Star Wars: Dave Filoni Says Thrawn Is “Definitely” the Big Threat in The New Republic Era

In the original trilogy of Star Wars films, Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine, and the Galactic Empire were the major threats, while the sequel trilogy saw Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader Snoke, and The First Order serve as the primary foes, but with series like The Mandalorian and the upcoming Star Wars: Ahsoka, a prevailing villain has yet to emerge. According to filmmaker Dave Filoni, that will all be changing, as he recently recalled to Empire Magazine, per r/StarWarsLeaks, that Grand Admiral Thrawn is about to be established as the biggest threat in the age of The New Republic. The latest issue of Empire Magazine hits shelves on May 11th and Star Wars: Ahsoka is set to debut later this year on Disney+.

Speaking to Thrawn being confirmed as the big villain of this era, Filoni detailed, “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. 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.”

With both The Mandalorian and Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett taking place between the prominence of two nefarious regimes, audiences have witnessed smaller-scaled adventures, for better or worse, yet Filoni clearly knows that there’s something bigger looming out in other corners of the galaxy far, far away. 

Thrawn debuted in a trilogy of novels by Zahn back in the ’90s, though when Disney purchased Lucasfilm, it relegated those stories to the non-canonical Legends corner of the franchise. With Filoni’s Star Wars Rebels, the filmmaker started bringing back select elements from Legends lore to establish them as canon, including making Thrawn the major threat of that animated series, which took place in the years leading up to Star Wars: A New Hope. 

Despite both Thrawn and protagonist Ezra Bridger seemingly dying in the series finale of Rebels, Season 2 of The Mandalorian confirmed Thrawn was still alive, with Ahsoka Tano being on a quest to find him. The first trailer for Ahsoka offered glimpses of both Thrawn and Ezra, so with Filoni confirmed to be developing a film that is set to be a crossover of multiple characters in this era, we won’t be surprised if Thrawn is the major villain of that project, potentially leading to his demise.

Stay tuned for updates on Thrawn before Star Wars: Ahsoka premieres on Disney+ later this year.

Are you looking forward to seeing more of Thrawn? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!