Star Wars series ‘Ahsoka’ reveals who will play Grand Admiral Thrawn

After Star Wars fans were treated to the first trailer for the upcoming Disney+ series ‘Ahsoka’ on Friday, they now know who will play the live-action version of Grand Admiral Thrawn.

Who is playing Grand Admiral Thrawn in ‘Ahsoka’?

On Saturday, Lucasfilm announced that Lars Mikkelsen, brother of Mads Mikkelsen, will play the longstanding villain in the series.

The announcement came at the Star Wars Celebration fan convention in London, with Mikkelsen joining the cast of ‘Ahsoka’ on stage at the end of the panel.

“It’s wonderful,” Mikkelsen said about returning to the role, having voiced the character in the 2016 animated series ‘Star Wars: Rebels’.

Star Wars fans have waited a long time to see Thrawn cast in a live-action role, as he has long been a favorite.

The character was originally created as part of series of novels written by Timothy Zahn and released in the 1990s that covered events after ‘Return of the Jedi’.

In the books, Thrawn is a ruthless Grand Admiral in the Empire who takes charge of whatever is left of the Imperial fleet and tries to take down the New Republic.

After Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, the books were no longer part of Star Wars canon ahead of the sequel trilogy of films.

However, the character returned in ‘Rebels’, which takes place between ‘Revenge of the Sith’ and ‘A New Hope’, and was voiced by Mikkelsen.

Star Wars fans got a quick look at Grand Admiral Thrawn

Although Mikkelsen wasn’t confirmed as Grand Admiral Thrawn until after the first ‘Ahsoka’ trailer was released, fans have already been given a look at the character.

However, it was only a glimpse of the back of the character, who was mentioned by Ahsoka in Season 2 Episode 5 of ‘The Mandalorian’.

The episode saw Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) ask another character where she can find Thrawn, though she didn’t get an answer.

Expect the search for Thrawn and Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) to be a big story in ‘Ahsoka’, which was part of the ‘Star Wars Rebels’ finale.

The pair were last seen in Thrawn’s ship before it was taken away by purrgil, and Ezra stayed behind to make sure the Grand Admiral was defeated for good.