Everything you need to know about Grand Admiral Thrawn
By Aidan Burns
With Lucasfilm and Disney releasing their newest mini-series, Ahsoka this August on Disney+, there are a lot of pre-established characters and lore that Dave Filoni and Jon Favearu expect you to already know.
After years of creating star wars content that fans all around the world loved, hated, and everything in between, both executive producers, along with Kathleen Kennedy look to use this series as a chance to revisit a story that was halted years ago with the end of an old series. One of the biggest features of the series is the next big bad of the Star Wars universe, Mitth’raw’nuruodo, but perhaps you know him by his more notorious title, Grand Admiral Thrawn.
This blue-skinned, red-eyed mastermind has returned to the galaxy far far away and looks to join the discussion for one of the greatest Star Wars villains of all time.
The Grand Admiral made his very first appearance in the 1991 Legends novel, Heir to the Empire. Thrawn was created to be a strong imperial presence in the Navy, and one of the Emperor’s smartest leaders on payroll. Rather than a lightsaber, or an unlimited energy source known as the force, Thrawn was feared by rebel enemies due to his intelligence and determination. With so much lore around this character, Thrawn was finally canonized into the Star Wars universe in the season 3 premiere of Star Wars: Rebels, “Steps into Shadow.”
Being the new enemy of a small group of rebels, including Jedi Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus, and of course, Ahsoka Tano, Thrawn would be on a mission that would ultimately be left open-ended in a massive cliffhanger in the Series Finale of Rebels. The story would remain unfinished for years. Fans speculated when, how, or even if Thrawn would be re-introduced.
Fast forward to today, and the battle between Thrawn and Tano Continues! Lars Mikkelsen, the former voice actor of Thrawn has signed on to portray the Admiral in the Live Action Ahsoka series releasing this summer, and according to Entertainment Weekly, The Danish actor was brought to tears upon seeing the thrilled reaction to his return from fans at the most previous Star Wars: Celebration.
Fans of Thrawn are anticipating and speculating on not just this upcoming project, but other projects as well. After the Ahsoka Series, Dave Filoni has been granted permission for his own movie slated to come out in theaters in 2025. According to Collider.com, Filoni hasn’t revealed very much about the film at all but does allude to the new movie is a post-Return Of The Jedi film. Many speculate that the film will feature many characters of the so-called “Mandoverse” of Star Wars projects, Including Din Jarin, Grogu, Ahsoka Tano, and Grand Admiral Thrawn. It’s also been rumored that the new film may be called Star Wars: Heir to the Empire a call back to the old legends novel where Thrawn debuted in Star Wars. Not to mention a term already used in trailers for the Ahsoka series. However, nothing more than a somewhat vague time period has been discussed publicly for this project at this time.
In Legends, Heir to the Empire begins five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, which fits Filoni’s statement about where his next movie takes place on the timeline. If this were still to be a “Mandoverse” Film, the characters, and overall story will not be much too reminiscent of the original legends’ novelization. By the end of the Ahsoka series, we might have a much better idea of potential characters including Thrawn. As a prominent character in the legends novels, an up-and-coming live-action character, and a fan favorite among hardcore fans, it’s clear that there is a solid chance we will be seeing Thrawn after Ahsoka and maybe even beyond that as well.
The future’s looking bright for the Thrawn Character and the actor playing him, Mikkelsen. Before discussing anything else, we’ll have to see how events play out in Ahsoka, not to mention Skeleton Crew, another Disney+ series set to release sometime this year as well. One thing’s for sure, The Grand Admiral is upon us, and he’s ready to leave a bigger impact on the galaxy than anyone has before.