Lucasfilm might still be struggling to bring movies to the big screen (see the indefinitely delayed Patty Jenkins “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” project), but they are having much better luck on Disney+ and television. The next major direction the company seems to be pushing towards is bringing as many of their beloved animated characters into a live-action environment. The move began in a big way with Rosario Dawson turning up on “The Mandalorian,” as fan-favorite character Ahsoka Tano, the ex-Jedi, ex-Padawan learner of Anakin Skywalker. And now Deadline reveals another treasured animated character is making the leap to live-action: Sabine Wren.
READ MORE: ‘Ahsoka’: Hayden Christensen Is Returning For The Upcoming ‘Star Wars’ Series
What’s more, an actress has been cast. Australian actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo (“The Society,” “Guns Akimbo“) is set to play Sabine Wren in the upcoming “Ahsoka” Disney+ spin-off series that will star Dawson. Sabine Wren first appeared on the animated “Star Wars: Rebels” series co-created by Lucasfilm’s David Filoni (who is also writing and producing the “Ahsoka” series) and Ahsoka Tano was one of her one-time, irregular teammates. Sabine has long been rumored to join the Disney+ side of the “Star Wars” Universe, and it seems clear what Lucasfilm is up to: creating several spin-off series that will act as a sequel to “Star Wars: Rebels.”
‘Rebels’ ended after four seasons, culminating with the defeat of the Empire and the events of “Star Wars: A New Hope.” However, things came at a cost for the Rebels as, the young Jedi, Ezra Bridgers was shot into space, to parts unknown with Imperial leader Grand Admiral Thrawn. The very end of the series saw Ahsoka and Sabine Wren boarding a ship on a quest to find Ezra, and given that Rosario Dawson’s version of Ahsoka has already been inquiring about Thrawn’s whereabouts, it seems like the continuation of that story—known to fans as the “Search For Ezra”—will be told and explored in live-action.
This likely means casting for Ezra and Thrawn will eventually be revealed, but it’s already suspected that “Ahsoka” and “Rangers of the New Republic,” another series in development by Filoni and ‘Mando’ co-creator Jon Favreau, will both lead to an Ezra story in a kind of big event series.
Hayden Christensen will also return on the “Ahsoka” series, but the character of Darth Vader is long dead by the time of the ‘Mandalorian’/’Ahsoka’ era of “Star Wars” that is set a few years after the events of “Return Of The Jedi.” There is speculation Hayden could be seen in flashbacks as Anakin Skywalker that could further explore the Ashoka/Anakin relationship from the “Star Wars: Clone Wars”—the animated series that first introduced Ahsoka to the “Star Wars” galaxy.
Sabine Wren is a young Mandalorian warrior and graffiti artist, Imperial Academy dropout, and a former bounty hunter with expert knowledge of weapons and explosives.
It’ll be interesting to see if Natasha Liu Bordizzo’s participation in 2016’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny” helped in her landing the role, as creator Dave Filoni is a huge martial arts fan. It’s still unclear whether Sabine Wren will make her first live-action debut in the upcoming third season of “The Mandalorian”—rumored for a late 2022 debut and legitimately underway already—or if fans will have to wait until “Ahsoka” debuts, potentially in 2023 on Disney+.
Filming is said to be eyeing a start in March 2022 as Dawson is busy shooting the Disney reboot film “Haunted Mansion” for director Justin Simien (“Dear White People“), who also, coincidentally, happens to have his own “Star Wars” project in development, the “Lando” series for Lucasfilm which feels like a big TBD at this moment considering he has a whole movie to deal with first.
Sabine Wren would roughly be the third character from the “Star Wars: Clone Wars,” “Star Wars: Rebels” era of animation to make the leap to live-action. Katee Sackhoff appeared as the Mandalorian character Bo-Katan Kryze in the second season of ‘The Mandalorian’ and she’s expected to return in one of the upcoming series, possible ‘Rangers of The Republic.”