Apparently Star Wars' Ahsoka Show Will Feature A Major Rebels Callback, And Darth Vader Is Involved

Rosario Dawson's Ahsoka Tano wielding white lightsabers
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)

After making her live-action debut on The Mandalorian, Ahsoka Tano will star in her own Disney+ series with Rosario Dawson reprising the role. Now, following the castings of Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger as two other former animated characters coming to live-action, rumors suggest that Star Wars: Ahsoka will feature a major callback to Star Wars Rebels and its huge addition to the mythology of the galaxy far, far away. 

According to Making Star Wars, multiple versions of Ahsoka Tano will appear in Star Wars: Ahsoka via the World Between Worlds, which was key to the character returning in Rebels Season 4 after her very ambiguous ending at the end of Season 2. The other versions of Ahsoka reportedly include teenage Ahsoka and adult Ahsoka from the end of Rebels. The character in those eras was voiced by Ashley Eckstein. 

Although Ahsoka including the World Between Worlds has not been officially confirmed, the outlet also reports that the character will fight Darth Vader, with Hayden Christensen actually showing his face on screen, which only happened in two prosthetic-free scenes of Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of which was very brief. He’ll reportedly wear the costume he wore in Revenge of the Sith on Mustafar, which raises some very big questions about the timeline of the visions she might see in the World Between Worlds. 

The many scenarios of the World Between Worlds are said to lead the character to see how her life was always going to lead toward a particular event, although it’s not clear what this event would be or whether this will be confirmed ahead of the live-action series. The report that the former Jedi as seen in the Rebels finale will be brought to Ahsoka is particularly interesting, in that it raises possibilities of other Clone Wars and Rebels moments being brought to live-action. 

I’m not the only one who would love to see the Vader vs. Ahsoka sequence from Rebels Season 2 in live-action, right? Rebels showrunner Dave Filoni addressed the idea of the World Between Worlds coming into play for future Star Wars properties back in 2018, saying that he hoped it wouldn’t become a standard but it was “important for this particular story.”

Considering that Ahsoka’s goal as of the end of Rebels was to join forces with Sabine Wren and find Ezra Bridger after his disappearance with Grand Admiral Thrawn, it should be interesting to see if a trip to the World Between Worlds would give her some clarity. She was still searching for Thrawn in The Mandalorian, and the casting of Natasha Liu Bordizzo as Sabine suggests that she’ll at least still be part of the mission that began at the end of Rebels

Ezra Bridger has also been cast, with Eman Esfandi playing the role for Ahsoka. That may indicate that the former Jedi and Sabine are successful in their quest earlier than the finale, although it’s possible that Ezra could have some separate scenes before a potential reunion with his old friends. The updated cast for the Ahsoka series raises more questions than answers. 

Star Wars: Ahsoka has not yet received a premiere date among the list of upcoming Star Wars movies and TV series, but the Rosario Dawson-led show is expected before the end of 2023. Season 3 of The Mandalorian will be the next live-action Star Wars show, with its premiere on March 1 in the 2023 TV premiere schedule. Andor Season 1 finished in November. For some Star Wars action ahead of Ahsoka, be sure to check out a Disney+ subscription.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).