Ahsoka Tano is officially getting her own series that will exclusively be available to stream on Disney+. After making her debut as Anakin Skywalker's young Padawan in the beloved Star Wars animated series, The Clone Wars, Ahsoka's journey has been a thrilling adventure, becoming one of the franchise's most beloved characters.
Created by artist and director Dave Filoni, the character was originally voiced by Ashley Eckstein. Since her introduction, Ahsoka has been featured from many seasons of Clone Wars to Star Wars Rebels and recently, in The Mandalorian Season 2. With the character's leap from animation to live-action, she is now played by Rosario Dawson, and now, fans are excited to find out more details about the upcoming Ahsoka Disney+ series.
Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming Ahsoka series, including release date updates, cast, plot details, and leaked trailer information:
When is Ahsoka coming to Disney Plus?
There's no exact release date for Filoni's live-action Ahsoka series yet, but it's confirmed to arrive sometime in 2023.
Disney+ officially confirmed that production for Ahsoka began on May 9, 2022, shutting down earlier reports that it would start in March or April.
The update comes from the streaming platform's official Twitter account, which posted a photo of the director's chair on set, along with the caption: "Ahsoka, an Original series, starts production today #DisneyPlus."
Since production just started in May 2022, it's likely that Ahsoka will not be released until at least late 2022, taking into the account the amount of CGI and special effects needed in post-production.
During Star Wars Celebration in May 2022, star Rosario Dawson told fans she had literally just come from the set of Ahsoka to be at the Anaheim convention for the Mando+ panel. It looks like Ahsoka is still on track to release on Disney+ after The Mandalorian Season 3 premiere in February 2023.
For now, you can check out Disney+'s schedule of upcoming movies, TV shows, and specials in November 2022.
Ahsoka Cast: Who's joining Rosario Dawson in the Star Wars series?
As many Star Wars fans probably know by now, Rosario Dawson is playing Ahsoka Tano. Speaking to Vanity Fair, Dawson explained what it's like taking on the monumental task:
"I love that she is this wanderer character who is going to just do good in the universe. The Jedi Order has disappeared in many ways, it's so fractured, and so many people are targeted," Dawson said. "Since the very beginning, the way that has been pulling her is to be vigilant, and to be brave, and to be wise, and to always have her eye set on rooting out evil."
She went on to say: "And I think that's one of the reasons why so many love her. It's why I love her. She represents truly the best of the Jedi, you know?"
Aside from Dawson, Dave Filoni officially announced Natasha Liu Bordizzo has joined the cast as Sabine Wren, one of the prominent characters from Star Wars Rebels (voiced by Tiya Sircar) at Star Wars Celebration 2022. Sabine is a young Mandalorian and Imperial Academy dropout with expertise in explosives and weaponry. According to reports from Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, Ray Stevenson and Ivanna Sakhno will be in Ahsoka.
THR also reported that there are rumors that Hayden Christensen may return as Darth Vader for the Ahsoka series. Shortly after the news came out in October 2021, Dawson commented on her Instagram with the caption: Skyguy … They know!!! See you soon, Snips.”For those unfamiliar, Skyguy and Snips are their characters' nicknames for each other in The Clone Wars. The comment was quickly deleted, and Dawson told Vanity Fair for its June 2022 Star Wars cover story that she deleted the post after someone from Star Wars HQ emailed her: “You might want to take that down.”
Christensen reprised his role as Darth Vader in the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series that was released on Disney+ earlier this year.
Obi-Wan star Ewan McGregor nonchalantly confirmed in the Vanity Fair cover story that his wife, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, will also star in the Ahsoka series. “My partner, Mary, is doing that Star Wars series with Rosario and she’s about to start,” he said. “Our little boy has been born into this massive Star Wars family.” However, her character is yet to be revealed. Some fans are speculating that she will play Ar'alani, Grand Admiral Thrawn's close colleague, would seem to be a good fit.
In September 2022, Cineflux reported that King Richard actor Eman Esfandi has been cast to play Ezra Bridger for the upcoming Ahsoka TV series. This newswas also confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter. Bridger was the protagonist of the animated TV series Star Wars: Rebels, and will be crossing over into live-action with this debut.
According to Giant Freakin Robot's sources, Mark Hamill will also return in the upcoming Ahsoka TV show.
There are also speculations that Lars Mikkelsen, who voiced Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Star Wars Rebels animated series, will reprise his iconic villain role in the live-action Disney+ series, but Lucasfilm and Disney+ haven't announced any casting details for Thrawn.
Ahsoka Plot: What is the upcoming Star Wars series about?
Ahsoka's plot details have largely been kept under wraps until footage at Star Wars Celebration confirmed fan speculation. The short teaser shown exclusively for the Mando+ panel crowd revealed that Ahsoka and Sabine are searching for Ezra Bridger.
The footage showed Ahsoka entering a ship, similar to the Ghost, as she passes by a mysterious character with green head tails that's most likely Hera (a pilot from Star Wars Rebels). The teaser concluded with Ahsoka in front of the Rebels mural as Bordizzo's Sabine walks in to join her.
If you're not familiar with Rebels animated series, Ezra Bridger is a young Force-sensitive human street urchin living in the streets of the Imperial-controlled planet Lothal's Capital City. In the finale of the Rebels, there was a huge battle between the Ghost Crew and the Empire. Ezra saves his planet and friends by flinging himself and Grand Admiral Thrawn into space with the assistance of Purrgil space whales.
The Rebels finale aired back in 2018, so fans are looking forward to the continuation in the Star Wars live-action series, with Ahsoka and Sabine on the hunt for Ezra.
When is Ahsoka set in the timeline of Star Wars?
According to the Star Wars bosses, the new Ahsoka series will "within the timeline of The Mandalorian", so that means, while Star Wars Rebels takes place five years before the events of A New Hope, the Ahsoka series will presumably pick up after her appearance in The Mandalorian Season 2, which is set five years after the events in Return of the Jedi.
Ahsoka Trailer: Did Disney+ release one already?
Since production for Ahsoka is still underway, Star Wars fans will probably have to wait months before Lucasfilm and Disney officially releases a full trailer for the show. However, the 30-second footage of Ahsoka from Star Wars Celebration leaked online, so that's a good sign that it will a quick teaser trailer will be released to the public soon.