Okay, we’re going to get a little spoilery and speculative here.
With The Mandalorian, we’ve had a few characters cast that come from both the animated series Clone Wars and Rebels. There are things linking back across the board so this isn’t a surprise. Each new piece hints at more of the growing shared universe of stories that Lucasfilm is looking to tell through what seem to be TV series projects, which we’re really intrigued by and are definitely enjoying the potential of.
A new one is now in the rumor stage and it’s not a surprise with Grand Admiral Thrawn. The character was introduced in the first trilogy in the early 90s by Timothy Zahn in the old Expanded Universe that is now not-canon but is being pulled from at times. Zahn came back in 2017 to work with Lucasfilm to create a more interwoven character with the larger continuity and there’s a trilogy of books. The character also appeared in the third and fourth seasons of Rebels and was a key part of the series finale, which altered the course of the characters. And with some of those coming back, and word of Ezra Bridger’s character coming back and potentially being the face of the post-ROTJ period with larger stories, bringing Thrawn back into it as well is ideal as I’ve always felt that in both readings of the character that he provides a view of something larger threatening the galaxy.
The DisInsider has been fairly accurate with a lot of their rumors over the years and there’s an easy case to be made of a casting call and search being likely. I doubt we’d see anything in the second season of The Mandalorian but if the Ahsoka series is starting its casting run, or other projects are coming together, we’ll definitely find it likely.
Check our coverage of the Thrawn comics here.
Concept: One of the most cunning and ruthless warriors in the history of the Galactic Empire, Grand Admiral Thrawn is also one of the most captivating characters in the Star Wars universe, from his introduction in bestselling author Timothy Zahn’s classic Heir to the Empire through his continuing adventures in Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, and beyond. But Thrawn’s origins and the story of his rise in the Imperial ranks have remained mysterious. Now, in Star Wars: Thrawn, Timothy Zahn chronicles the fateful events that launched the blue-skinned, red-eyed master of military strategy and lethal warfare into the highest realms of power—and infamy.
