'Ahsoka' Season 2 Touts Anakin, Zeb And Ackbar Returns, First Look At Rory McCann As Baylan Skoll At Star Wars Celebration Panel
A year and a half since the first season ended already?
When I first covered Star Wars Celebration nearly three years ago, it was in Anaheim, Ahsoka’s panel was shared with The Mandalorian, and I barely knew what I was doing, even from afar less than two months into the old gig. I had the writing skills and the competence, but I didn’t have the getting or production skills I do now. I covered Rosario Dawson and Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s interview on the live stage. When I covered the whole shebang two years ago barely a month into Sandler’s Handlings, Ahsoka was four months from premiere, the event was probably one of the last biggest full-strength events before the dual strikes, with Baylan Skoll actor Ray Stevenson making his last public appearance before his sudden death a month later. Now Celebration has come around again, this time in Tokyo, Japan with the second season mere days from heading into production. Season 2’s panel touted several returns, and confirmed that Rory McCann would be succeeding Stevenson in the role.
Despite not being as directly involved as he is with the rest of the Mandoverse, executive producer Jon Favreau joined Dawson and creator Dave Filoni on the panel. Dawson said that she hasn’t read all the scripts for the new season because Filoni “keeps re-writing them.” Because production starts next week, the trailer didn’t have any footage as nothing was filmed. It did however confirm the returns of Ghost crewmembers Sabine, played by Bordizzo, Ezra played by Eman Esfandi, Zeb voiced once again by Steve Blum, and Chopper. As well as Anakin Skywalker, played once again by Hayden Christensen, whether as a Force Ghost in the World Between Worlds, an ethereal realm that exists outside of time and space, or in flashbacks to their days where Ahsoka was his padawan. What the balance will be for season 2 is unknown. Even Admiral Ackbar is returning, and Filoni promises what might be his most active role in a live action production yet as he’s “going head-to-head with Thrawn”. Filoni described “It took all of my effort to resist writing the line — ‘It’s a trap!’ Because I’m like, I can’t do that, that would be so lame. Because this guy can’t always get into traps. You’d think he would see it this time,” he joked.
'Knuckles' Actor Rory McCann Taking Over As Baylan Skoll In 'Ahsoka' Season 2 For Ray Stevenson
Ahsoka’s first season finale showed that the story was going to continue with Baylan Skoll. But there was an issue: Skoll’s actor, Ray Stevenson, died in May 2023. That was a whole three months before the Star Wars Disney+ series even premiered. Skoll was going to need a remodel. The character has been officially recast ahead of the second season with
Best known as Sandor “The Hound” Clegane on HBO’s Game of Thrones, McCann’s film credits include Hot Fuzz, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Jumanji: The Next Level, and most recently as Tegula in Gladiator II. Recent television roles include being the voice of Megatron on Transformers: EarthSpark, and The Buyer in the Knuckles miniseries. Filoni became emotional when remembering Stevenson, calling season 2 “a big challenge” with his loss. “I knew Ray from working on voice acting with him,” he said, “It was a challenge for me to consider continuing for a while. But I have a wonderful support group in Jon and Rosario”. He continued “I found a way in — I had Ray in my head. I’m grateful for all my conversations with him about Baylan. So, I understood what to do, it just took a while to get there. I’m very confident now that Ray would be happy with the direction that we’ve chosen,” added Filoni who made the decision in concert with the late actor’s family. The character is meant to be the parallel to Ahsoka in every way. If there’s a light, there’s a dark, and Baylan is representing a different journey for a Jedi as you represent one who walked away from the (Jedi) order, so did he. That’s a parallel that must continue.”
Where did the show leave off exactly? Grand Admiral Thrawn, played by Lars Mikkelsen, made the jump to hyperspace via a space loop, where Ezra stowed away, while Ahsoka and Sabine were marooned in the green tundra tumbleweeds of Peridea in a far off galaxy. Thrawn’s goal is to reassemble the Empire through a series of military and political maneuvers. If they’re only going into production in the coming days, we’re probably not getting Ahsoka season 2 until 2026.
'Maul: Shadow Lord' Animated Series Announced At Star Wars Celebration
When Star Wars: The Bad Batch ended last May, it left a void. The Star Wars franchise had no ongoing animated series for the non-preschool demographic that could function in traditional television parameters and wouldn’t drop all of a season’s episodes on a single day like
Source: Deadline