At the Star Wars Celebration in London earlier today, new footage of the upcoming series Ahsoka revealed that Lars Mikkelsen will be taking on the role of Grand Admiral Thrawn. Along with Dave Filoni (who will be writing, directing, and producing the series) and Jon Favreau, Mikkelson took the stage with Rosario Dawson and others to overwhelming applause from a grateful audience.
The Danish actor voiced Admiral Thrawn in the animated series Star Wars: Rebels for 17 episodes from 2016 to 2018. Now, he’ll be returning to the role in the live-action series that is a spinoff of the popular Disney Plus show The Mandalorian. Rosario Dawson will be seen reprising her role as Ahsoka Tano who, trained by Anakin Skywalker, rose to become a hero but left the Jedi Order after being framed for murder but was eventually found not guilty when the truth came to light.
That’s where Ahsoka will be picking up when it is released in August 2023. Mikkelsen who has played such roles as Johannes in Herrens veje (2017-2018), Stregobor in The Witcher (2019-2021), and Daniel Duval in Devils (2020-2022) will now be seen bringing the perfect villain to life on screen after voicing him for years. For fans, getting Mikkelsen as Thrawn is a long over-due dream come true — which was recently teased by the trailer — and they could hardly contain themselves as the actor took the stage after the mega announcement.
Just announced at #StarWarsCelebration:
— Star Wars (@starwars) April 8, 2023
Lars Mikkelsen joins the cast of @AhsokaOfficial as Grand Admiral Thrawn. #Ahsoka pic.twitter.com/XnpJzLzQVe
Other stars on stage included Ray Stevenson, Ivanna Sakhno, and Diana Lee Inosanto, but all eyes were on Mikkelsen amidst a very hearty round of applause.
Fans have been overwhelmed by the news.
Lars Mikkelsen as Thrawn 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kDsuatJj26
— StarWarsOnly (@StarWars0nly) April 8, 2023
It’s what some fans have been patiently ever since Ahsoka’s appearance on The Mandalorian and the confirmation that she was looking for Ezra Bridger.
Bringing animated characters to life means finding just the right actors to play them and evidently, Ahsoka has nailed it with this one.
It’s as if Mikkelsen’s face was created to play the part.
Those who watched the animated series will definitely be thrilled when they get served double the chills with his live-action performance.
In simpler terms, the news just made the day of every Star Wars fan out there.
I woke feeling so down. Then I saw Lars Mikkelsen is playing Thrawn. Funny how a silly little thing like that can turn a whole day around. 💜
— Thrawn is coming! (@I3onkersTv) April 8, 2023
The news of Lars Mikkelsen joining the cast of Ahsoka makes it all the more difficult to await the series’ debut on Disney Plus, which is months away and still without a set release date, as so far, it is scheduled to drop sometime in August 2023.