Chris Diamantopoulos (Looti Vario), A.J. LoCascio (Marrok), David W. Collins (Spybot), Steve Blum (Icarus), Gideon Adlon (Devon Izara), Wagner Moura (Brander Lawson), Dennis Haysbert (Master Eeko-Dio-Daki), and Charlie Bushnell (Rylee Lawson).
Do you think Devon Izara could become as popular as Ahsoka Tano? Are you excited about Shadow Lord? Let us know in the comments below!