Dave Filoni Reveals If 'Ahsoka' Is A 'Continuation' Of 'Star Wars Rebels'

Showrunner Dave Filoni is bringing more than a few characters from "Star Wars Rebels" into "Ahsoka."

Actress Rosario Dawson, who plays the titular Ahsoka Tano first appeared in the animated series "The Clone Wars" before appearing in "Rebels." Dawson brought the character to life in the live-action series "The Mandalorian" before making another appearance in "The Book of Boba Fett."

Most of the surviving members of the Ghost crew will be making an appearance in "Ahsoka," including Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi). This will be the live-action debut for each of the characters.

In addition, Lars Mikkelsen will reprise his role as Grand Admiral Thrawn, who will be making his first jump into live-action as well. “Doctor Who” star David Tennant will also reprise his role as the droid Huyang, although only by voice.

On a recent appearance on Entertainment Weekly’s Dagobah Dispatch podcast, Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau addressed whether or not “Ahsoka” can be seen as a live-action season 5 of “Rebels.”

When asked if "Ahsoka" can be seen as a season 5 of "Rebels," Filoni replied, "That's an interesting question," adding, "I suppose that's one way of looking at it, because of the epilogue that I did in Rebels. Definitely, all signs are indicating that there's a continuation."

"For me, when I'm telling those stories, I don't limit things like, 'Oh, well, I did it an animation, so I would do it distinctly different in live action.' There's just the story that it is, and I was telling it in one medium," he continued.

That being said, he did admit that "Rebels is a different style than Clone Wars," adding, "Even visually, that changed the way I could execute certain things in Rebels. The story kind of evolved since I worked on Rebels. Working with [Jon Favreau] and setting things down in The Mandalorian created an opportunity to see: How does Ahsoka work as a character in live action?"

Although Ahsoka only had a small appearance in "The Mandalorian," Dave Filoni was still stressed about the character making her first appearance in live-action. "With the head tails and the makeup, what does that look like?" Filoni asked. "Can a performer bring that to life in a way that is meaningful?"

Fortunately, once he saw Rosario Dawson in the make-up and costume, he felt that the whole thing came together. "The whole thing kind of came together for me with Rosario when we talked with her and when she put on the costume and became Ahsoka. I was like, you know, this is going to work. It really kind of was as simple as that," he added, describing himself as "very fortunate."

He also mentioned a quote that Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy had given him when he was trying to cast Ahsoka for the very first time.

"It goes back to a quote that Kathleen Kennedy gave me when I was really going over the casting of Ahsoka," he recalled. "I said, 'How do you know when it's the right person?' And she just looked at me and said, 'Dave, you just know.'"

"I'm in a very privileged position to have a mentor like her advising me and just giving the knowledge that you need to make the choices creatively that you end up doing," he continued. "And she was right. I just knew when it was Rosario, and that kind of brought Ahsoka together for me, and off we ran."

In a July 2022 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Dawson revealed that there is no "dialing it in" in "Star Wars" as she discussed what it was like bringing Ahsoka Tano from animated form to live-action.

“What I love is that these little things we’ve gotten to hint at in these other shows, we get to more deeply explore,” Dawson explained. “I think whether you’ve seen the previous animations or have only seen these episodes, she’s still quite mysterious at this stage and point in her life. That’s what I think is the most exciting part of Ahsoka having her own series here, that you get to better understand her in this part of her journey.”

For her role in “The Mandalorian,” Dawson revealed that the make-up process took about three hours. Fortunately, it seems that they found a few shortcuts for her in "Ahsoka" and managed to reduce the time by half, so now she only has to sit in a chair for one and a half hours.

Fortunately, Dawson says that she doesn't mind how long it takes as long as make-up artists perfect every detail of Ahsoka’s outfit. “Every single day, you’re not dialing it in,” Dawson said. “There’s no dialing it in in Star Wars.”

"Ahsoka" will premiere on Disney+ in August 2023.