Lars Mikkelsen Has Reportedly Been Cast To Play Thrawn In The 'Ahsoka' Spinoff Series
While the long wait for The Mandalorian Season 3 stretches ahead of us and The Bad Batch and The Book of Boba Fett seem all too distant, there is no shortage of reports about the galaxy far, far away. According to Small Screen, sources close to Lucasfilm have revealed that Lars Mikkelsen will be reprising his voice acting role from Star Wars Rebels and transitioning the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn into live-action. This comes as an unexpected surprise, but a welcome one to many Star Wars fans. Mikkelsen has honed and perfected the cold, calculating, methodic cadence of Thrawn during his work on the animated show. The meticulous and scheming Chiss is already a fan favorite villain due to the success of writer Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy. Thrawn, along with Jedi-in-training Ezra Bridger, are currently MIA, courtesy of hyperspace-faring creatures summoned by Bridger in the Rebels finale. These tentacled space whales, known as purrgil, encased Thrawn's flagship, the Chimaera, in a cold embrace and whisked it away, with Thrawn and Bridger onboard, into parts unknown. Now, at long last, it seems we will learn their fate.
Apart from his work in the Star Wars universe, Lars Mikkelson is also known for his performances in Netflix's House of Cards and The Witcher. The Danish actor also has a family name very recognizable to Star Wars fans, as his brother, Mads Mikkelson, portrayed Imperial Scientist Galen Erso in Rogue One. Lars has a passion for on-stage acting, where he got his start in the craft, and has appeared in over 40 plays to date. This type of acting gravitas may be a contributing factor to his successful transition to Star Wars-specific roles, as George Lucas is a huge fan of theater, including Shakespearian influences in his vision of the prequels. Rumor has it that Lars was Dave Filoni's only real choice for the role. After their work together on Rebels, it would make sense that Filoni would tap the voice actor who has so successfully breathed life into this Chiss Imperial to bring him onto the streaming screen.
This will mark another live-action debut for a character who appeared in a Filoni animated show. After the overall success of the Ahsoka Tano and Bo-Katan Kryze appearances in the second season of The Mandalorian, it seems only natural for more of these underappreciated characters to take their rightful place in the live-action galaxy. While some may criticize the repeated use of such characters (it is a big galaxy after all, surely we haven't met everybody) recurring characters help maintain a familiar feel to the story and the universe at large. Provided we are consistently given a few fresh faces with rich development arcs (Din, Mayfeld, Grogu, Greef, etc.) and the live-action adaptations are of equally high quality to what we saw over the last eight chapters of The Mandalorian, there's no reason that Star Wars fans shouldn't be universally excited with Filoni at the helm.
As for the character of Thrawn, little is known about his current whereabouts or actions in The Mandalorian timeline. It has been reported by Kessel Run Transmissions that the Ahsoka spinoff show will focus primarily on finding Ezra Bridger, and as he was last seen in battle with the Grand Admiral, it seems certain that their fates are intertwined. Rumor also has it that Lars Mikkelson may be making appearances beyond the Ahsoka show. As mentioned by Kathleen Kennedy during the Disney investors meeting on December 10th, Ahsoka will culminate in a "spectacular cinematic event" alongside The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Rangers of the New Republic. With the imposing figure of Mikkelson's Thrawn and his 7th Imperial Fleet lurking in the Outer Rim, possibly in possession of the captive Ezra Bridger, our heroes will inevitably have to confront this formidable foe in a battle for the ages.
Source(s): Small Screen