Ahsoka (TV series)

Ahsoka (TV series)
Ahsoka, also known as Star Wars: Ahsoka, is an American television miniseries created and written by Dave Filoni for Disney+. It is part of the Star Wars franchise and a spin-off from the series The Mandalorian (2019–present), taking place in the same timeframe as that series and its other interconnected spin-offs after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983), while also serving as a continuation to the animated series Star Wars Rebels (2014–2018). The series follows Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to the galaxy following the fall of the Empire.
Rosario Dawson stars as Ahsoka Tano, reprising her role from The Mandalorian. The character was created for the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2020), voiced by Ashley Eckstein, and made her live-action debut in the second season of The Mandalorian. A spin-off series focused on the character was announced in December 2020, with Dawson reprising her role and Filoni set as writer after he co-created the character. Filming began in early May 2022, when multiple characters from Rebels were revealed to be appearing, and wrapped in October. In April 2023, additional castings were revealed, highlighted by Lars Mikkelsen reprising his Rebels role of Grand Admiral Thrawn, and the series was confirmed to be continuing the story established in Rebels.
Ahsoka consists of eight episodes, the first two of which premiered on August 22, 2023, and concluded on October 3. It received positive reviews from critics.
Premise
Ahsoka Tano, the former Jedi apprentice of Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars, seeks to prevent the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn following the fall of the Empire.
Cast and characters
Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano:A former Jedi Padawan, and apprentice to Anakin Skywalker. Dawson noted the character's montrals had been rebuilt with "technology that didn't even exist when we first started", resulting in them being longer and having a 3D-printed skeleton inside them that allowed for more fluid movement. Dawson worked with fight coordinator Ming Qiu to learn how to fight ambidextrously for the series.
Ariana Greenblatt portrays young Ahsoka during the Clone Wars flashbacks in the World Between Worlds.
Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine Wren:A Mandalorian warrior and graffiti artist, Imperial Academy dropout, former bounty hunter, and Ahsoka's former apprentice with expert knowledge of weapons and explosives. Bordizzo watched Star Wars Rebels to prepare for her role, and spent three months prior to the start of filming fight training with Qiu and learning how to use a lightsaber, given the character is now using Ezra Bridger's old one.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera Syndulla:A Twi'lek New Republic general who is the pilot of the Ghost. Hera had a son, Jacen, with the late Jedi knight Kanan Jarrus. Winstead referred back to Hera's character development on Rebels, while also discussing the character with creator Dave Filoni, to inform her performance. She described Hera as a "strong leader and fighter" while also having maternal instincts; she felt this was unique from other army generals as they are conventionally depicted as being "very masculine, hard figures".
Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll:A former Jedi who survived Order 66 by fleeing into the Unknown Regions and is now a Dark Jedi and mercenary in search of power. He is Shin Hati's master and is working with Morgan Elsbeth.
Ivanna Sakhno as Shin Hati:Baylan's apprentice, who is a Dark Jedi and is ordered by Baylan to go after Ahsoka. Sakhno described Hati as "calculated" and "impatient, but ... a seeker", and was encouraged by Filoni to help develop elements of her character's backstory.
Diana Lee Inosanto as Morgan Elsbeth:The former Magistrate of Calodan and one of the last remaining Nightsisters of Dathomir, who is allied with Thrawn. Inosanto was inspired by Julius Caesar and Catherine the Great for her portrayal.
David Tennant voices Huyang: A lightsaber-crafting droid that served the Jedi Order for thousands of years. Tennant reprises his role from the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Eman Esfandi as Ezra Bridger: A former con artist and thief from Lothal who was taken in by Kanan Jarrus and trained as a Jedi before sacrificing himself and disappearing from the galaxy with Thrawn.
Evan Whitten as Jacen Syndulla: Hera and Kanan Jarrus's son, who hopes to become a Jedi like his father.
Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma: The Chancellor of the New Republic, who formerly served as a senator in the Republic and Imperial Senates and as leader of the Rebel Alliance.
Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader: Ahsoka Tano's now-deceased former Jedi master and Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa's father who had fallen to the dark side of the Force and became Darth Vader, but has since redeemed himself. Skywalker appears to Ahsoka in the World Between Worlds to finish her training along with flashes of him as Darth Vader, with Christensen de-aged for the role.
Lars Mikkelsen as Grand Admiral Thrawn:A Chiss high-ranking senior officer of the Galactic Empire known for his tactical cunning who had previously been taken into hyperspace by Ezra and the Purrgil. Mikkelsen previously voiced the character in animated form on Rebels. Mikkelsen felt Thrawn was a formidable adversary since he is "seven paces ahead of everybody" and is not a Jedi or Force user.
Anthony Daniels as C-3PO: A protocol droid built by Anakin Skywalker as a child, who now serves his daughter, Senator Leia Organa.
Recurring in the series are Paul Darnell as the on-set performance artist for the Inquisitor Marrok; Dave Filoni reprising his role voicing C1-10P "Chopper", Hera's astromech droid; Nican Robinson as New Republic First Officer Vic Hawkins; Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Captain Carson Teva, reprising his role from The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett; Jeryl Prescott Gallien, Claudia Black, and Jane Edwina Seymour as the Great Mothers Aktropaw, Klothow, and Lakesis, respectively, a group of Dathomiri Nightsisters on Peridia who are loyal to Thrawn; and Wes Chatham as Captain Enoch, an elite Stormtrooper who is Thrawn's Captain of the Guard.
Guest stars include Mark Rolston as Captain Hayle, the captain of the prisoner ship in which Elsbeth was being transported; Clancy Brown as Ryder Azadi, the governor of Lothal, reprising his voice role from Rebels; Vinny Thomas as Jai Kell, a Lothal senator who previously appeared in Rebels voiced by Dante Basco; Peter Jacobson as Myn Weaver, a spy for the Galactic Empire working as a regional supervisor of a Corellian shipyard; Nelson Lee as Senator Hamato Xiono, a character which previously appeared in the animated series Star Wars Resistance; Jacqueline Antaramian as Senator Rodrigo; Maurice Irvin as Senator Mawood; Brendan Wayne as Lieutenant Lander (Wayne serves as the on-set double for Din Djarin / The Mandalorian on The Mandalorian); Temuera Morrison voices Captain Rex, a clone captain, and later commander, of the 501st Legion who served under Anakin and Ahsoka during the Clone Wars, and Elden Bennett appears as Admiral Ackbar. Sam Witwer, who has voiced numerous characters in various Star Wars projects, provides additional voices for the series.
Episodes
Production
Development
In December 2020, Lucasfilm announced several spin-off series from the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, including Ahsoka and The Book of Boba Fett; the spin-offs exist alongside The Mandalorian through interconnected stories, culminating in a "climactic story event", with Star Wars: Skeleton Crew also being set in the same timeframe as The Mandalorian and Ahsoka. Each series was being concurrently developed by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, with Filoni creating, writing, and serving as lead producer and showrunner on Ahsoka. The series focuses on the character Ahsoka Tano, who was co-created by Filoni for the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and made her live-action debut in the second season of The Mandalorian. By April 2022, Peter Ramsey was hired to direct at least one episode of the series, with Filoni also directing multiple episodes of the series. A year later, the rest of the directors were confirmed, which included Steph Green, Jennifer Getzinger, Geeta Patel, and Rick Famuyiwa. Filoni explained that the eight episodes of the season would be "relatively" similar in length to the previous episodes he worked on for The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett (which ranged from 32 to 47 minutes), noting he hoped to keep them "moving" and make them "tight and fast because to make the action work, they've got to be shorter". Kathleen Kennedy, Carrie Beck, and Colin Wilson also serve as executive producers on the series.
Writing
The series begins after Ahsoka's appearances on The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, during which she is shown to be searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn, and Filoni said the series would tell a serialized story rather than having separate adventures in each episode. Filoni and Favreau consulted with Thrawn trilogy author Timothy Zahn regarding Thrawn's appearance in the series because the character is "his thing... [w]e want to make sure we get it right". Star Rosario Dawson confirmed in April 2023 that Ahsoka would continue the story established in the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Regarding Ahsoka being a continuation of Rebels or referred to as a fifth season of that series, Filoni said that was "interesting" and "one way of looking at it" explaining, "For me, when I'm telling those stories, I don't limit things like, 'Oh, well, I did it an animation, so I would do it distinctly different in live action.' There's just the story that it is, and I was telling it in one medium." Dawson and Beck believed Filoni had created the series' story in a way that all viewers would be able to follow the story and the relevant information from past series. Ahsoka's ambiguous ending in Rebels had been interpreted by Beck as being a "big open question" that provided many storytelling opportunities. Dawson had also been interested in the moment, saying that she had enjoyed the "idea that there was even another level to her". While discussing her transition, Dawson and Filoni had referenced The Lord of the Rings character Gandalf as he goes from Gandalf the Gray to Gandalf the White. The series initially begins with Ahsoka as a "wanderer", with Filoni noting that she had abandoned her role as a Jedi and had been skeptical of organizations of power, while saying "she walks a path that basically died out a long time ago". Filoni recognized that some audiences were already familiar with Ahsoka, while others were not, feeling she was "an interesting bridge between what came before and what's really possible". The series focuses on the themes of masters and apprentices, notably Sabine Wren's dynamic with Ahsoka, having earlier been her apprentice. Ahsoka is concurrent to the events of the third season of The Mandalorian.
Casting
With the series' announcement in December 2020, Rosario Dawson was confirmed to be reprising her role as Ahsoka Tano from The Mandalorian. By August 2021, Lucasfilm was reportedly looking to cast an actress to play the Rebels character Sabine Wren in the series. In October, Hayden Christensen was set to reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker, and Natasha Liu Bordizzo was cast as Wren by November. Later that month, Ivanna Sakhno joined the cast in an undisclosed role. In January 2022, Mary Elizabeth Winstead joined the cast in an undisclosed role, and the following month, Ray Stevenson joined the cast as an admiral. Stevenson previously voiced the character Gar Saxon in Rebels and The Clone Wars. Bordizzo was officially announced to be playing Wren in May, when other Star Wars Rebels characters were revealed to be appearing in the series including Hera Syndulla and Chopper. She had received news of her casting while filming Day Shift (2022). In September 2022, it was revealed that Eman Esfandi was cast as Ezra Bridger in the series. Mena Massoud had been rumored to be playing the character in the series, and stated after Esfandi's casting was revealed that he had auditioned for the role but the casting process had not gone further.
At Star Wars Celebration Europe in April 2023, it was revealed that Winstead was portraying Hera Syndulla, Sakhno was portraying Shin Hati, and Stevenson was portraying Baylan Skoll. Additionally, Genevieve O'Reilly, Diana Lee Inosanto, David Tennant, and Lars Mikkelsen were reprising their roles as Mon Mothma, Morgan Elsbeth, the voice of the droid Huyang, and Grand Admiral Thrawn, respectively, while various senators were portrayed by Maurice Irvin, Jacqueline Antaramian, Nelson Lee, and Erica Duke. The production team had kept Mikkelsen's involvement secret until the 2023 Star Wars Celebration; Mikkelsen had previously denied reprising the role before being confirmed for the series. Filoni had vaguely alluded to the possibility of him reprising his role as Thrawn in 2020, and later contacted him about the role for the series the next year. Additionally, it was revealed that Wes Chatham was appearing in the series as Enoch, Thrawn's "right-hand man". Anthony Daniels reprises his role as the droid C-3PO.
Design
The first episode features an opening crawl, the first of the Star Wars Disney+ series to do so, after the crawls were previously reserved for the Skywalker Saga films. Unlike the crawl for those films, the Ahsoka one features red text and different formatting. The Loth-cats were animatronics created by Legacy Effects; their previously live-action appearances in The Mandalorian were done through CGI. The series' end credits feature a design reminiscent of the golden sphere and subsequent star map Elsbeth uses to search for Thrawn, and feature stylized Loth-wolves and Purrgil. Molly Edwards of Total Film also noted the credits had similarities to the World Between Worlds, as featured in Rebels, such as the text seen in the credits, with that realm ultimately appearing in the series. Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati wield lightsabers with a more orange color than the "stark red" usually depicted for Star Wars antagonists. Filoni said this choice was "very intentional" and was done to indicate that the two "might not straight up be what you think they are" at the start of the series. While not a straight orange color, Filoni likened what was chosen to his memory of Darth Vader's lightsaber in the original trilogy that "kind of fluctuated from visual effects" to have a more orange color.
Filming
Principal photography began on May 9, 2022, in Los Angeles, California, under the working title Stormcrow, with Eric Steelberg and Quyen Tran serving as cinematographers. The series used the StageCraft virtual production technology. Tennant recorded an early version of his part ahead of filming so the cast was able to perform with him. Episodes were shot simultaneously with two crews. Filming lasted six months and wrapped that October.
Music
In April 2023, during Star Wars Celebration London, it was revealed that Kevin Kiner would compose the score for Ahsoka, after previously composing the music for the animated series The Clone Wars, Rebels, The Bad Batch, and Tales of the Jedi. Sean Kiner, Deana Kiner and David Glen Russell provide additional music for the series.
Walt Disney Records released the score for Ahsoka in two volumes: music from the first four episodes, including the in-universe song "Igyah Kah", which was co-written by Kevin Kiner, Ludwig Göransson, Deana Kiner and Noah Gorelick, and features vocals by Sarah Tudzin, was released digitally on September 15, 2023 as part of the first volume. A second volume, which covers music from the final four episodes, was released on October 6, 2023.
Marketing
Filoni and Favreau promoted the series at Lucasfilm's Star Wars Celebration panel on May 26, 2022, with Dawson appearing in full costume via video message from the series' set. Dawson appeared in person at a panel on May 28 for The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, along with Filoni, Favreau, Bordizzo, and Chopper, and footage from the first three weeks of Ahsoka filming was shown. Filoni, Favreau, Dawson, and Bordizzo debuted the first trailer for the series at Star Wars Celebration London on April 7, 2023, with the cast presenting additional footage and confirming the inclusion of Mikkelsen as Grand Admiral Thrawn the following day. A featurette, focusing on mentor-student relationships within Star Wars as well as that of George Lucas to Dave Filoni, titled Master & Apprentice: A Special Look at Ahsoka, was released on August 14, 2023, and later released on Disney+ on September 8.
Release
Ahsoka premiered on Disney+ on August 22, 2023 at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, with two episodes. Subsequent episodes were released weekly on Tuesdays at that same time, the series concluded on October 3, 2023, and consisted of eight episodes. The first episode was dedicated to Stevenson, who died in May 2023. The series was originally scheduled to premiere on August 23 and release on Wednesdays at 3 a.m. Eastern Time, before moving to its Tuesday release schedule. The fifth episode had a theatrical release on September 12, 2023, screening at ten theaters in the U.S. as well as an event in the UK.
Reception
Audience viewership
Disney and Lucasfilm announced that "Part One" had 14 million views in the five days following its release, becoming the most watched title on Disney+ during the week of its launch; Disney defined views as total stream time divided by runtime, which The Hollywood Reporter equated to 784 million minutes. According to Samba TV, the first episode was viewed in 1.2 million households over its first five days. According to the streaming aggregator Reelgood, Ahsoka was the most streamed program across all platforms in the United States during the week of August 24–31, 2023. According to Whip Media's TV Time, Ahsoka was again the most streamed television series across all platforms in the United States during the week of September 10, 2023, during the week of September 17, 2023, during the week of September 24, 2023, during the week of October 1, 2023, and during the week of October 8, 2023.
Critical response
Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 86% of 262 critics gave the series a positive review, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Elevated by Rosario Dawson's strong performance in the title role and a solid story that balances new and old elements of the Star Wars saga, Ahsoka is a must-watch for fans of the franchise." On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Accolades
Ahsoka received the Seal of Female Empowerment in Entertainment from the Critics Choice Association.
Notes
References
External links
Ahsoka on StarWars.com
2020s American science fiction television series
2020s American television miniseries
2023 American television series debuts
2023 American television series endings
American action adventure television series
Disney+ original programming
English-language television shows
Interquel television series
Live action television shows based on films
The Mandalorian
Productions using StageCraft
Space adventure television series
Star Wars television series
Television series by Lucasfilm
Television series created by Jon Favreau