Is Ahsoka a Sequel to Rebels?

Well, the first official trailer for Ahsoka (2023) has finally arrived, and it will probably end up breaking the Internet over the next few hours. But if you've not been keeping up to date with everything surrounding the show over the past couple of years, perhaps you're wondering why there are so many characters from the animated show Star Wars: Rebels (2014) in the trailer. So, is Ahsoka a sequel to Rebels? Let's find out...

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We've known for some time now that Ahsoka will serve as a follow-up of sorts to Rebels, but we didn't expect it to look like a live-action remake! Disney and Lucasfilm have hardly kept quiet about bringing certain characters from the animated show to life in live action, and the only real casting choice they've teased is Mary Elizabeth Winstead, but now, the trailer confirms that she too is playing one of the titular rebels - Twi'lek pilot Hera Syndulla, to be specific.

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Natasha Liu Bordizzo plays Mandalorian Sabine Wren, Eman Esfandi plays Jedi Ezra Bridger, Dave Filoni reprises his "voice" as Astromech droid chopper, Rosario Dawson is back as Ahsoka Tano, and, more than likely, Steve Blum will appear as Lasat warrior Zeb Orrelios, having recently brought him to life in live-action in a brief cameo in The Mandalorian Season 3.

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But what is Ahsoka about? Well, we know it will involve the continued search for Jedi Ezra Bridger, who disappeared at the end of Rebels while protecting his friends and his home world from Grand Admiral Thrawn's Imperial forces. However, he took Thrawn with him, using the whale-like purrgil to jump into a "natural" hyperspace.

The purrgil's return has already been teased in the latest season of The Mandalorian, and as we also see a hologram of Ezra in the new Ahsoka trailer, as well as the back of Thrawn's head, it's safe to say that Ahsoka really will serve as a sequel to Rebels, with a suspected emphasis on the "World Between Worlds" as well, the mystical dimension accessible only to Jedi where time and space do not exist, as introduced in the Rebels episode of the same name.

As per Disney and Lucasfilm, here's the official trailer for Ahsoka:

Ahsoka stars Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka Tano), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Sabine Wren), Eman Esfandi (Ezra Bridger), Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Hera Syndulla), Genevieve O'Reilly (Mon Mothma), Ivanna Sakhno (a mysterious Sith), Diana Lee Inosanto (Morgan Elsbeth), and Ray Stevenson (Baylan).

Ahsoka will premiere on Disney+ in August.