Recently there have been rumors, via Comicbook, that Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Kate, Birds of Prey) will be playing Star Wars: Rebels pilot Hera Syndulla in the new Disney+ series Star Wars: Ahsoka.
From the information Disney and Lucasfilm have given regarding the new show, it seems that Ahsoka will serve as a live-action continuation of the animated series Rebels. According to Comicbook, the show will focus on Ahsoka as she goes on a quest to locate Grand Admiral Thrawn, an imperial high command who was one of the Rebellion’s greatest enemies.
According to Comicbook, other confirmed castings for the show include Rosario Dawson (Dopesick, Jane the Virgin) as Ahsoka, the return of Hayden Christensen (The Last Man, First Kill) as Anakin Skywalker, Ray Stevenson (Vikings, Memory) in an unknown role, Ivanna Sakhno (The Reunion, Let it Snow) in an unknown role, and other Rebels characters like Sabine Wren, who is played by Natasha Liu Bordizzo (The Society, Day Shift), and Ezra Bridger who will be played by Eman Esfandi (The Inspection, King Richard). These castings help support the idea that Ahsoka will be following some of the storylines from Rebels and support the casting of Winstead as Hera.
Hera was voiced in Rebels and more recently in Star Wars: The Bad Batch by Vanessa Marshall (Young Justice, Solar Opposites). Hera’s appearance in Ahsoka will see the character in live-action for the first time. During the Star Wars Celebration this year, a sizzle reel of Ahsoka was shown and it included a glimpse of Syndulla, though it was unknown who was playing the character at the time.
Star Wars Rebels focused on the crew of the Ghost, a rag-tag group of rebels that fought against the Empire by stealing and giving to those in need. At the end of the show, padawan Ezra Bridger made what seemed a fatal sacrifice to save the people he loved and his home planet from Grand Admiral Thrawn’s plan. In the concluding scenes from the final episode, there is a jump in time and we see the characters from Rebels after the end of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. In these scenes we see Ahsoka and Sabine reunite to start their search for Ezra throughout the galaxy, believing his sacrifice wasn’t as fatal as they thought it was. Ahsoka’s debut in The Mandalorian included a reference to Thrawn, which means that finding Thrawn could lead them to find Ezra.
Based on the series finale, it sounds as if Ahsoka’s journey will be linked with Sabine’s, yet it is unknown how integral a role Hera will play in the show, considering also that at the series finale it is revealed that Hera had a baby with fellow Ghost crew member Kanan Jarrus.
Ahsoka is set after the fall of the Empire, and it follows the former Jedi padawan, Ahsoka Tano, as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy that is just looking to restore peace.
The show will premiere sometime in 2023, most likely in the summer. In the meantime, watch Ahsoka Tano become a Jedi and a Rebel on Star Wars: Clone Wars, Star Wars: Rebels, and The Mandalorian. All Star Wars shows and movies are available to stream on Disney+.