Peter Mayhew Foundation Weighs In On 'Ahsoka' Controversy

One actress in "Ahsoka" is generating controversy online.

Actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo has been cast as Sabine Wren, who will make her first live-action appearance since the animated cartoon series "Star Wars: Rebels."

Although actress Rosario Dawson helped Ahsoka Tano make her first live-action appearance in "The Mandalorian," this is the first time that fans will get to see what Sabine has been up to in that time.

The plot of the new Disney+ series has been kept under wraps so far, but many people believe that Ahsoka and Sabine will continue their search for Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn, who have yet to make their live-action debut.

If you don't know who those characters are, it's probably because you haven't seen its predecessor, "Star Wars: Rebels."  Now, the question is, do you need to see "Rebels" to understand what's going on with "Ahsoka"? Natasha Liu Bordizzo says you don't and that is causing a great deal of controversy online.

As reported by Screenrant, Natasha told Empire Magazine that she doesn't think that Star Wars fans will need to watch "Rebels" to enjoy "Ahsoka," calling it "a standalone chapter." Her exact words were:

"A lot of people have not seen Rebels... It’s great for them to have seen it, but we’ve got a standalone chapter as it is."

From a certain point of view, it makes sense that she would respond this way. After all, many casual fans might turn away from the limited series if they find out there's four seasons of an animated cartoon to watch first.

That being said, fans online are comparing "Ahsoka" to "Obi-Wan Kenobi," which recently wrapped up its six-episode run last month. Many fans felt that if you didn't watch the Star Wars prequel trilogy, it wasn't worth watching the Disney+ series, considering there were three movies that developed the relationship between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker. It's understandable that fans who have never seen the prequel trilogy might not get the same enjoyment out of "Obi-Wan Kenobi" as someone who has.

That being said, with more and more new Star Wars content being generated every year, it may be hard for fans to keep up with all of it. As such, some have warned others to be wary of gate-keeping the franchise.

One such person is the family of late Chewbacca actor, Peter Mayhew, who portrayed the Wookiee up until 2015's "The Force Awakens."

On Sunday morning, "Ahsoka" was starting to trend as fans took sides as to whether or not "Rebels" should be "required reading," so to speak, before watching "Ahsoka."

They tweeted, "Ahsoka is trendi.. oh.. for the wrong reasons! There are non-super fans out there who will love Ahsoka without watching Rebels. THAT'S OKAY! Will they be missing out? YES, but not everyone has our itch to consume everything Star Wars - plenty of room for the casual fans too!"

"Hopefully after seeing Ahsoka in live-action they'll want to watch Clone Wars and Rebels," they continued. "Hopefully after seeing a live-action Thrawn they'll pick up Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn. Star Wars is a gateway to MORE Star Wars - all of which is GOOD NEWS!"

Many fans appreciated their support. One fan shared their experience of getting into the books after watching the television show.

"Exactly. I’ve never played the video games, read the comics or the books. Since Obi Wan series, I’ve read Brotherhood and Master & Apprentice," one fan tweeted. "Just started Thrawn."

Of course, it's likely that this controversy is going to continue until "Ahsoka" comes out in 2023. Hopefully, by then, we'll know more about what the plot is about so fans can figure out how much of a sequel "Ahsoka" might be to "Rebels."