‘Star Wars: Ahsoka’ Adds Mary Elizabeth Winstead

‘Birds of Prey’ actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead joins cast of ‘Star Wars: Ahsoka’

The ‘Mandalorian’ spin-off is adding the ’10 Cloverfield Lane’ actress to the cast, which already includes Rosario Dawson, Hayden Christensen and Natasha Liu Bordizzo.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead in Netflix's 'Kate' (2021)

Though ‘The Book Of Boba Fett’ might be getting the attention of ‘Star Wars’ fans on TV screens via streaming service Disney+ now, plenty are also anticipating another spin-off from ‘The Mandalorian’, ‘Star Wars: Ahsoka’. The series, which will star Rosario Dawson as the skilled Jedi warrior Ahsoka Tano, is adding Mary Elizabeth Winstead to its cast.

Ahsoka Tano, for anyone unfamiliar with the character, made her debut in the animated series ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’, where she was voiced by Ashley Eckstein. She also appeared in ‘Stars Wars: Rebels’ and then was introduced in live-action form in ‘The Mandalorian’s second season episode ‘Chapter 13: The Jedi,’ played by Dawson. Ahsoka was able to communicate with The Child, long dubbed “Baby Yoda” by fans, before his real name was revealed to be Grogu.

The actress had lobbied to play the part and the fan reaction was warm, leading to this spin-off series. This being Lucasfilm and Disney, we have no official plot details for the show yet, but it’s rumored that she’ll be hunting down the Imperial character Grand Admiral Thrawn, who has appeared in novels and animated shows. The 'Ahsoka' series is set five years after the events of ‘Star Wars: Return of the Jedi’ (1983).

We do know that Hayden Christensen will be back as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, which makes sense as Anakin was one of Ahsoka’s Jedi tutors in ‘Clone Wars’. It seems likely that Christensen will be playing Skywalker in flashback, rather than Vader (as in the upcoming ‘Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi’, starring Ewan McGregor as the iconic Jedi Master).

Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka in season 2 of 'The Mandalorian' on Disney+

Australian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo is confirmed as playing Sabine Wren. She’s one of the main characters from ‘Rebels’, voiced by Tiya Sircar. The character is a young Mandalorian warrior and graffiti artist, Imperial Academy dropout and a former bounty hunter with expert knowledge of weapons and explosives. The casting increased speculation that we might see a live-action version of fellow ‘Rebels’ character Ezra Bridger.

Ivanna Sakhno, seen in ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ (2018) and ‘The Spy Who Dumped Me’ (2018), is aboard as a mysterious new character. We can expect more casting to follow as the series gets closer to shooting, but there is no confirmed date yet for it to hit Disney+.

In addition to ‘Birds Of Prey’, Winstead is known for films such as ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ (2010), ‘Smashed’ (2012) and 2007’s ‘Live Free Or Die Hard’. Her role in Ahsoka is currently unknown.

‘Star Wars’ TV boss Dave Filoni is overseeing the series, writing this one and executive producing alongside Jon Favreau. Production is set for this spring in California. ‘The Mandalorian’ will launch its third season following the conclusion of ‘Boba Fett’, and other ‘Star Wars’ shows in the works include ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’, ‘Andor’ and ‘The Acolyte’. The Lucasfilm team also has a show based around Lando Calrissian in development.