WARNING: SPOILERS FOR THE MANDALORIAN CHAPTER 13: THE JEDI (as if you haven’t watched it already)
Sure, we may have finally gotten The Child/Baby Yoda‘s name in the most recent episode of The Mandalorian (Grogu) and yes, we finally have a backstory for the little guy (he’s been in hiding since the prequels), but Star Wars fanboys have been losing their minds over the live-action debut of Ahsoka Tano, a fan-favorite character from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels animated series.
Ahsoka was created by George Lucas and Dave Filoni and was voiced in the two animated series by Ashley Eckstein. Rosario Dawson portrayed her IRL in The Mandalorian Chapter 13: The Jedi, which was written and directed by Filoni (making no real surprise that she’d be popping up here). The reception of Dawson’s portrayal of Ahsoka has been so positive that it has sparked rumors of a possible spin-off.
Bob Iger has made mention that they intend on expanding the Star Wars Universe on Disney+, stating, “The priority in the next few years is television with The Mandalorian season 2 coming in October, and then more coming from The Mandalorian thereafter, including the possibility of infusing it with more characters and the possibility of taking those characters in their own direction in terms of series.” The only confirmed series on the docket is the Obi-Wan Kenobi series with Ewan McGregor and the Rogue One spin-off series about Cassian Andor with Diego Luna.
As Ahsoka Tano gave Din Djarin the “Don’t Let The Door Hitcha on the Way Out” treatment at the end of Chapter 13, it’s unlikely we’ll see her anymore in Season Two, but there are high hopes for her return in Season 3. At this point, Jon Favreau and company are out-Star Warsing Star Wars, managing to simultaneously spin The Mandalorian into a sequel to the prequels, Clone Wars, Rebels and Return of the Jedi, while still being its own thing. An Ahsoka Tano spin-off could only serve to propel that momentum.