Please note that this article contains mild spoilers for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, and the first season of The Mandalorian.
It’s a big day for fans of Ahsoka Tano, the one-time Padawan of Anakin Skywalker! After Ahsoka made her triumphant return to Star Wars: The Clone Wars in “Gone with a Trace,” today’s episode on Disney+, it was revealed that the character would make her live-action debut in the upcoming second season of The Mandalorian, and that the character will be portrayed by actress Rosario Dawson.
Ahsoka was originally introduced in the 2008 Clone Wars animated movie, which served as a pilot for the series of the same name (not to be confused with Genndy Tartakovsky‘s 2003 cartoon). In both the movie and the series, as well as for Ahsoka’s subsequent animated appearances on Star Wars Rebels, the character was voiced by Ashley Eckstein.
Eckstein also lent her voice to the narration of the audiobook for the 2016 novel Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston, which chronicles the adventures of the hero as she deals with the aftermath of the events of the upcoming episodes of The Clone Wars.
The latest time Ahsoka has been seen chronologically was in the epilogue for Star Wars Rebels, set after the events of The Return of the Jedi. In that epilogue, Ahsoka and her convor, Morai, join forces with Mandalorian warrior Sabine Wren to embark on a quest to find the vanished Jedi Ezra Bridger.
The Mandalorian takes place several years into the period of time between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, offering plenty of fertile storytelling ground for the further adventures of Ahsoka (and, perhaps, Sabine and Morai). Will Ahsoka prove to be the “wizard” who offers Din Djarin guidance on how to raise the Child in the ways of the Force?
Dawson’s long resume includes appearances as Claire Temple, aka “Night Nurse,” in the Netflix Defenders shows, and her voice acting experience includes appearing as Diana in Wonder Woman: Bloodlines. The actress is not without controversy, though. In 2019, Dawson and her family were sued by their handyman, who alleged that he was subjected to transphobic assaults while working for the family. In a statement released through her lawyer, Dawson described the claim as “baseless” and “false.”
Season 2 of The Mandalorian is due out on Disney+ in October.
