A new magazine cover teased the live-action debut of Lars Mikkelsen's Grand Amiral Thrawn in Disney+'s Ahsoka.
The most infamous creations of Star Wars' Legends expanded universe finally will come to live-action in Ahsoka after making his canon debut in Rebels. Thrawn will once again be played by Lars Mikkelsen, who delivered his voice in animation.
Thrawn has been referenced several times already in The Mandalorian as a formidable force in the remaining Empire remnants, and now, he will make his presence felt in the Rebels pseudo-sequel series Ahsoka.
Star Wars Teases Ahsoka's Live-Action Thrawn
Empire Magazine revealed the covers for its upcoming issue which will spotlight Star Wars' Ahsoka series ahead of its Disney+ premiere in August.
The special subscriber cover for the issue even teases the imminent arrival of Grand Admiral Thrawn as his shadow can be seen below Rosario Dawson's Jedi.
Star Wars has been cautious about showing off Thrawn's live-action look, with only the back of Lars Mikkelsen's head included in the Star Wars Celebration trailer. A better look at the villain was revealed privately to attendees of the event in a separate trailer.
The main cover for Empire's new issue includes a better look at Dawson's Ahsoka in action as she wields her famous white lightsaber.
The next issue of Empire goes on sale on Thursday, June 8, with the issue set to spotlight Ahsoka, Oppenheimer, Black Mirror, Blue Beetle, and more.
How Thrawn Is Star Wars' Looming Shadow
Based on the references to him in The Mandalorian, Thrawn appears to be the looming shadow over the Star Wars galaxy in this post-Return of the Jedi timeline. Ahsoka may be the series to finally bring him into the live-action forefront, but the chances are slim his story will be anywhere close to over when the season wraps.
The MandoVerse will continue to build for several more years to come across The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, Skeleton Crew, and more. This all comes as Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni build toward their own "climactic story event" to "culminate" this saga on the big screen in a currently undated movie.
There may be no better villain for the heroes of the MandoVerse to face off against in that movie than Grand Admiral Thrawn. But for that to play out in an effective and meaningful way, Lars Mikkelsen's Chiss villain will first have to cross paths with more of the major players including Din Djarin, Luke Skywalker, and more.
Filoni has said how he sees Thrawn as "the big bad of this New Republic era" who will be the one to "close out [these] interconnected stories." That would seem to imply there will be plenty more of his to come once he exits that shadow, with Thrawn on his way to being Star Wars' own Thanos.
Ahsoka is expected to hit Disney+ in August, with no exact date set yet.
