In a huge scoop today, Slashfilm’s Peter Sciretta reportsthat Rosario Dawson has been cast for The Mandalorian season two – and playing Ahsoka Tano!!!
Slashfilm is very credible, and the report has also been confirmed by Variety, The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit, and ABC News’s Clayton Sandell (though the latter couldn’t confirm Dawson’s casting, he confirmed Tano will appear). So, in other words, it really seems like it’s happening!
And that’s pretty crazy, yet thrilling. It’s something I never really thought we’d see, but that I’m overjoyed to hear about. Ahsoka is an incredible character, first introduced in The Clone Wars and later appearing in Rebels. She is a fan-favorite and is near and dear to Dave Filoni’s heart – so it’s very notable that he is working with Jon Favreau on The Mandalorian, serving as an executive producer, a director, and seemingly Favreau’s right hand man.
Dawson has been a popular fan suggestion for years to portray Tano in live-action, and she has previously expressed willingness to do so. It is a casting that makes a lot of sense, but it also feels a bit weird that it won’t be Ashley Eckstein. I wish they would have Dawson portray Ahsoka but have Eckstein provide the voice, but I’m sure that’s not going to be the case. So it’s going to be really hard to have someone else play Ahsoka, but I suppose if we could get used to someone else playing Han Solo (I though Alden Ehrenreich was fantastic) we could get used to this… eventually. And knowing that Filoni is involved gives me far more confidence and assurance that Ahsoka will be handled with extreme care.
As for how she could fit in, that remains to be seen – however, it’s not hard to imagine plenty of reasons why. For example, Ahsoka had a strong connection to Mandalore, even leading the Siege of Mandalore at the end of the Clone Wars (and which we’ll get to see later in season seven of The Clone Wars!). So she and Din Djarin would have plenty to talk about regarding Mandalore and what happened to it. Or, as another example, Moff Gideon has the darksaber, and the actor (Giancarlo Esposito) has recently teased combat with the darksaber. Fans wondered who he could duel with a lightsaber… and this could provide an answer? Or as yet another example, Djarin is likely going to be looking to return the child to his home, but with the child’s Force prowess he could come in contact with another strong Force user in Tano.
I’m not sure how large her role will be, but it’s really surreal and so incredibly exciting to hear that Ahsoka Tano will be making her live-action debut this fall on The Mandalorian!!!
Star Wars Thoughts 