In a galaxy far, far away, characters once known only in their animated form appear in live action. First, the prequel-era adversary, General Grievous (voiced by Joe DiMaggio in his first appearance), was translated into a live action version in 2005. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (voiced by Matthew Wood in the movies). Subsequently, Saw Gerrera was first voiced by Andrew Kishino in Star Wars: Clone Wars for his on-screen debut Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, in which Forest Whitaker played him. Most recently were Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) and Ahsoka Tano (voiced first by Ashley Eckstein, then played live by Rosario Dawson), both of whom first appeared in Clone Warsmade their live action debut in the hugely popular Disney+ series, The Mandalorian. Now two other fan-favorite characters from Dave Filoni’s expansive Star Wars universe make their live action debut in Star Wars: Ahoskapremiering on Disney+ in August 2023: Grand Admiral Thrawn and Sabine Wren, both originally from Star Wars: Rebels fame.
While the details of what the Ahsoka standalone series will be officially hidden, stills from the show released after Friday ahoska panel gives fans a first look at live-action Grand Admiral Thrawn (although there’s still no word on who’s been cast for the role), with the reveal appearing to confirm the theory that the show will now follow Ahsoka on the hunt for the evil Grand Admiral Thrawn hoping it will help her find the missing Ezra Bridger (originally voiced by Taylor Gray, and now played by Eman Esfandi), the young Jedi who disappeared years ago with Thrawn and some space whales.
It was also revealed during Star Wars Celebration 2023 that Sabine Wren will be returning to the Star Wars Universe and will be played by Natasha Liu Bordizzo. The Australian actor most recently appeared as Heather in Netflix’s Day shift.
Watch a glimpse of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Sabine Wren below:
Star Wars: Ahsoka will premiere on Disney+ in August 2023:
Jon Favreau and Filoni confirmed that Ahsokastarring Rosario Dawson in the title role, will premiere exclusively on Disney+ in August 2023. Set after the fall of the Empire, according to Lucasfilm’s press release, Ahsoka follows former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a fragile galaxy.
Dawson took the stage at Star Wars Celebration 2023 to unveil a teaser poster for the series, after which she was joined by co-stars Liu Bordizzo and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who announced she will play Hera Syndulla. The presentation concluded with a new teaser trailer for the original Disney+ series, which was executive produced by Filoni along with executive producers Favreau, Kennedy, Wilson and Beck. Gilchrist is co-executive producer.