Dave Filoni Confirms The 'Big Bad' Of The 'Star Wars' New Republic Era

It looks like Dave Filoni has finally confirmed who the "big bad" is in the "Star Wars" New Republic era.

While fans are getting ready to watch the live-action Disney+ series "Ahsoka" later this year, the big bad might be someone that fans have seen before!

In the summer issue of Empire, Dave Filoni was asked directly if Grand Admiral Thrawn would be the "big bad" of the New Republic Era. Thrawn was voiced by Lars Mikkelsen in the animated series "Star Wars: Rebels." Mikkelsen will also reprise the role in "Ahsoka" and might make an appearance in other Star Wars projects, including the untitled New Republic film announced at Star Wars Celebration London.

“Definitely, in my eyes. When Timothy Zahn wrote ‘Heir To The Empire,’ Thrawn became this very iconic villain, because he was different than anything we’d seen before,” Filoni explained (via TheDirect). “He wasn’t another helmet-wearing, lightsaber-wielding bad guy, you know? There’s a lot of pull to make characters that are like Vader, because it is so iconic.

“But the boldness that Tim had was to make somebody that wasn’t like that, that didn’t have those abilities, but could fight in a different way," he continued. "In the words ‘Star Wars,’ the ‘war’ part of it — him being a Grand Admiral, a leader, a military strategist, a Moriarty archetype, someone that will out-think you, out-strategize you — that really resonated. He’s a critical player in this time period. We’re fortunate to have that character, and fortunate to have Lars [Mikkelsen] playing him.”

With Grand Admiral Thrawn again hovering as the villain of the era, many feel that "Ahsoka" might just be a live-action continuation of the animated "Rebels" series. Actress Rosario Dawson plays the titular Ahsoka Tano, who 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 from "Rebels" 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. Even “Doctor Who” star David Tennant will also reprise his role, providing his voice to the droid Huyang.

Earlier this month, Dave Filoni appeared on Entertainment Weekly’s Dagobah Dispatch podcast with Jon Favreau. 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 has only made a handful of small appearances in the live-action series so far, Dave Filoni was concerned about the character making her first appearance in live-action given her unique design. "With the head tails and the makeup, what does that look like? Can a performer bring that to life in a way that is meaningful?" Filoni asked himself when trying to bring the character to life.

"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.

As announced at Star Wars Celebration London, "Ahsoka" will premiere on Disney+ in August 2023.