Star Wars Thrawn Actor Pulled a No-Way-Home Stunt On Fans
It seems that Lars Mikkelsen took notes from Andrew Garfield on how to fool the audience.
Star Wars Celebration, which took place in London last Friday, brought fans a handful of unexpected but welcome surprises.
One of them, however, had been suspected for some time by some of the franchise's most ardent fans.
Lars Mikkelsen, who portrayed Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Star Wars Rebels animated series, will officially reprise his role in the upcoming Ahsoka TV series.
Curiously, he had previously publicly denied his involvement in the project, leading some fans to suspect that this was all an elaborate publicity stunt, similar to the one Andrew Garfield pulled before the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
And now their suspicions have come true.
Straight out of the Legends canon, Thrawn appeared in the third season of Star Wars Rebels and served as the main antagonist until the show's final fourth season.
Mikkelsen's take on the iconic character was well received by fans, and in the recent announcement, the actor said that it was "wonderful" to bring Thrawn to live-action.
Fans are more than happy to hear that initial rumors of Lars being recast have been proven false, as "there's literally no one else they could think of" for the role.
It comes as a particular relief after the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series recast Jason Isaacs, who portrayed the Grand Inquisitor in Rebels, in favor of Rupert Friend, which they felt took away much of the character's charm.
"This is the way. Lars NAILED Thrawn in such a spectacular way that hearing him any other way is just wrong to my ears. He's quietly menacing, observant, polite in that distinctly alien way of his- and yet utterly terrifying when he wants to be," Reddit user Lola_PopBBae said.
Expectations are extremely high and fans are praying for the show to deliver.
As many speculate from the "Heir to the Empire" line from the trailer, they expect the story (at least the first season) to be an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Timothy Zahn, which is now part of the Legends canon and is the first installment of "The Thrawn Trilogy."
The first season of Ahsoka is scheduled for release in August 2023.