Star Wars: Ahsoka Casting Rumor Could See Another Animated Character Coming to Live-Action

A new report suggests another popular character from Star Wars animation could come to live-action in the upcoming Ahsoka series on Disney+, spinning out of The Mandalorian. Lucasfilm announced the Ahsoka show as part of the Star Wars Disney+ series set during The Mandalorian's post-Return of the Jedi era. Rosario Dawson, who debuted as Ahsoka in The Mandalorian, will front the new series. According to The Iluminerdi, she'll be joined by "a lead character in her 20-30." The report also suggests that the studio is "looking to cast an Asian woman for the role." Sources say this character Barriss Offee, the Jedi Knight who betrayed the Jedi Order and frame Ahsoka.

As told in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Ahsoka and Barriss were peers, padawans at the same time. Barriss trained under Lumina Unduli and achieved Jedi Knight status before Ahsoka. However, Barriss became disillusioned with the Jedi Order during the Clone Wars, bombed the Jedi Temple, and let Ahsoka take the fall for it. This led to Ahsoka's expulsion from the Order. Ahsoka's master, Anakin, eventually cleared her name by discovering Barriss was the true culprit, but Ahsoka chose not to rejoin the Order.

Ahsoka didn't rejoin the Jedi Order because she was sympathetic to Barriss's cause, even if she disapproved of her methods. Ahsoka later reflected on her relationship with Barriss during her time hiding out immediately after the Republic's fall, as told in E.K. Johnston's Star Wars novel Ahsoka:

"Barriss Offee was wrong about a lot of things. She let her anger cloud her judgement and she tried to justify her actions without considering their wider effects. She was afraid of the war and she didn't trust people she should've listened to. But she had a point about the Republic and the Jedi. There was something wrong with them, and we were too locked into our traditions to see what it was. Barriss should've done something else. She shouldn't have killed anyone, and she definitely shouldn't have framed me for it, but if we'd listened to her—really listened—we might have been able to stop Palpatine before he took power."

Running into Barriss again would allow Ahsoka to gain a sense of closure over that episode of her life and perhaps give Barriss an opportunity for redemption. However, it's unclear how Barriss would have survived Order 66. After Anakin caught her, she was given into the custody of the Jedi, led away by a Jedi Temple Guard who would later become the Grand Inquisitor. Given that Palpatine turned the Jedi Temple into his seat of power, it's easy to assume Darth Vader easily slaughtered the Jedi still in the Temple at the time. Then again, it's possible that she was tortured and twisted until she turned to the dark side of the Force and became an inquisitor herself.

Another possibility is that this isn't casting for Barriss Offee at all. Instead, given that Ahsoka is after Thrawn, likely as part of her quest to find Ezra Bridger, this could be casting for Sabine Wren, Ezra's Mandalorian former crewmate who'd likely accompany Ahsoka on that mission.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.