A new report claims to reveal who Ray Stevenson (Punisher: War Zone, Vikings) and Ivanna Sakhno (Pacific Rim Uprising) will portray in Disney+'s upcoming live-action Star Wars series Ahsoka.
According to Making Star Wars, Stevenson will play a character named Baylon in Ahsoka. Baylon supposedly works for Grand Admiral Thrawn, who is himself reportedly played in live-action by his Star Wars Rebels voice actor, Lars Mikkelsen. Stevenson's Baylon is described as a former Jedi who survived Order 66 before fleeing to the "New Beyond," where Ahsoka reportedly takes place. Baylon apparently tried to maintain his Jedi lifestyle, but was "corrupted over time" and embraced the dark side of the Force, possibly due to the influence of the Nightsisters. Sometime around the events of Return of the Jedi, Baylon took on an apprentice.
This brings us to Sakhno, who reportedly plays Shin, Baylon's apprentice and assassin (whom Making Star Wars speculates might be a former Nightsister herself). Shin is described as being "cold, calculated" and "desperate to prove herself" to Baylon. Due to her and Baylon's association with Thrawn, Shin is apparently tasked with killing Ahsoka Tano (played by Rosario Dawson), potentially setting up a larger conflict between Ahsoka and Baylon himself if she can't get the job done. (Ahsoka has fought the likes of Asajj Ventress and lived to tell about it, after all.)
Ahsoka Hits Disney+ in 2023
Lucasfilm's next live-action Disney+ series set within the Star Wars universe, Ahsoka is expected to premiere on the platform sometime in 2023. The series serves as both a spinoff of The Mandalorian and a sequel to Rebels (the latter of which saw Ashley Eckstein voice Ahsoka). As shown in The Mandalorian Season 2, Ahsoka is still hunting down the villainous Thrawn following the events of the Rebels finale, in which the Imperial admiral and Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger (voiced by Taylor Gray) were transported through hyperspace to parts unknown. Hence, Ahsoka's reported setting of the "New Beyond," which is described as a new region of the Star Wars universe not previously explored in any existing projects
In addition to Mikkelsen reprising his role as Thrawn in live-action, Eman Esfandi will reportedly take over the role of Ezra in Ahsoka. Similarly, Natasha Liu Bordizzo is confirmed to take over the role of Sabine Wren (voiced in Rebels by Tiya Sircar). Moreover, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who was cast in Ahsoka earlier this year, will reportedly take over the role of Hera Syndulla (voiced in Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch and the video game Star Wars: Squadrons by Vanessa Marshall). Rounding out the cast is Hayden Christensen, who reprises his role as Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader from the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy and the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Ahsoka is slated to premiere on Disney+ sometime in 2023.
Source: Making Star Wars, via Bespin Bulletin