This week saw two big production moves being made in a certain galaxy far, far away – and depending on your point of view, you either found the results to be refreshingly optimistic or wholly uninteresting.
(For the record, I found myself in the former camp).
Disney announced this week that Star Wars is returning to movie theaters with with the Jon Favreau directed, Dave Filoni and Kathleen Kennedy-produced The Mandalorian & Grogu, which the studio indicated in their announcement that the film would “lead Lucasfilm’s ongoing feature-development slate.”
In the same update, the House of Mouse also made mention of upcoming film projects in development from directors Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (who will be helming the upcoming Rey solo film), James Mangold, and Dave Filoni, the last of whom they noted was “also currently developing Ahsoka Season 2″.
This unceremonious reveal was then followed-up on January 10th by a more substantial tease related to the Togrutan Force-user’s return to the small screen in the form of a Tweet
That was followed up today by yet another tease related to Ahsoka, a Tweet containing storyboard of art for the second season.
In the image, Ahsoka and an individual who looks like Sabine Wren are seen standing on the statue of ‘The Father’, one of the three Mortis Gods introduced into the canon in the George Lucas-produced 2011 Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series and the location where the late Ray Stevenson’s praiseworthy fallen Jedi Baylan Skoll was last seen in the first season, the words ‘The story continues’ written above their heads.
This confirmation of a second season comes as a positive turn for the Filoni spin-off series given that, just this past week, doubt was cast on its future when Ahsoka actress Rosario Dawson herself admitted that she had yet to be approached about getting back into costume for another outing as the titular heroine.
Though Ahsoka was far from a smash hit in terms of viewership, the show exists in a unique space within the Star Wars fandom as a ‘crashing point’ for various elements from across the franchise’s entire canon, such as the Nightsisters from the aforementioned The Clone Wars (2011), Anakin Skywalker’s emotional turmoil as depicted throughout the prequel trilogy, and even the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn from Timothy Zahn’s The Heir to the Empire book series.
Notably, this confirmation of a second season for Ahsoka also raises the question of which actor, if anyone, will be brought in to succeed Stevenson in his masterful portrayal of Baylan, who as noted above ended last season alive and well standing atop a massive mountain chiseled into the shape of the Mortis deities.
Further, much remains to be learned about the world of Mortis, which Anakain, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan Kenobi involuntarily stumbled into in the fifteenth episode of The Clone Wars (2011)‘s third season.
At current, all we know is that it is a dream-like world where the Force is alive and personified in three humanoid beings known as The Father, Son, and Daughter.
Ultimately, while this announcement may have little to offer fans who have already long-checked out of the franchise, those still interested in the expanded lore and mysticism surrounding the Force have much to be excited about in Ahsoka‘s eventual return.