“Star Wars: Ahsoka,” the latest series in Disney+’s ever-expanding “Star Wars” empire, has been given an August 23 release date and a teaser. The TV spot, which is available to watch now, will air on Wednesday during the NBA Finals’ Game 3.
The footage featured in the commercial was first revealed at Star Wars Celebration in April and a trailer that followed. But what’s odd about this TV spot is what it excludes — the teaser that was shown during Celebration also included revelation of Thrawn’s face, which was only shown in-house. Also, the original teaser showed several scenes of the Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll.
Stevenson, who passed in May, had previously spoken to TheWrap about his excitement about joining the project, saying, “you pinch yourself.” Despite the late actor’s enthusiasm for the project, he does not appear in this first TV spot.
This latest series takes place after the fall of the Empire. Starring Rosario Dawson in its titular role, it “follows the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.”
In addition to Dawson, the series stars Natasha Liu Bordizzo (“The Voyeurs”) as Sabine Wren, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (“10 Cloverfield Lane”) as Hera Syndulla, Ray Stevenson (“The Three Musketeers,” “Thor”) as Baylan Skoll, Ivanna Sakhno (“High Fidelity”) as Shin Hati, Diana Lee Inosanto (“The Mandalorian”) as Morgan Elsbeth, David Tennant (“Doctor Who”) as Huyang, Lars Mikkelsen (“Headhunter”) as Grand Admiral Thrawn and Eman Esfandi (“The Inspection”) appearing as Ezra Bridger.
The series is written by Dave Filoni, who executive produces alongside Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson and Carrie Beck. Karen Gilchrist also serves as a co-executive producer.
“Ahsoka” is a spinoff of “The Mandalorian” that takes place after the events of “Return of the Jedi.” It also serves as a continuation of the animated “Star Wars Rebels.” Ahsoka was first introduced to audiences in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” The series, which itself was a spinoff of the 2003 series “Clone Wars,” first premiere don Cartoon Network before moving to Netflix for its sixth season and Disney+ for its seventh.
TheWrap’s Lawrence Yee contributed to this report.
