It was announced recently that actor Ray Stevenson has passed away aged 58 years old. The sad news came that the actor had been rushed to hospital whilst working on the film Cassino on Ischia in Italy and passed away on Sunday. There has been no given cause of his death at this current moment. The actor has starred in many major franchises including his role as Volstagg in the MCU, and his voiceover work in Star Wars. For the latter universe, the actor has one more part to play.
Stevenson will posthumously appear in the upcoming Star Wars series Ahsoka for Disney Plus. The actor has already dipped his toes into this universe before, having provided his voice for the Mandalorian commander Gar Saxon in the animated series Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but now he fully steps into the world as the former Jedi, Baylan Skoll.
It would seem that villainy is calling his name, as the character of Gar Saxon was a pretty nasty character, becoming a traitor to his own people and serving the Sith Lord, Darth Maul. Now, he plays yet another villain in the form of Baylan Skoll, a former Jedi who appears to have joined the dark side. We don’t yet know much about the character, other than he will act as one of the main antagonists of the series and will duel Ashoka at some point.
There is a small link between his Ahsoka character and that of his role in the MCU, and it is all in the name. His name, and the name of his apprentice Shin Hati, are derived from Norse mythology. Skoll and Hati are two mythological wolves that are connected to Ragnarok, the end of the world. The two wolves ceaselessly chase after the sun and the moon until they eventually catch them, bringing around Ragnarok. It will be interesting to see then, if, in Ahsoka, Skoll and his apprentice bring about the end of something, their pursuit of Ahsoka could mirror that of the the pursuit of the sun and moon, with the rebel Jedi serving as a symbol for light and they the darkness.
There is still so much unknown about Stevenson’s character though, with some ambiguities to be figured out, such as why is his lightsabre a more orange-red, rather than the deep red of the Sith. Could this hint that he is not fully given up on the way of the Jedi? We won’t know much more until the series is released, and fans get to see the actor in one of his final roles.
You can catch Stevenson in Ahsoka premiering on Disney Plus in Aug. 2023.
