I was pretty bummed that Hayden Christensen barely got to do anything in Obi-Wan, short of a flashback and walking around in the Vader armor. Now, that appears to be changing to some degree for Ahsoka. No, I doubt he’ll be a major player, given how far into the future (and after his death) the show is set, but the latest trailer shows that he will be a part of the series, and probably already has more lines than he did in Obi-Wan.
What’s interesting, however, is that Christensen seems to be paying direct homage to the much-praised performance of Matt Lanter, who voiced Anakin in Clone Wars, and is credited with giving a lot more dimension to the character than George Lucas’s prequel trilogy allowed.
You can here the intonation of Christensen echoing Clone Wars Anakin. It’s still his voice, of course, but him instructing Ahsoka (in a flashback/voiceover) really does have significant echoes of Lanter’s performance, mixed with his own. It’s very cool to see.
The new trailer for Ahsoka showcases the full cast and Ahsoka using her signature double blades in a fight against Ray Stevenson’s Baylan Skoll (RIP Ray). The trailer also promises that “A New Jedi Will Rise” which I suppose could be referring to Ahsoka or Ezra, but they are…old Jedi, considering that Clone Wars/Rebels is considered canon in the new Disney universe. So who knows, maybe they’re going to spring a secret new Jedi on us.
Despite the large variance in quality between Disney Star Wars series, Andor on the good end, Book of Boba Fett on the bad, I think there’s a lot of hope that Filoni’s Ahsoka will deliver, bringing to life a beloved cast of characters from the animated series, while integrating it with live-action guest stars like Christensen’s Anakin. Who is also trying to channel his animated alter-ego, it seems.
Ahsoka is out on August 23, and we’ll see how it comes together in the end. The casting seems on point, and we’ll see if this new, post-OG trilogy era of all these characters works out in the end. I very much hope that it does, and that Christensen finally gets some time to shine alongside the main cast.
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