Ahsoka, also known asStar Wars: Ahsoka, is an Americanspace fantasy television series created byDave Filoni for the streaming serviceDisney+. It is part of theStar Wars franchise and a spin-off fromThe Mandalorian (2019–2023), taking place in the same timeframe as that series and its other interconnected spin-offs after the events of the filmReturn of the Jedi (1983).Ahsoka follows formerJedi apprenticeAhsoka Tano and her allies as they defend the fledglingNew Republic against remnants of theGalactic Empire.
Ahsoka premiered on August 22, 2023, with the first two episodes of thefirst season. The other six episodes were released through October 3. The season received high viewership, generally positive reviews from critics, and several accolades including aPrimetime Creative Arts Emmy Award. Asecond season was confirmed in January 2024.
After the fall of theGalactic Empire in the filmReturn of the Jedi (1983), formerJedi apprenticeAhsoka Tano joins with her own former apprentice,Sabine Wren, and other characters from the animated seriesStar Wars Rebels (2014–2018) to preventGrand Admiral Thrawn—who is stranded in another galaxy—from returning and uniting the remnants of the Empire against the fledglingNew Republic. Thefirst season ends with Thrawn returning from the other galaxy, leaving Ahsoka and Sabine stranded there.[3][4] In thesecond season, Ahsoka and Sabine go on a journey related to the mysteriousMortis gods and confront the fallen JediBaylan Skoll while Thrawn leads the Empire against the New Republic.[5]
Rosario Dawson asAhsoka Tano: TheTogruta formerJedi apprentice of Anakin Skywalker.[6][7] She leaves the Jedi Order in the animated seriesStar Wars: The Clone Wars (2008–2020), and learns that Anakin has fallen to the dark side ofthe Force in the follow-up animated seriesStar Wars Rebels (2014–2018).[8] The repercussions of this are explored inAhsoka,[1] which begins with the character as a wanderingrōnin similar to the main character ofAkira Kurosawa's filmYojimbo (1961).[9] Borrowing fromJ. R. R. Tolkien's novelThe Lord of the Rings (1954–55), in which the wanderingGandalf the Grey is reborn as the wise and powerfulGandalf the White, showrunnerDave Filoni depicted Ahsoka's development as "Ahsoka the Gray" becoming "Ahsoka the White".[9][10] Dawson praisedThe Clone Wars andRebels voice actorAshley Eckstein and said she was building on that animated history. She embraced the training required to replicate the animated character's fighting abilities, and the makeup and prosthetics needed to adapt the character's alien appearance;[10][11] Ahsoka has orange skin, white markings on her face, and blue-and-white montrals (horns) and lekku (head tails).[10][12] New technology was developed to create the montrals and lekku, allowing them to be bigger and more realistic than in previousStar Wars series.[13]
Ariana Greenblatt as young Ahsoka, appearing as part of flashbacks that Ahsoka has to her time in theClone Wars while inside the mysterious "World Between Worlds".[14] To prepare for the role, Greenblatt watched manyThe Clone Wars episodes and also visited the set ofAhsoka to see Dawson's performance, hoping to combine the character's portrayal inThe Clone Wars with Dawson's version.[15]
Natasha Liu Bordizzo asSabine Wren: AMandalorian warrior with a creative and rebellious spirit who fought theGalactic Empire inRebels.[7][16] The series reveals that Ahsoka took Sabine on as herPadawan learner afterRebels, but they parted ways when Sabine's family were killed duringthe purge of Mandalore.[17] Filoni wanted to show someone training to be a Jedi who does not have a strong connection to the Force, feeling that would differentiate the story from previousStar Wars projects.[9] Bordizzo found Sabine's challenges with learning to use the Force relatable to her own life.[1] She watchedRebels to prepare for the role, describing it as a "memory book" for Sabine,[18] and trained for three months to fight with alightsaber.[11][19]: 7 Bordizzo wore wigs for Sabine's colorful hair: first, a long wig that was made purple and orange with hair dye, then a short wig made purple with fabric dye.[20]
Mary Elizabeth Winstead asHera Syndulla: ATwi'lek general of the New Republic who is the pilot of theGhost. She fought the Empire inRebels.[7][21] Winstead described Hera as a strong leader and fighter with maternal instincts, and felt this was unique compared to the usual depiction of army generals in media as "very masculine, hard figures".[11] She added that it was a luxury to be able to see Hera's story told inRebels when developing her portrayal.[22] Hera has green skin and lekku, which took around three hours to apply to Winstead in the initial test. This was eventually reduced to an hour, which Winstead noted was a normal amount of time to get make-up applied for a series.[23]
Ray Stevenson (season 1) andRory McCann (season 2) as Baylan Skoll: A former Jedi who survived the organization's destruction duringOrder 66 at the end of the Clone Wars.[1][24][25] He has deemed the Jedi Order a failure and is now searching for a new power, related to theMortis gods fromThe Clone Wars, to end the cycle of destruction between the light and dark sides of the Force. Despite being an antagonist in the series, Stevenson did not consider Baylan to be a villain and debated whether he was with Filoni during filming.[1] Filoni wanted Baylan's fighting style to be like a medieval knight, wielding his lightsaber like aclaymore. Episodic directorPeter Ramsey felt this suited Stevenson's physicality and differentiated him from the Jedi characters.[26] The character is named after the wolfSköll fromNorse mythology.[27] The series premiere is dedicated to Stevenson, who died in May 2023 after completing his work on the first season.[28] McCann felt it was the right decision to recast the role and continue the character's story. He said his experience sword fighting on the seriesGame of Thrones (2011–2019) helped with his lightsaber training for the role.[29]
Ivanna Sakhno as Shin Hati: Baylan's apprentice, who he is teaching to be "something more" than a Jedi.[1][30] Sakhno said Hati was calculated but impatient, and just finding her own voice in the series. She was encouraged by Filoni to help develop elements of the character's backstory. Sakhno said she and Stevenson were inseparable during filming and he had a big impact on her life.[11] The character is named after the wolfHati from Norse mythology.[27]
Hayden Christensen asAnakin Skywalker / Darth Vader: Ahsoka Tano's former Jedi master who fell to the dark side ofthe Force and became theSith lord Darth Vader, before being redeemed with his death in the filmReturn of the Jedi (1983).[34] Anakin appears as aForce ghost to finish Ahsoka's training.[14] Filoni prioritized seeing Christensen's performance over the Darth Vader costume, which is only seen in brief flashes.[9] Filoni kept the focus in these scenes on Ahsoka's character development, feeling thatStar Wars creatorGeorge Lucas had already resolved Anakin'scharacter arc in theStar Wars films and not wanting to change that.[1] Christensen wasdigitally de-aged for the role.[35] Hair designer Maria Sandoval closely studiedStar Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) to replicate Christensen's mullet hairstyle from that film. For the Clone Wars flashbacks, she wanted to show what Christensen's hair would realistically look like if it grew from its appearance inStar Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) to theRevenge of the Sith look, rather than directly adapt the "straighter and sort of chunkier" style seen inThe Clone Wars.[20]
Lars Mikkelsen asGrand Admiral Thrawn: AChiss high-ranking officer of the Empire who is known for his tactical cunning. He has been missing for years after disappearing with Ezra Bridger at the end ofRebels.[7][36] Mikkelsen said Thrawn was "always seven paces ahead of anybody else", only ruthless when he had to be, and took advantage of others' creativity. He chose not to revisit his own performance as Thrawn inRebels, instead focusing on creating "something new".[37] Thrawn has blue skin and red eyes,[11] and Mikkelsen spent two-to-three hours in make-up each day.[38] His black hair is a wig because Mikkelsen did not have the right hairline for the character.[20]
Brendan Wayne as Lander: A lieutenant in the New Republic fleet[52]
Temuera Morrison asCaptain Rex: The clone captain, and later commander, of the501st Legion who served under Anakin and Ahsoka during the Clone Wars and was an ally of the heroes inRebels[53]
The second season was confirmed in January 2024.[55] It consists of eight episodes, all written by Dave Filoni.[56]Bryce Dallas Howard directed two episodes,[57] with Filoni, Getzinger, and Anders Engström also directing.[58]
In December 2020,Lucasfilm announced several spin-off series fromThe Mandalorian includingThe Book of Boba Fett (2021) andAhsoka,[6][61][62] also known asStar Wars: Ahsoka.[16] The new series were set in the same trimeframe asThe Mandalorian—during the 30 years between the filmsReturn of the Jedi (1983) andStar Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)—and were planned to culminate in a "climactic story event".[63][64] Filoni indicated that this would involve a conflict with the remnants of theGalactic Empire whichAhsoka helps build towards.[1] The series were being concurrently developed byThe Mandalorian creatorJon Favreau and Filoni,[63] with Filoni creating, writing, and serving as lead producer andshowrunner onAhsoka.[65][66] Lucasfilm'sKathleen Kennedy, Carrie Beck, andColin Wilson were also set as executive producers on the series.[67]
Ahsoka was initially reported to be aminiseries,[16] but Disney was not listing it as such by February 2023.[68] That April, when the series was revealed to have eight episodes,[69] Filoni was announced to be making a film that would serve as a culmination of the interconnected stories ofThe Mandalorian and its spin-offs.[70][71] In November, Filoni revealed that he was now chief creative officer at Lucasfilm and would be directly involved in the planning of future films and series. He was considering asecond season of the series at that point,[72] and Lucasfilm officially announced that Filoni was developing the season in January 2024,[55] to be made before his planned film.[73]
At the end ofRebels, protagonistEzra Bridger is taken to an unknown location with antagonistGrand Admiral Thrawn. In an epilogue, Ahsoka joinsSabine Wren to search for Ezra,[8] setting-up a future story that Filoni wanted to tell. He described bringing Ahsoka and Sabine together as "a unification ofClone Wars andRebels".[74][75] Following speculation and reports about the series,[16][76] Filoni confirmed thatAhsoka would be continuing the story he established in the epilogue ofRebels,[10] and would explore aspects of Ahsoka fromThe Clone Wars andRebels that he had not been able to so far.[1] When asked if the series was effectively a fifth season ofRebels, Filoni said that was "one way of looking at it" but he also saw all of hisStar Wars projects as one larger story.[3] Ahsoka takes on Sabine as herPadawan learner in the series,[1] something Filoni had been planning for the characters since the end ofRebels.[9] The relationships between masters and apprentices became a key theme throughout thefirst season,[19]: 2–3 which also explores Ahsoka's relationship with her former masterAnakin Skywalker.[1]
Rosario Dawson was confirmed to be reprising her role as Ahsoka Tano fromThe Mandalorian with the series' announcement in December 2020;[6] Ahsoka was voiced in the animated series byAshley Eckstein.[8] In October 2021,Hayden Christensen was set to reprise his role as Anakin from theStar Wars films,[34] whileNatasha Liu Bordizzo was cast as Sabine a month later, replacingTiya Sircar who voiced the character inRebels.[16]Ivanna Sakhno was also cast in November.[30]Mary Elizabeth Winstead was added to the cast in January 2022,[77] andRay Stevenson joined the next month. Stevenson previously voicedGar Saxon inRebels andThe Clone Wars.[78] In September,Eman Esfandi was cast as Ezra, who was voiced byTaylor Gray inRebels.[32]
Dawson,[80] Bordizzo,[81] Winstead,[82] Sakhno,[83] Esfandi,[84] Christensen,[85] and Mikkelsen returned to star in the second season.[86] In January 2025,Rory McCann was cast to replace Stevenson—who died in May 2023—as Baylan Skoll.[25]
The design leads fromThe Mandalorian andThe Book of Boba Fett returned forAhsoka, including production designers Andrew L. Jones andDoug Chiang,[87] costume designerShawna Trpcic,[88] hair designer Maria Sandoval,[20] and prop master Josh Roth.[89] Trpcic died soon after the first season was released.[88]Legacy Effects also returned to create puppets and animatronics.[90] The first season begins with anopening crawl similar to the ones that are reserved for themainStar Wars films. The crawl forAhsoka is differentiated from the films by red text and simpler formatting.[91] As with the previous live-actionStar Wars series,lightsaber hilts were connected to glowing tubes to create on-set interactive lighting. Filoni felt some of the previous series had taken the lightsaber brightness too far and wanted the light levels inAhsoka to be closer to those in theStar Wars films.[92] The technology for hiding batteries for the lighting in the lightsaber hilts was improved fromThe Mandalorian.[89]
The series is produced with visual effects studioIndustrial Light & Magic'sStageCraft virtual production technology, which was developed forThe Mandalorian. This involves filming on a "volume" set surrounded by a circularLED video wall that digital backgrounds can be displayed on in real-time.[93] Traditionalblue screen stages as well as outdoor locations are also used for some scenes.[94] The directors and cinematographers spent eight months creating and editingprevisualizations of each episode usingvirtual reality cameras and headsets ahead of filming.[92][94]Principal photography for the first season began on May 9, 2022,[95] at Manhattan Beach Studios inLos Angeles,California,[93] under theworking titleStormcrow.[96] Filming lasted six months andwrapped in October 2022.[97][98] Filming for the second season began on April 28, 2025,[99] in the United Kingdom.[100]
AtStar Wars Celebration London in April 2023,Kevin Kiner was revealed to be composing the score forAhsoka after doing so for the animated seriesThe Clone Wars,Rebels,The Bad Batch (2021–2024), andTales of the Jedi (2022).[101] As with the animated series, Kiner collaborated with his children Sean and Deana on the score.[102] It combines influences fromJapanese cinema, which the Kiners started leaning into for Ahsoka inTales of the Jedi, with the more traditional sound ofStar Wars film composerJohn Williams.[103] In addition to Kevin's Ahsoka theme fromThe Clone Wars, the score includes returning themes for the mainRebels characters,[102] and some of Williams's themes from the films for key scenes.[103]Walt Disney Records released two soundtrack albums featuring the first season's score: the first volume was released on September 15 and the second on October 6.[104][105]
Disney and Lucasfilm announced that the first episode had 14 million views in its first five days and was the most watched title on Disney+ that week. Disney defined views as total stream time divided by runtime.[110]Whip Media, who track viewership data for the 25 million worldwide users of theirTV Time app, rankedAhsoka as the highest or second-highest original streaming series each week of the first season's release.[111]Nielsen Media Research, which records streaming viewership on U.S. television screens, placedAhsoka second on its list of original series for the first season's premiere and finale weeks. The other weeks were also in the top 10.[112]
Thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes reported that 85% of 272 critics gave the first season a positive review, with an average rating of 7.40 out of 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 theStar Wars saga,Ahsoka is a must-watch for fans of the franchise."[113]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the season a score of 68 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[114] Critics commonly felt the season was a good entry in the franchise for existingStar Wars fans. The performances of Dawson and Stevenson received praise, but other performances were criticized as being "stiff" and the season's slow pacing also received criticism.[115][116][117]
In February 2024,Marvel Comics announced an eight-issue comic book miniseries titledStar Wars: Ahsoka which adapts the first season of the series. Written byRodney Barnes with art bySteven Cummings andGeorges Jeanty, the miniseries debuted that July.[129]
.jpg)
