Dave Filoni Discusses Whether ‘Ahsoka’ Is a Direct Continuation of ‘Rebels’, Casting for Live-Action, and More
Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau recently visited Entertainment Weekly’s Dagobah Dispatch podcast to talk about their previous and upcoming Star Wars projects, in particular, whether Ahsoka could be considered to be a direct continuation of Star Wars: Rebels. While Filoni was hesitant to answer with a clear “yes,” what is clear is that he considers the narrative in Ahsoka to be part of the same story that he told in Rebels, albeit with added balancing efforts to adjust for live-action and other Mando-Verse narratives.
Asked whether Ahsoka could be considered Rebels season 5, Filoni mused,
“That’s an interesting question, I suppose that’s one way of looking at it, because of the epilogue that I did in Rebels. Definitely all signs are indicating that there’s a continuation.
For me, when I’m telling those stories, I don’t limit things like, ‘Oh, well, I did it in 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. Rebels is a different style than The Clone Wars. Even visually, that changed the way I could execute certain things in Rebels. The story kind of evolved since I worked on Rebels. Working with [Jon Favreau] and setting things down in The Mandalorian created an opportunity to see: How does Ahsoka work as a character in live-action?”
Given the confirmed cast list of the forthcoming series with Ahsoka, Ezra, Sabine, Hera, Chopper, and Thrawn all returning, it’s hard to imagine this story not being a continuation of Rebels. I believe that having a primary person to shepherd these characters through an increasingly busy narrative in the Star Wars universe is weighted toward success.
Speaking about Rosario Dawson’s casting and bringing Ahsoka into live-action for the first time, Dave Filoni said,
“With the head tails and the makeup, what does that look like? Can a performer bring that to life in a way that is meaningful? I was very fortunate, the whole thing kind of came together for me with Rosario when we talked with her and when she put on the costume and became Ahsoka. I was like, you know, this is going to work. It really kind of was as simple as that.
It goes back to a quote that Kathleen Kennedy gave me when I was really going over the casting of Ahsoka. I said, ‘How do you know when it’s the right person?’ And she just looked at me and said, ‘Dave, you just know.’ I’m in a very privileged position to have a mentor like her advising me and just giving the knowledge that you need to make the choices creatively that you end up doing. And she was right. I just knew when it was Rosario, and that kind of brought Ahsoka together for me, and off we ran.”
Based on the trailer, it seems likely that Filoni met with similar success with Natasha Liu Bordizzo, who plays Sabine Wren. We’ll have to withhold judgment on Hera, Thrawn, Ezra, and others until we see more of them in the show. However, it’s hard to imagine Lars Mikkelsen not bringing Grand Admiral Thrawn to life perfectly, a character he’s voiced in 17 episodes of the animated series.
My main hope for Ahsoka is that it will capture fans who haven’t watched Rebels, a feat that may be challenging given the shorter duration of live-action content (season one has eight episodes) versus Dave Filoni’s long-form storytelling in animation. Many fans are of the opinion that Rebels didn’t hit its stride until the third season–Ahsoka doesn’t have this luxury. That said, what Ahsoka lacks in time, it arguably gains in budget and production value.
Ahsoka was created and written by Dave Filoni and is slated to premiere in August on Disney Plus. In the meantime, for more on the Rebels and Ahsoka conversation, check out our recent story on what episodes of Rebels Filoni recommends prior to watching Ahsoka.
When she isn't watching her friends and family's eyes glaze over at the mention of The Clone Wars, she's at the park with her dog, Melvin, or on the couch with a book in one hand and a drink in the other. Physically, she lives in Ohio; spiritually, she lives in Naboo.
