Ahsoka showrunner Dave Filoni recently weighed in on whether Star Wars Rebels is essential viewing ahead of the Disney+ show's debut.
Filoni, who co-created the Ahsoka Tano character with Star Wars creator George Lucas, confirmed that Ahsoka won't assume that audiences are familiar with Rebels in an interview with Collider. "I don't think you would need to watch any [episodes of Rebels]," he said. "They're all available on Disney+, so you can check them out there and that would be great, but... for me, if you really were interested in [Rebels] and if it got people that maybe don't -- aren't as interested in animation into it, I would start [with], probably, like, maybe the episode, "Jedi Night," where the sad thing happens to Kanan. Even if you didn't understand what that was, it would propel you forward. If you just watch Season 4 [of Rebels], you'd be set [for Ahsoka]."
Filoni's comments don't come as much of a surprise, given the showrunner previously stated that fans don't need to catch up on another animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, before diving into Ahsoka. Filoni insisted that viewers who haven't watched Clone Wars will still be able to follow Ahsoka's story, although he also acknowledged that audience members who are up-to-speed on Clone Wars will "know more and understand more" than those who aren't. The showrunner added that Lucasfilm makes a concerted effort to avoid producing movies or TV shows that rely too heavily on viewers' being versed in wider Star Wars lore.
Ahsoka Star Talks Rebels Connections
Exactly how strongly Ahsoka will tie into Rebels has been a talking point ever since Lucasfilm confirmed that the former will feature appearances by several characters from the latter. Aside from Filoni, several other members of Ahsoka's cast and crew have done their best to reassure casual fans that the Disney+ show is very much separate from its animated predecessor. This includes Sabine Wren actor Natasha Liu Bordizzo, who described Ahsoka as "a standalone chapter" in a recent interview.
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy recently echoed Bordizzo's sentiments, explaining that shows like Ahsoka were designed to be accessible to a broad audience. "There's a lot of things now [in the Star Wars franchise] going back almost 50 years," Kennedy said. "So you don't want people to feel like they have to see everything in order to step into Star Wars. And we also want to look at the generational aspect of Star Wars, it's always been something that's been passed down."
Ahsoka is slated to premiere on Disney+ in August 2023 and will run for eight episodes.
Source: Collider, via YouTube