The Star Wars Celebration is in full swing, giving fans of the galaxy far, far away plenty of first looks at exciting upcoming content. Among the onslaught of reveals was a new trailer for the upcoming Ahsoka series hitting Disney+ which will feature a real motherlode of cameos – mostly from Rebels.
Ahsoka debuted for the first time in The Clone Wars and became a fan favorite over the course of the animated series where she was the Padawan of Anakin Skywalker. Appearing first in live-action in The Mandalorian, portrayed by Rosario Dawson, the now-adult Ahsoka’s journey continues in her own show.
Throughout the trailer, which is very keen on telling viewers that yes, this indeed is basically just live-action Rebels 2, a bunch of previously animation-only characters appear in the flesh for the first time ever. Much of the main Rebels cast is accounted for, and the trailer even hints at the live-action appearance of Grand Admiral Thrawn.
While unabashedly a fan service cameo-fest, the trailer does allow itself a few scant scenes to show off some brand new characters as well, including some red lightsaber wielding baddies. Some of them look like Inquisitors, or at least former Inquisitors, but others are less scrutable.
Apparently filling the role of chief big bad is Ray Stevenson, whose character is thus far unnamed, presenting as a greyed veteran with apparent Dark Side leanings. Interestingly enough, some scenes in the trailer set up a sort of Darth Vader analogy by framing Stevenson’s character in a similar scenario as the opening scene of Episode IV on the Tantive IV ship.
The other unnamed but seemingly important antagonist is played by Ivanna Sakhno. What few scenes she appears in during the trailer align her with Stevenson’s character, but more interestingly her overall design, outfit and unusual lightsaber blade colour have reminded fans of another pre-existing character – the pragmatic Sith Lana Beniko from Bioware’s The Old Republic MMO.
Being Legends content, and set centuries in the distant past compared to Ahsoka, this character clearly cannot be her, but many fans still believe the show’s writers and designers at least took inspiration from the character.
Attentive fans who are well versed in the lore will pick up on other hints, such as the name-drop of Joruus C’Baoth. To recognize a name like C’Baoth you’d have to have read some less known Legends content from many years ago – or dived deep on Wookiepedia – but it does indicate that Favreau and Filoni are more than willing to pilfer Legends lore for plot points that suit the new canon.
While a name-drop in a trailer probably isn’t enough to declare that Outbound Flight is canon again, it’s clear that Ahsoka will be full of new – and technically old – exciting implications for future Star Wars Stories.
There’s plenty to look forward to, like live-action Thrawn, Hera and Sabine. As for the fans who are less thrilled about the “Glup Shitto” cameo effect present in recent content, there are still plenty of new characters to look forward to.
Star Wars: Ahsoka will begin streaming on Disney+ this August.
