Disney+ Announces The Release Date For 'Star Wars' Series 'Ahsoka'

The "Star Wars" series "Ahsoka" is coming to Disney+ very soon from a galaxy far, far away!

The live-action series features Rosario Dawson once again playing the role of Ahsoka Tano, who first appeared in "The Clone Wars" animated series before moving on to "Star Wars: Rebels."

Rosario helped the character make her live-action debut in "The Mandalorian" before making another brief appearance in "The Book of Boba Fett." Now, Ahsoka will star in her own show that hits Disney+ later this year.

On Wednesday, the "Ahsoka" Twitter account revealed that the new series will be available to stream on Disney+ on August 23, 2023.

Fans immediately expressed excitement for the new series, which brings back many “Rebels” characters, including Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi). This will be the first time any of these characters have been seen in live-action.

In addition, Lars Mikkelsen will reprise his role as Grand Admiral Thrawn. This will be his first live-action appearance as well. “Doctor Who” star David Tennant will also reprise his role as the droid Huyang.

In a May 2023 interview with Entertainment Weekly on their Dagobah Dispatch podcast, Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead all talked about some of the highlights from the show.

Although she has already played Ahsoka in two other shows, Rosario Dawson revealed that she had to undergo “pretty intense” lightsaber training that lasted for two hours a day, seven days a week.

“It was never a question about whether she is capable,” Dawson said of her character. “She meets every single match just so head-on. There’s no hesitancy from her whatsoever, and that’s really different from someone who’s learning martial arts in their 40s who’s trying to protect their face.”

Mary Elizabeth Winstead who is married to Obi-Wan Kenobi actor Ewan McGregor, said that McGregor was happy for her to be joining the franchise that made him a household name. “He was just so happy and excited for me,” she said, adding, “He really was. He’s just like, ‘There’s just nothing else like being embraced by this community and being a part of it. It’s just such a special thing.'”

She also talked about the "luxury" of playing Hera Syndulla, a character that already has a rich backstory. “Having a character who’s already existed and has such a rich history on something like Rebels, as an actor, it’s incredible,” Winstead said. “Because sometimes we’re tasked with creating our own backstories or trying to flesh out a character that doesn’t really have that much on the page."

And so to play a character that has season after season of storylines and complex histories with everyone in their lives and relationships and experiences was really something I’ve never experienced quite like that," she continued, calling it “a real luxury, for sure.”

Natasha Liu Bordizzo, who plays Sabine Wren, also talked about having a backstory to draw from. “I watched it all with the intention of capturing the essence of the character and having almost this free storage bank of memories to go from, that they’d already worked so hard to create. It was awesome as an actor to have that,” she explained. “But then live action is so different. So I absorbed it all, and then forgot it all at the same time — somewhere in the balance of that.”

When asked how her character might change from the animated show to "Ahsoka," Bordizzo said, “I think that you find her at the end of Rebels, she was a huge part of the liberation of Lothal and many regard her as this hero, but she so does not feel that way about herself. She’s only thinking about the obligation she has toward her friend. She’s got that mission in mind, not her hero status. And she has got a huge journey to go on with Ahsoka, so we find her at the start of that.”

"Ahsoka" will be available to stream on Disney+ on August 23, 2023.