Another day, another casting announcement for Disney+’s televised Star Wars universe. Deadline reports via The Hollywood Reporter that actor Ray Stevenson (Vikings, Rome) will join Rosario Dawson (DMZ, Marvel’s Luke Cage) in Star Wars: Ahsoka. The series will follow Dawson’s character, Ahsoka Tano, in a live-action spinoff of the mothership series, The Mandalorian.
Tano first appeared in both animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels before Dawson portrayed her on-screen, according to Deadline. Tano was once young Jedi pupil of Anakin Skywalker before the Jedi’s descent into the Dark Side contorted him to become one of the Empire’s most feared leaders, Darth Vader. The series is set to continue Ahsoka’s tale following the events of her appearance in the second season of The Mandalorian. Dawson’s Ahsoka also recently cameoed in The Book of Boba Fett, which aired its season finale this past Wednesday.
According to Deadline, Stevenson will join previously announced cast members Natasha Liu Bordizzo (The Voyeurs, Guns Akimbo), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Birds of Prey, BrainDead), and Hayden Christensen (Star Wars Episode 2: Attack of the Clones, Life as A House). Christensen is set to reprise his role as Skywalker, who may now be going by the ominous title of Darth Vader. He will also play the character in the upcoming series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, starring Ewan McGregor (Halston, Big Fish) in the titular role he played in The Phantom Menace film trilogy. Bordizzo is set to play Sabine Wren. Both Winstead and Steveson’s roles have yet to be revealed.
While his role is still unknown, the Punisher: War Zone actor has appeared in other Star Wars titles before. He voiced Gar Saxon, a Mandalorian commando, in both The Clone Wars and Rebels. Given Lucasfilm’s track record with some of its series castings, Stevenson reprising the role is not farfetched. The Mandalorian saw Katee Sackhoff (Longmire, Riddick) return as her animated series character, Bo-Katan.
Star Wars: Ahsoka is set to begin production this year. The series will be excutive produced by series writer Dave Filoni (The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and Jon Favreau (Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Lion King).