Ahsoka: Lars Mikkelsen to play General Admiral Thrawn

Last Updated on April 28, 2023

The Star Wars Celebration kicked off yesterday with some major unveilings. One of the biggest drops of opening day was the teaser for upcoming Star Wars series Ahsoka, another spin-off of The Mandalorian. Today gave even more time to the Star Wars entry, with Ahsoka developers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, star Rosario Dawson and even droid Chopper taking the stage on Saturday.

But it wasn’t just heroes on the panel. It was near the end that Filoni revealed a figure only teased yesterday: Grand Admiral Thrawn, to be portrayed by Lars Mikkelsen, who actually voiced the character on Star Wars Rebels. On the character and collaboration, Filoni remarked, “He doesn’t have the Force but it doesn’t matter. He will outsmart you and trap you and play chess better than you…I feel really, really privileged, Lars too, to bring [Thrawn] to life in this way and we want to make sure we get it right.” Mikkelsen, meanwhile, said it is “wonderful” to be playing the Star Wars fan favorite on Ahsoka.

Other Ahsoka cast members who appeared on the panel included Natasha Liu Bordizzo (warrior/artist Sabine Wren), Ivanna Sakhno (Shin Hati), Ray Stevenson (Shin’s master, Baylan Skoll), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Hera Syndulla, who the actress noted she is “honored” to play), and Diana Lee Inosanto (Morgan Elsbeth, who Inosanto said is “absolutely…very loyal to Grand Admiral Thrawn”). The panel also revealed that the showdown between Ahsoka Tano and Morgan Elsbeth in The Mandalorian took over 17 hours to film. Dawson first portrayed Ahsoka on The Mandalorian, reprising her again in The Book of Boba Fett.

The official plot of Ahsoka: “Set after the fall of the Empire, Ahsoka follows the former Jedi knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.”

Ahsoka drummed up some major hype during the teaser reveal yesterday, but the new announcements and panel will undoubtedly keep the show at the forefront of anticipated projects within the Star Wars universe. Ahsoka comes to Disney+ in August 2023.

Are you looking forward to Star Wars’ Ahsoka series? How do you think it will rank among the other Star Wars shows on Disney+? Let us know in the comments section below!