Star Wars: Ahsoka isn’t just bringing back Admiral Thrawn, it’s also possibly introducing one of his most faithful allies. Joining the cast of the Rosario Dawson-led series is The Expanse’s Wes Chatham, who will reportedly be playing a major ally of Thrawn.
Per Deadline, multiple sources have confirmed the casting that Chatham would be playing a “right hand man” to Grand Admiral Thrawn, just days after Disney confirmed Thrawn would be played by Lars Mikkelsen, who previously voiced the admiral in Star Wars Rebels.
Given ongoing storylines in The Mandalorian, while Chatham’s character is currently unknown there stands a very good chance that if he is indeed playing a character already established in Star Wars canon (and given that this is a Dave Filoni show, that chance is, well, absurdly high) that he could be playing the character Eli Vanto. Vanto first appeared in Star Wars: Thrawn, Timothy Zahn’s 2017 novel that rebooted the long-dormant character following his reintroduction inside of the show. The pair went to the Imperial Academy together, and Thrawn later dispatched Vanto to the Chiss Ascendency as an attaché for the Empire, working with the Chiss Expansionary Defence Force’s Admiral Ar’alani. If the casting is true, then it means the Ascendency could be playing a larger role in Ahsoka the show than expected.
Ahsoka picks up where Rebels’ epilogue left off, with the titular ex-Jedi setting out to find that show’s protagonist, Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi). The show will be bringing in live-action versions of the remaining Rebels characters such as Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Chopper (C1-1OP). Some of the characters have popped up in other Star Wars media since that show ended in 2018, including pretty recently.
Also starring Ray Stevenson, Ivanna Sakhno, and Hayden Christensen, Star Wars: Ahsoka will premiere on Disney+ in August. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to catch up on Rebels between now and then, since it looks like Ahsoka the show will be going full steam ahead into resolving that show’s story threads.