Star Wars fans were excited to learn that Lars Mikkelsen is set to reprise his role as Grand Admiral Thrawn in Lucasfilm’s highly-anticipated Star Wars series, Ahsoka. The actor voiced the character in the animated series Star Wars: Rebels and the fact that he’ll also get to play the live-action version is pretty cool!
While speaking with Collider, Mikkelsen praised Filoni’s writing on the series, and he also teased that Thrawn’s ultimate agenda may not become apparent until the end of the show:
“[Filoni’s] writing is very good. It’s very strong. And all the characters have their own drive, and you will probably not know what’s it all about until that very last scene and I like that. I like that writing, that takes its audience so seriously, that you can see for yourself that we drag it right to the reveal. What was the whole thing about?”
This is all just a part of Dave Filoni‘s big event plans that will lead to the movie that will bring all of The Mandalorian-set Star Wars shows together. That movie will “close out” the interconnected stories that are being told in The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka. It’s also said to follow “the escalating war between the imperials and the fledging New Republic.”
When talking about playing the live-action version of Thrawn, Mikkelsen assured fans that they will be getting the same villainous character that they’ve come to love over the years. He said:
“It’s hard to get into that without getting into the storytelling, you know, because of course some time has expired between rebels and where we get into the story here. So, and that time what happened in that time has put his mark on him, but in general, he’s still the same bloke, mate. You see, you see he’s so you’re in for, you know, what you hope for?”
The actor also talked about what makes Thrawn such an interesting villain and that his mind is what makes him a formidable foe for Ahsoka and the other characters. He explained:
“That bloke, he doesn’t have the force. He’s not a Jedi, he’s not a superhero of any kind, but he has the brain. He has all of that in that regard. How does he stack up against characters like Ahsoka, Sabine, and all these other people we’re going to see and possibly antagonize in the live-action series? I think, I mean, what I mean, his superpower is his mind, which is really and always like seven paces ahead of everybody. And I’m in that sense also ahead of you as an audience, I think. So that’s what you expect.”
Filoni also talked about Thrawn and explained what sets him apart from the iconic Star Wars villain Darth Vader, comparing him to the Sherlock Holmes character Moriarty:
“The genius of Thrawn is that he’s not Darth Vader. He doesn’t even try to be. He doesn’t have the Force. But he’s smart and he’s calculating. He’s like a Moriarty, he’s going to outthink you and out chess move you, so those are the things that I really liked.”
Thrawn is such an interesting and unique villain, and I’m very excited to see how his story arc continues to play out over the course of the Star Wars projects that he is a part of.