Warning: This article contains minor Ahsoka episode three spoilers.
The movie side of the Star Wars universe is currently on hiatus, but whenever we do get more feature-length outings from the galaxy far, far away, it seems like they will be closely connected to the franchise’s ever-growing TV output. Dave Filoni is working on a Mandalorian movie, don’t forget. So it really isn’t too much of a stretch to suggest that Filoni might just have introduced the saga’s next big bad in the latest episode of Ahsoka. Not to mention teeing up the perfect casting for the part to boot.
Star Wars Rebels experts were wondering where Jacen Syndulla, son of Hera and the late Kanan Jarrus, was in last week’s Ahsoka two-part premiere, but episode three fixed that by introducing the green-haired boy who’s bound to have a lot more Midichlorians in his veins than Sabine Wren. The kid even excitedly spoke about how much he wanted to become a Jedi like his father. The only problem is that, if he does, legend tells us that he’s destined to fall to the Dark Side.
Sorry, not legend, Legends. Jacen is named after Jacen Solo, the son of Han and Leia who became the Sith Lord Darth Caedus in the old EU, now Legends, timeline. While he isn’t the exact same character as his namesake, then, we all know that Star Wars rhymes like poetry so there’s every chance Filoni has planted him in the story in order to pay off his doomed future as a grand villain at some later date. And it just so happens that the stars are aligning to make this happen in the most exciting way possible.
There has been talk of a fourth trilogy about Rey’s restored Jedi Order, taking place in the wake of Rise of Skywalker, happening one day, so Star Wars is in need of a new big bad. Jacen is canonically slightly older than Ben Solo (six years, to be precise), so Lucasfilm would need to find someone to play him who’s perhaps a couple of years more mature than Adam Driver is now in order to properly fit the timeline. To find that person, we just have to look at the career of young Jacen actor Evan Whitten.
Among Whitten’s most notable credits to date is his guest spot in Mr. Robot, in which he played Young Elliot in flashbacks. As fans of the show will know, Elliot was portrayed by Rami Malek in his breakout role. These days, Malek is a major movie star, notably playing the antagonist in James Bond film No Time To Die (the one man who succeeded in killing 007, I might add). So there’s no better contender to be the next central villain of Star Wars than him. Especially given his history of sharing characters with Whitten.
Lucasfilm might not necessarily have a clear plan for the future, but Filoni himself likely does — he surely knew exactly what he was doing when he introduced Jacen in the Rebels finale and brought him back in Ahsoka. The casting of Whitten is probably a happy coincidence, but the studio should embrace it and start talks with Malek ASAP. The fans will thank them.
