Star Wars’ New Republic Main Villain Confirmed by Dave Filoni

Forum 11 months ago

Star Wars’ New Republic Main Villain Confirmed by Dave Filoni

Lucasfilm Executive Creative Director Dave Filoni has spoken further about upcoming Ahsoka antagonist Thrawn, hinting at a larger role for the villain in the Star Wars universe.

Who did Dave Filoni say is the villain of Star Wars’ New Republic era?

In the summer issue of Empire, Filoni was asked if he saw Thrawn — played in Ahsoka by Lars Mikkelsen — as the “big bad” of this New Republic era. He confirmed this and elaborated on Thrawn’s character and origin, describing what makes him different from characters like Darth Vader.

“Definitely, in my eyes. When Timothy Zahn wrote ‘Heir To The Empire,’ Thrawn became this very iconic villain, because he was different than anything we’d seen before,” Filoni explained (via TheDirect). “He wasn’t another helmet-wearing, lightsaber-wielding bad guy, you know? There’s a lot of pull to make characters that are like Vader, because it is so iconic.

“But the boldness that Tim had was to make somebody that wasn’t like that, that didn’t have those abilities, but could fight in a different way. In the words ‘Star Wars,’ the ‘war’ part of it — him being a Grand Admiral, a leader, a military strategist, a Moriarty archetype, someone that will out-think you, out-strategize you — that really resonated. He’s a critical player in this time period. We’re fortunate to have that character, and fortunate to have Lars [Mikkelsen] playing him.”

Quite a few Star Wars projects are currently on the horizon, including the Disney+ series Ahsoka, The Acolyte, and Skeleton Crew. On the gaming side, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was recently released, while Star Wars: Hunters, Star Wars: Eclipse, and a remake of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic are all on the horizon.