Ahsoka fans divided by Dave Filoni refusing to recast Thrawn

Dave Filoni couldn’t face recasting Thrawn in Ahsoka because Lars Mikkelsen’s voice was too iconic – and many Star Wars fans are saying the same thing about another actor.

Mikkelsen made his long-awaited, chilling return as the blue-faced, Chiss villain in Ahsoka’s sixth episode, marching past his Night Troopers in Peridea and ready to shake up the franchise.

The cast and crew have been open about the series picking up from Star Wars Rebels; Filoni himself has said that it’s essentially Season 5, with characters’ arcs carrying over into live-action with only a few changes.

However, with the exception of Thrawn, the vast majority of characters have been recast – but if Thrawn is so iconic, what about the original voice of the titular Jedi?

Ahsoka fans say Ashley Eckstein should have been cast in live-action

Speaking to ET at Star Wars Celebration earlier this year, Filoni said it was a “very considered decision” to bring Mikkelsen back as Thrawn. “It was a very big challenge to cast the voice… eventually that led me to Lars and we were all very happy with his performance in Rebels,” he said.

“Coming to this, talking to John [Favreau], I was like, ‘It’s gonna be very hard to beat Lars, because Lars is in my head. The sound of his voice is what I write to.’

“I couldn’t be happier… he looks wonderful in blue. Not everybody does, so that’s a factor… it’s a unique thing to bring this character to life.”

While Mikkelsen’s performance as Thrawn has already been praised, several fans have asked why Ashley Eckstein, the original voice of Ahsoka, also didn’t return for the live-action series. “It’s so weird to say this about an actor who played the role for two seasons while also happily booting Ashley Eckstein, who originated Ahsoka with you and played her for more than 10 years before she was replaced by a popular internet fan cast,” one user tweeted.

“The level of disrespect for Ashley Eckstein from Filoni right now is astounding,” another wrote. “if I was Ashley Eckstein there would be no place Filoni could hide,” a third tweeted.

Others have come to Filoni’s defense and pointed out that Eckstein recently voiced the character in Tales of the Jedi. “The way some people talk about Ashley Eckstein on here, you would think Filoni fired her on the spot and forbid her from ever playing Ahsoka again. she’s still voicing Ahsoka! Ashley just wasn’t the right person to play her in live-action and that’s okay. Let’s move on,” one wrote.

“This is such a weird thing to say when Dave Filoni is still happily working with Ashley Eckstein on animated projects like Tales of the Jedi,” another tweeted.

Ahsoka Episodes 1-6 are available on Disney+ now, which you can sign up for here. You can check out our other coverage below:

Episode 1 review | Episode 2 review | Episode 3 review | Episode 4 review | Episode 5 review | Episode 6 review | Ahsoka cast and characters | Who plays Grand Admiral Thrawn? | Who is Captain Enoch? | Who is Marrok? | What time does Ahsoka come out? | How many episodes are there? | When does Ahsoka take place in the Star Wars timeline? | How long are the episodes? | Where was Ahsoka during the original Star Wars trilogy? | Darth Sion and the Eye of Sion explained | Who is Jacen Syndulla? | What are purrgil? | The World Between Worlds explained | Why does Anakin call Ahsoka Snips? | Ahsoka budget: How much did it cost? | Dark Jedi vs the Sith | How old is Ahsoka? | The Siege of Mandalore explained | When does Ahsoka die? | Night Troopers explained

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