Star Wars fans will see a familiar blue-skinned, red-eyed face join Rosario Dawson in the upcoming Disney+ series Ahsoka. Lars Mikkelsen (House of Cards) will star as Grand Admiral Thrawn, the same role he voiced in the Disney XD series Star Wars Rebels.
Lucasfilm announced the casting on Friday, April 7, at its Star Wars Celebration in London, with Mikkelsen appearing in person at the convention, per Variety.
In Star Wars novels written by Timothy Zahn, Thrawn is a ruthless leader who gathers Imperial forces in an effort to destroy the New Republic after the events of the 1983 film Return of the Jedi. The character first appeared on screen in 2016, in Star Wars Rebels’ third season, and since then, Zahn has written and released two more book trilogies centered on the grand admiral.
Dawson’s Ahsoka mentioned Thrawn in her appearance on the Disney+ series The Mandalorian. And now Thrawn will appear in the flesh in Ahsoka, due for release in August, with Mikkelsen appearing on screen in the role for the first time.
“Set after the fall of the Empire, Ahsoka follows the former Jedi knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy,” Disney+ says in a logline for the show.
That emerging threat, as a new teaser trailer suggests, is Thrawn. “I started hearing whispers about Thrawn’s return, as heir to the Empire,” Ahsoka says in the teaser.
Meanwhile, Lucasfilm also revealed at the Star Wars Celebration that David Tennant (Doctor Who) will once again voice the droid Huyang, his role from the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Other Ahsoka characters include Ray Stevenson (Vikings) as former Jedi Baylon, Ivanna Sakhno (High Fidelity) as his apprentice Shin Hati, Natasha Liu Bordizzo (The Society) as rebel warrior Sabine Wren, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Mercy Street) as Twi’lek revolutionary Hera, and Hayden Christensen (Obi-Wan Kenobi) again playing Anakin Skywalker a.k.a. Darth Vader.
Ahsoka, Series Premiere, August 2023, Disney+