‘Ahsoka’ star had to keep her casting as fan-favorite character secret for a whole year

The Mandalorian has already treated fans of the Star Wars animated series well, as it’s brought a bunch of familiar characters from both The Clone Wars and Rebels into live-action. Ahsoka is set to double down on this, though, as Rosario Dawson’s ex-Jedi will be joined by some of her old friends in her own spinoff vehicle, including Rebels‘ Sabine Wren, as played by The Voyeurs‘ Natasha Liu Bordizzo.

This casting news was finally made official this weekend at Star Wars Celebration. Bordizzo herself chimed in on joining the Star Wars universe as the iconic character while taking part in a panel titled “Mando+: A Conversation with Jon Favreau & Dave Filoni.” When the topic of the star’s hiring as Sabine came up, Dawson confirmed, “She’s been cast for a year.” Bordizzo herself then chimed in by promising that Ahsoka will be the “next chapter of Rebels.” She said:

Sabine means so much to so many people. I have known that I would be playing Sabine for a year, and I’m so relieved that I can openly fangirl with the rest of you….I know that everyone wants to see the next chapter of Rebels, and you guys deserve it, the journey is not over.

Although it’s taken until now for Lucasfilm and Disney to properly announce it, we’ve actually been in on Bordizzo’s secret for the past half-year or so. It came out last November that The Society star was the one to play Sabine in the flesh, taking over from voice actress Tiya Sircar. The bigger surprise for fans, then, is the fact that some teaser footage of Ahsoka shown at SWC reveals that Sabine will be joined by three more former members of the Ghost crew — Hera Syndulla, Chopper, and Ezra Bridger. Castings for these characters have yet to be confirmed, however.

The last time we saw Sabine, the Mandalorian heroine had taken off to the outer rim of the galaxy with Ahsoka in search of their missing friend, Ezra. So we’re fully expecting this to be the main thrust of the series. Grand Admiral Thrawn is bound to put in an appearance, too.

With production ongoing, Ahsoka is due to hit Disney Plus sometime in 2023, following The Mandalorian season three premiering in February 2023.