While there was a moment when Star Wars films seemed to have been hit with their own Order 66 following 2019's Rise Of Skywalker, the same could never be said for TV shows set in the galaxy far, far away. Though there were a few changes revealed about the future Star Wars theatrical releases at the Star Wars Celebration on Friday, Lucasfilm also showed off a few of their upcoming Disney+ series. Among the teases for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and The Acolyte, Lucasfilm released the first trailer for Ahsoka, starring Rosario Dawson as the titular force-user.
Set around the same time as The Mandalorian (which marked Dawson’s first appearance as the character), the Disney+ spin-off follows Ahsoka Tano, the former padawan of Anakin Skywalker who first popped up in Dave Filoni’s animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars (voiced by Ashley Ekstein) before becoming a fan-favorite in the subsequent series of the same name. After leaving the Jedi Order due to being framed for bombing the Jedi Temple, Ahsoka re-emerged in the 2014 animated series Star Wars Rebels as a key figure in the Rebel Alliance under the codename “Fulcrum,” not letting the Galactic Empire breathe for a minute.
“Something’s coming... something dark. I sense it,” says Ahsoka in the trailer, which features all the usual Star Wars fare of lightsaber fights, intergalactic ship battles, and a wisdom-feeding droid. We also get our first look at Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Birds Of Prey) as Rebel Alliance leader Hera Syndulla, which she announced on stage at Friday’s panel for the show.
“I’ve had so many pinch me moments, even on the last day of shooting, when we turn the lightsabers on and I’m in the world of Star Wars,” said Dawson before introducing Ahsoka’s trailer at Star Wars Celebration, via The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m poised and ready, because if this does well we’re going to get a second season.”
Along with Dawson and Winstead, the cast features Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Day Shift) as revolutionary leader Sabine Wren, Eman Esfandi as Jedi-in-training Ezra Bridger, Ray Stevenson (RRR), and Ivanna Sakhno (High Fidelity).
The series comes from Star Wars powerhouse Dave Filoni, who is a writer, director, and executive producer on Ahsoka. Jon Favreau (The Mandalorian), Kathleen Kennedy, and Carrie Beck join Filoni as executive producers on the Disney+ show, including Karen Gilchrist as co-executive producer. Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse) will also be directing an episode of the series.
Get ready to save the galaxy (once again) when Ahsoka premieres August 2023 on Disney+.