‘Ahsoka’ Season 2: Hayden Christensen Returning As Anakin Skywalker, Rory McCann Taking Over Baylan Skoll & More – Star Wars Celebration

Gosh, it’s been a long time since the season one finale of Ahsoka — one year and seven months. But two teases came out of the Ahsoka panel tonight at Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo: first Hayden Christensen is coming back as Anakin Skywalker; but also Rory McCann is stepping in to play evil Jedi Baylan Skoll after the death of Ray Stevenson.

Also, Admiral Ackbar is returning — and that’s not a trap. “He’s going head to head with Thrawn,” said Dave Filoni.

Season 2 is set to go into production next week, said the group tonight.

Stevenson died in May 2023 before season one of Ahsoka debuted. He played a key nefarious antagonist. Dawson worked with McCann 20 years ago, and concurred with Filoni that when it came to filling in Stevenson’s shoes, it boiled down to an actor, and their eyes. McCann has that intensity.

Filoni got emotional when remembering Stevenson. “Season 2 was predictably a big challenge because of losing Ray,” said Filoni who is the creator of the show.

“I knew Ray from working on voice acting with him,” he said, “It was a challenge for me to consider continuing for a while. But I have a wonderful support group in Jon (Favreau) and Rosario (Dawson)”.

Favreau, Dawson and Christensen were on stage today in Tokyo with Filoni.

“I found a way in — I had Ray in my head. I’m grateful for all my conversations with him about Baylan. So, I understood what to do, it just took a while to get there. I’m very confident now that Ray would be happy with the direction that we’ve chosen,” said Filoni who made the decision in concert with the late actor’s family.

“The character is meant to be the parallel to Ahsoka in every way. If there’s a light, there’s a dark, and Baylan is representing a different journey for a Jedi as you (Rosario) represent one who walked away from the (Jedi) order, so did he. That’s a parallel that must continue,” said Filoni.

McCann’s credits are numerous including Gladiator II, Hot Fuzz, Jumanji: The Next Level as well as 39 episodes of HBO’s Game of Thrones as Sandor ‘The Hound’ Clegane.

The last we left off in October 2023, Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) made the jump to hyperspace via a space loop while Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson), Sabine (Natasha Liu) and Ezra (Eman Esfandi) were marooned in the green tundra tumbleweeds of Peridea in a galaxy far, far away. Thrawn’s m.o. is to reassemble the Empire aka “The Thrawn campaign,” which was a series of military and political maneuvers by the blue man to restore the Empire and implode the New Republic.

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