We’d known Hayden Christensen would be in Ahsoka a year before he arrived, but it seems Dave Filoni sneaked in one more classic cameo that nobody saw coming. During Hera’s court martial for going out on a mission without New Republic authorization, we heard a familiar voice from the back of the room demanding entry.
Why, it’s everyone’s favorite prissy golden protocol droid, C-3PO! He’s here to deliver a personal message from Leia Organa: a data transcript that shows that Leia personally sanctioned Hera’s mission, neatly getting her off the hook and ending the hearing.
We clearly heard Anthony Daniels’ unmistakable voice as Threepio, but was he actually in the costume on set?
A pleasure to meet you (again)
Right now, all evidence points to Anthony Daniels once again climbing into the gold armor to play the role. Daniels is now 77 but remains in good shape and has played the role as recently as 2022’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. We checked the credits to see whether any stunt performer was listed for the role, but there’s none, so we can only assume he was there on set to deliver the performance live.
UPDATE: Daniels has posted to social media confirming that he was indeed on set and in costume:
This marks Daniels’ 12th live-action appearance as C-3PO, meaning he’s played the same role in live-action more than any other actor in the long-running saga. Beyond this, he’s appeared in a dizzying amount of animated shows, video games, audiobooks, documentaries, and theme park rides.
His attachment to the character can be summed up by his answer to a question in a 2020 interview about whether he’d ever step back from the role:
“No, I’m never going to retire. They’re going to have to throw me out the door.”
Sometimes, I just don’t understand human behavior…
We don’t know when Daniels’ next appearance will be. The animated movie A Droid Story, featuring C-3PO and R2-D2, has been in development for years, and though we haven’t heard anything about it since it was announced in 2020, we have to assume it’s still on the way.
Beyond that, the upcoming crop of Star Wars movies may feature C-3PO. The most likely candidate is The Rise of Skywalker sequel centered on Rey’s continuing adventures. Chronologically, he’d managed to recover his memory and we last saw him celebrating the Emperor’s final(?) defeat alongside the rest of the Resistance. We don’t know what he’s been up to since then, but only a fool would count this protocol droid out of the ongoing saga.