With “Ahsoka” the eponymous Jedi gets her own “Star Wars’ series, after being featured in the animated series ‘Star Wars: Clone Wars” became an absolute fan favorite and in the second season of “The Mandalorian’ made her live-action debut. Rosario Dawson slips back into the role of Anakin Skywalker’s former student in the spin-off.
When the “Mandalorian” spin-off was announced, it was already suspected that there would be other characters from “Clone Wars” and the subsequent series “Star Wars Rebels” will be seen, especially since the second “Mandalorian” season has already teased that Ahsoka is going in search of Grand Admiral Thrawn, who is rumored to be played by Mads Mikkelsen’s brother Lars Mikkelsen, who has already matched the villain in “Rebels ‘ borrowed his voice.
Little by little, the appearance of corresponding characters was actually confirmed. For example, there will be a reunion with Ahsoka’s old Mandalorian comrade-in-arms Sabine Wren (played by Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Twi’lek pilot Hera Syndulla and astromech droid Chopper. And now it’s finally been confirmed that “Rebels” hero Ezra Bridger will also be in the party.
Disney and its affiliates
Ezra Bridger in “Star Wars rebels
The news itself isn’t too much of a surprise, after all, Ahsoka must also want to find Ezra, since he disappeared into hyperspace with Thrawn at the end of “Rebels”. But now at the same time the actor of the lightsaber wielder and rebel was revealed…
After long rumors that “Aladdin” star Mena Massoud will slip into the skin of the Jedi, another actor has now made the running: Newcomer Eman Esfandi will play Ezra Bridger in Ahsoka. The website Cinelinx was the first to report this and has now been verified by industry publications. You can also get an impression of the actor on his Instagram profile:
So far, Esfandi has mainly made short films in his vita, but he also appeared in Robert Rodriguez’ low-budget horror thriller “Red 11” from 2018 and had a small supporting role in the Oscar-winning biopic “King Richard“. He is also an upcoming ensemble cast of gay black marine drama The Inspection, which received critical acclaim at the Toronto Film Festival.
“Clone Wars” and “Rebels” mastermind Dave Filoni, who is already actively involved in “The Mandalorian’ and ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ and has now co-developed ‘Ahsoka’ with their showrunner Jon Favreau.
In addition to those already mentioned, the top-class cast also includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead (“Fargo”) and Ray Stevenson (“Punisher: War Zone”). In addition – as recently in “Obi-Wan Kenobi” – Hayden Christensen can be seen again as Anakin Skywalker or Darth Vader.
Ahsoka is slated for release on Disney+ sometime in 2023, but there’s no specific release date yet. Perhaps it will be submitted later this weekend, since the big Disney trade fair D23 is taking place in Anaheim, California, where we are also there and there is a lot of new information about upcoming “Star Wars“ projects should give.
