Over the course of the past few years, Star Wars fans have been treated to a vast number of original shows on Disney+ set in the galaxy far, far away. With popular series like The Mandalorian, Andor, and various animated titles, the Star Wars universe has continued to experience a rapid expansion while also shedding new light on fan-favorite characters. One of those characters, Ahsoka Tano, will soon get a live-action series of her own.
In the very near future, Rosario Dawson will return as the former Jedi padawan for a solo adventure, continuing the path started on the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series that transitioned to the live-action side of things with The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Here is everything we know about the upcoming Star Wars series so far.
What Is The Ahsoka Premiere Date?
Just a couple of months after it was revealed that Ahsoka would debut on Disney+ near the end of the summer, the official Star Wars Twitter account announced that the long-awaited series would premiere on August 23rd. That mean we don't have all that much longer to wait before we see Rosario Dawson's take on the character return for her own solo adventure.
The Ahsoka Teaser Trailer
Star Wars fans around the galaxy were given their first look at the upcoming series at April 2023's Star Wars Celebration in London. Check it out below:
We'd get another, yet much shorter, look at the series in June 2023, when Star Wars debuted a brief teaser highlighting more of the characters on both sides of the force:
We're not sure if Disney will release another full trailer for the series ahead of its release, but expect to know more in the coming weeks.
Rosario Dawson Stars In Ahsoka
Though there is a great deal of mystery surrounding the upcoming Ahsoka live-action series, one aspect of the Star Wars show that has long been known is the fact that Rosario Dawson will be reprising her role as Ahsoka Tano. The show, and the casting, were both revealed by Disney in December 2020 along with the since-canceled Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic.
Exactly how the series fits into the big picture of Disney+’s Star Wars series is not known at this point, but there’s a good chance we’ll see the former apprentice of Anakin Skywalker continue her path from The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. We don’t know if Mando (Pedro Pascal) or Baby Yoda will be showing up this time around, but the show has already put together a pretty outstanding cast of supporting characters.
The Ahsoka Cast Also Includes Hayden Christensen And Natasha Liu Bordizzo
Dawson won’t be alone in the Ahsoka cast, as the upcoming series has put together a rather robust group of actors, who are set to reprise classic characters from previous live-action Star Wars movies and shows, as well as some making their transition from the property’s various animated programs.
The biggest announcement so far, and one that should excite longtime fans of The Clone Wars, is the return of Hayden Christensen’s Anakin Skywalker, a.k.a. Darth Vader, whose involvement was announced by The Hollywood Reporter back in October 2021. Not much has been revealed about Skywalker’s involvement, and it’s not yet clear if the character will show up in flashbacks or as the ruthless Sith lord as seen in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Another major addition to the cast was revealed in November 2021, when Deadline announced that Natasha Liu Bordizzo would be taking on the role of Sabine Wren, a young Mandalorian warrior and Imperial Academy dropout featured on the Rebels animated series.
Other members of the cast include Eman Esfandi, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ray Stevenson, and Ivanna Sakhno.
Ahsoka Will Be A ‘Continuous Story’ That Is ‘Driving Toward A Goal’
Not much has been revealed about the story that will unfold over the course of the first season of Ahsoka, especially when it comes to the continuation of Dawson’s character following the events of The Book of Boba Fett’s finale, but the show’s creator, Dave Filoni, did tease a “continuous story” when discussing the upcoming series as part of a sprawling May 2022 Vanity Fair profile on the slate of Disney+ Star Wars series, stating:
Ahsoka is a continuous story. It is definitely driving toward a goal, in my mind, as opposed to being little singular adventures. That’s what I want the character to be doing, and I think that’s what fans want now. They have such a relationship with her. I’ve only recently started to understand that all those kids that watched Clone Wars are now a lot older—they’re very excited about all the things they grew up with, as they should be.
We’ll have to wait and see how that story is presented when the show premieres as soon as later this year.
The Series Was Written By Dave Filoni, Who Also Directed A ‘Handful’ Of Episodes
Together with Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni has helped usher in a new era for the Star Wars franchise, launching multiple shows over the course of the past four years, including this upcoming series, which he wrote. When speaking with Empire Magazine in November 2021, Filoni opened up about bringing the character to The Mandalorian Season 2 before shedding light on the writing process for Ahsoka Tano’s solo outing, stating:
I thought of this adventure for Ahsoka for a long time, and it’s interesting to see how it’s evolved. Years ago, I never would have imagined that it was sprung from a branch of a tree that had anything to do with a guy [like] Din Djarin, or a child that looks like Yoda. It’s a great lesson for me on how, when you have other creatives like Jon Favreau, they can help lend such dimension and depth to what you’re doing.
But Filoni didn’t just write the scripts, as he also directed a “handful” of episodes of the upcoming series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Filoni previously directed episodes of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
Ahsoka Entered Production In May 2022
Fans were given some great news in May 2022 when it was announced that production had finally gotten underway on Ahsoka. Following the first official day of shooting, the Star Wars Instagram account shared an image of a director’s chair with the show’s title printed across the back, along with a cowboy hat looking awfully familiar to the one worn by the show’s creator, Filoni, on multiple occasions:
Again, not a lot of information was shared at the time, though it did look as if the show was to be set in a location other than Tatooine, which has been a major location for the Disney+ series so far.
Ahsoka will be available for anyone with a Disney+ subscription this August. While we wait, now would be a great time to check out all the other 2023 TV shows set to premiere before then.
