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"Actor for Thrawn revealed in AHSOKA Trailer"
Hello there! The Corellian Korean here to talk about the actor reveal for the next major villain in Star Wars, Grand Admiral Thrawn.
The character of Grand Admiral Thrawn is a Timothy Zahn creation from a trilogy of Star Wars novels, dubbed The Thrawn Trilogy which consisted of 'Heir to the Empire' (1991), 'Dark Force Rising' (1992), and 'The Last Command' (1993). Despite the eight year gap between the third theatrical Star Wars movie, RETURN OF THE JEDI (1983) and Heir to the Empire, fans were still hungry for more Star Wars stories that expanded George Lucas' universe. Author Timothy Zahn delivered in spades with his well crafted story.
Now that there was official content that continued the story of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia Organa, Chewbacca, R2-D2 and C-3PO. But who would oppose them. The Empire was a obvious choice to antagonize the newly formed Republic. Then who would lead the Empire? Who would be the new main bad? There was a vacuum of leadership that needed to be filled. Zahn's creative genius gave us two antagonists, one brilliantly charismatic imperial tactician, Thrawn, and a powerful Darkside Jedi Master, Jorus C'baoth. The series did so well that Zahn's books became the foundation of future Expanded Universe content. Often future Expanded Universe stories would make reference to Zahn's trilogy. Of course George had final say as to what was allowed in future content i.e. future stories could not tell stories about Anakin Skywalker before he became Darth Vader and the Clone Wars.
After Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilms, all Expanded Universe content was removed from canon and relabeled "Legends". Eventually, Thrawn would be reimagined to the main storyline through Dave Filoni's REBELS animated series. The blue skinned Chiss male with red eyes would retain most of what made him awesome, most notably his intellect and deductive mind. Now Thrawn transitions from 3D animation to the live-action in the STAR WARS: AHSOKA series. Actor Lars Mikkelsen is set to portray the Grand Admiral in live-action. Uncoincidentally, Mikkelsen was also the voice actor of Thrawn in the REBELS animated series.
Mikkelsen's role as Thrawn was officially revealed during the AHSOKA trailer at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023. In the trailer, you can briefly see the back of Thrawn's head as he walks into what looks like the deck of a star vessel or a lavish room with gold trims. Lars Mikkelsen was rumored for the role of Thrawn as he was already the voice in the animated series but there was no official word until the AHSOKA trailer released.
Overall, I am pleased with the casting of Lars Mikkelsen as he is an accomplished actor and he already knows the character. I hope Mikkelsen brings more to the character with his acting and personal presence. If you saw Mikkelsen's portrayal of Charles Augustus Magnussen from the Sherlock series you will agree that Mikkelsen has the acting chops to pull off the enigma of Thrawn. May the Force be with Lars Mikkelsen. I'm also pleased with the casting of Xander Berkeley as Gilad Pellaeon. I can already see Berkeley and Mikkelsen conversing in my minds eye. They will look awesome together. Can't wait to see how Filoni and Favreau brings Thrawn to live-action.
I'm gonna make a prediction about the room Thrawn walks into in the trailer. I think Thrawn is on the Sun Crusher. The Sun Crusher was a super weapon that could wipe out a whole star system. I feel the Sun Crusher would be a reasonable transition between the second Death Star and the super weapon on Starkiller Base. Imagine Thrawn returning from unknown space with a super weapon that trumps the Death Star.
The AHSOKA series is scheduled to release in August 2023. Get hyped Star Wars fans! AHSOKA can't come sooner.
That's it for this scoop. I hope you found today's post interesting. If you did please share your thoughts. And while you are at it please leave a like. Until next time, may the Force be with you. Always!
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