Star Wars Celebration news continued to filter in over the weekend. The ultimate Star Wars event answered plenty of questions about what the franchise has in store for us over the next few years, and generated plenty more. Ahsoka has finally confirmed Star Wars: Rebels fans’ deepest desires, with Lars Mikkelsen returning as his iconic Star Wars villain, Grand Admiral Thrawn, just as they hoped when Ahsoka graced the screen during The Mandalorian.
That’s not the only exciting addition to Ahsoka’s lineup. Our first glimpse of another tantalizing villain is likewise piquing fan interest, as Mikkelsen’s Thrawn is joined by a new recruit. Incoming baddie Shin Hati is already on her way to becoming a fan favorite, despite her bare presence in the show’s first major trailer.
The weekend’s celebration was overflowing with thrilling Star Wars news, but a minor in-person moment briefly overshadowed even the broad excitement over Ahsoka’s incoming cast. The long-overdue meetup of two definitive Obi-Wan Kenobi actors dazzled fans the world round, and led to instant demands to see an official Obi-Wan panel at the next Star Wars Celebration.
Thrawn is headed to live-action with the best possible actor in the role
Lars Mikkelsen’s return for Ahsoka has finally been confirmed. The Danish actor voiced Grand Admiral Thrawn throughout the character’s tenure in Star Wars: Rebels, and fans pushed long and hard for him to get the chance to reprise the role. Thrawn, a shrewd and calculating tactician, was first introduced in the Star Wars book series, Heir to the Empire, in 1991.
Said to be the most brilliant and promising of the emperor’s minions, Thrawn’s reign of terror came to an end nearly five years before the fall of the Empire. Jedi Ezra Bridger used a pod of Purrgil to send the Admiral, and himself, into the deep recesses of unknown space. Fans are overjoyed by the news of Thrawn’s actor, having long held the belief that Mikkelsen was the only choice for the role, and seeing the first shots of him in makeup has only heightened their fervor. The actor himself is pleased to return and is confident that the transition from animation to live action will only help him bring even more to Thrawn in the future.
He’s not the only exciting villain headed to Ahsoka
Thrawn may be the baddie generating the most excitement, but he’s not the only villainous addition to Ahsoka’s lineup. He’ll be joined by newcomer Shin Hati, a dark Force user played by Ivanna Sakhno. The fresh Star Wars addition will reportedly aid in an examination of the relationship of the dark and light sides of the Force, and she made a major impression on fans in her brief trailer appearance. Since her reveal some fans are breathing a sigh of relief. Rumors have been swirling for months about a potential dark force user travelling with Thrawn and many fans assumed Ezra Bridger would be the one to slip to the dark side.
Shin Hati’s mysterious, but intriguing, entrance into the Star Wars universe is still shrouded in unknowns, but Sakhno teased fans with a few notes about what to expect from the character. She explained that the “incredibly skilled” lightsaber duelist will help the show in examining the nuances of the Force, using her “analytical” and “intense” personality to keep audiences guessing. With Hayden Christensen yet again reprising his role as Anakin Skywalker Darth Vader, the enigmatic Shin Hati has some some serious competition for the most dangerous villain in the upcoming series.
The first official meeting of two Obi-Wans nearly breaks the internet
They aren’t likely to have a role in Ahsoka, but a pair of Star Wars staples are managing to steal a bit of attention from the highly-anticipated show, after Ewan McGregor and James Arnold Taylor dazzled fans by occupying the same space for several seconds. The pair of Obi-Wan actors have apparently never met before — a fact that baffled fans of the prequel trilogy and The Clone Wars — and their long-overdue meeting immediately stirred up the Star Wars fan base.
A quick snapshot of the last two decades’ official Obi-Wans, grinning and chipper with their arms around one another, was almost enough to completely push Ahsoka from conversations. It quickly led to fan demands to see the vital actors engage in a panel officially dedicated to the Jedi Master, and we can’t help but be on-board with the plan.