Ahsoka debuts tomorrow night, Tuesday, August 22, a last-minute switch from Disney, and a decision to start airing shows at night in the US instead of the early morning hours (thank god).
This may in fact be the most important Disney Plus Star Wars project that’s been done so far. The Mandalorian was two fully new characters for its leads. So did Andor. Obi-Wan was always meant to be a tiny miniseries to revisit an old character.
But Ahsoka? This is a character that has been built up for eleven years, seven seasons of Clone Wars and also four seasons of Rebels, which she eventually appeared in, and where most of her current co-stars are from. She is probably the single most beloved character outside of the movies, and probably even inside the movies, for many. And her nemesis, Grand Admiral Thrawn, is the most famous expanded universe villain ever, on par with only Vader and Palpatine themselves (sorry Kylo Ren).
This is Clone Wars creator Dave Filoni’s ultimate dream, the chance to bring the character to life in live action, albeit he’ll have to do it without the woman who voiced Ahsoka for all those years, Ashley Eckstein. While it makes sense she can’t play the character in live-action due to the appearance disparity, that means a lot is riding on Rosario Dawson. We’ve already glimpsed her Ahsoka in Mandalorian guest spots. Some like her, some don’t. Some are excited by the footage we’ve seen from Ahsoka, some aren’t. And many are wondering why this all couldn’t have just stayed animated in the first place.
Ahsoka is not meant to be a one-off miniseries. It’s seven episodes, but no doubt angling for multiple seasons like The Mandalorian, and said to be leading toward a grand film project to combine all the characters from this post-OG trilogy era (which will include Mando and Grogu and who knows who else).
In an era where Disney is said to not be terribly amused with how much it’s spending on these huge Disney Plus Marvel and Star Wars projects that aren’t returning the investment, there’s a lot riding on Ahsoka in more ways than one. The business side, whether people show up to watch, and the fan side, if people will be satisfied with this version of the character they’ve been watching for well over a decade in animated stories.
Disney Plus Star Wars shows have been wildly hit or miss. The Mandalorian was an excellent debut and is still pretty good in season 3. Obi-Wan was not amazing. The Book of Boba Fett was terrible. Andor was…one of the single best shows of the year, absolutely incredible. So really, this could be anything, but given who is involved here, the hope is that it lands at least as well as The Mandalorian, and also with that level of viewership. I’m not sure that will happen, but we’ll find out tomorrow.
Follow me on Twitter, Threads, YouTube, and Instagram.
Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Read the full article here