So far, all of the live-action Star Wars shows that have been released exclusively to Disney+ subscribers have, for the most part, been easily accessible to those who’ve simply watched the Star Wars movies in order. That said, most of these shows also have ties to the animated programs The Clone Wars and Rebels to one degree or another, and the upcoming Ahsoka is kicking things up a notch by focusing on a character who was introduced in the former series and directly follows up on events from the latter series. But can Ahsoka be enjoyed without seeing The Clone Wars and Rebels? One of the executive producers has chimed in on the matter.
With just a few weeks left to go until Ahsoka premieres on Disney+, Lucasfilm executive Carrie Beck was among the people EW interviewed about the series, and one of the topics she addressed was how necessary it is for one to have viewed The Clone Wars and Rebels to follow along with this latest small screen offering from a galaxy far, far away. As Beck explained below, showrunner Dave Filoni did his best to ensure that it’s accessible to newcomers to this corner of the franchise:
That's been the challenge of the series. But Dave was very thoughtful about crafting the narrative in a way that could invite people in. The show tells them everything they need to know along the way.
Introduced in 2008 in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie that preceded the same-named TV series, Ahsoka Tano, voiced in animation by Ashley Eckstein, has become one of the most popular non-movie Star Wars characters. The Clone Wars depicted her teenage years first as Anakin Skywalker’s apprentice, and then striking out on her own after leaving the Jedi Order, and then Rebels explored her as an adult aiding the Rebellion, initially going by the pseudonym Fulcrum. Rosario Dawson has since played the live-action Ahsoka in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, but because she was a guest-starring character in both shows, one didn’t need to be fully aware of her past.
The Ahsoka show, on the other hand, is a different beast since it’s so heavily leaning on plot threads from Star Wars Rebels, ranging from the title character and Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s Sabine Wren searching for Man Esfandi’s Ezra Bridger, to Lars Mikkelsen’s Grand Admiral Thrawn resurfacing after being forcibly taken to parts unknown by Ezra. But according to Carrie Beck, Dave Filoni, who worked on both The Clone Wars and Rebels, took steps to ensure that people unfamiliar with either of those animated shows will still be able to track what goes down in Ahsoka and not feel lost. Ultimately it’ll be up to the individual to determine whether he successfully pulled this off, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt for Disney+ to release a video that summarizes what happened to Ahsoka in The Clone Wars and Rebels, akin to the Marvel Studios: Legends episodes that tie into new MCU projects.
Regardless of how familiar you are of Ahsoka Tano’s backstory, you’ll be able to follow along with the next chapter of her life when Ahsoka premieres on August 23. Along with the aforementioned actors, the Ahsoka cast includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Hera Syndulla, Invanna Sakhno as Shin Hati, Diana Lee Inosanto as Morgan Elsbeth and the late Ray Stevenson as Baylan Skoll.
