With Rosario Dawson As Ahsoka, The Dave Filoni-fication Of ‘The Mandalorian’ Is Complete

Sometimes, fan-castings do come true. That seems to be what’s just happened for The Mandalorian, where Slashfilm reported that actress Rosario Dawson will be taking on the role of Ahsoka Tano in season 2 this coming fall (or whenever it arrives, with production shutdown due to the pandemic).

The idea started with a tweet three full years ago, where Dawson responded to a fan-casting suggestion about Ahsoka with a “yes please.”

And as recently as this year, fans were still all about the concept, taking to fan art to render what Dawson would look like in the role:

Now, that dream will become a reality. It’s not clear how large a role Dawson’s Ahsoka will have in season 2 of The Mandalorian, but this development cements just how large Dave Filoni’s influence looms over the show, and possibly a lot of Disney Plus’s future Star Wars content in general.

Filoni, creator of animated series Clone Wars and Rebels, where Ahsoka was seen previously, has been intimately involved in The Mandalorian from the start as a writer and director, even if it has been Jon Favreau making most of the headlines. So far, we’ve gotten only cursory connections to his past series, like how (spoilers) it was Death Watch who saved young Mando as a boy, or how Moff Gideon wields the Darksaber at the end of the season, both pulled from Rebels plotlines.

But a full-on, live-action appearance from Ahsoka? That’s something else entirely.

I am willing to bet a large amount of money that Rosario Dawson appearing as Ahsoka will lead to a spin-off of the character. While yes, most of her story has been told through Clone Wars and Rebels, there’s certainly a lot of gap time that would allow her to star in new adventures. I mean, if they’re doing it with Obi-Wan, they can do it with her.

The last we saw Ahsoka she was off looking for Ezra with Sabine at the end of Rebels. Sabine, another Mandalorian, seems like she would be a good fit as a guest star in The Mandalorian as well, though no casting announcements have been made there.

Ahsoka even had a cameo in The Rise of Skywalker as one of the Jedi voices that aid Rey at the end of the film (many Clone Wars and Rebels characters did). I think Disney understands how beloved the character is and how good Dave Filoni is at crafting stories, that I would not be surprised to see them give him greater control over the franchise going forward, and again, I can see a live-action Ahsoka show in the cards, potentially.

We’ll see how all this shakes out, but I am fully on board with the Filoni takeover of Star Wars going forward, if that’s how it’s going to be.

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