While Star Wars has fallen behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe in content quantity on Disney+, the galaxy far, far away is due for an imminent streaming surge. Even with The Book of Boba Fett officially in the rearview and Obi-Wan Kenobi on the two-sunned horizon, Lucasfilm still has one of its most popular characters in the on-deck circle: Rosario Dawson's Ahsoka Tano.
It didn't take long for the powers that be to greenlight a solo series for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars Jedi. After making her leap to live-action in The Mandalorian Season 2, it took only 13 days for Lucasfilm to officially announce Ahsoka, a show that would center around the self-titled character and her presumed mission to hunt down Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Ahsoka has had a lengthy pre-production process since being announced in December 2020. While no scenes have been shot just yet, the series dedicated the past 365 days to assembling a star-studded ensemble. Aside from one confirmed and familiar Sith Lord, undisclosed roles have been dished out to Aladdin's Mena Massoud, Pacific Rim: Uprising's Ivanna Sakhno, and Birds of Prey's Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
This particular Mandalorian spin-off isn't due for another year, but new reports indicated cameras will be rolling soon.
Ahsoka's Rumored Production Start
The friend of the Skywalker family will be sitting at the head of the table shortly.
According to both the Bespin Bulletin and Production Weekly, Ahsoka is scheduled to begin filming in April 2022. This is a slight delay from the originally rumored production start of late March, which was reportedly pushed due to additional filming weeks scheduled for The Mandalorian Season 3.
Ahsoka will shoot under the working title Stormcrow.
Bright Future for Star Wars
Star Wars has had start-stop momentum for the past couple of years, but current production trajectories put the franchise in a good spot.
Avoiding overlap with The Mandalorian's schedule could be due to high demand for The Volume technology, but it likely means major Ahsoka players are currently working on Pedro Pascal's third season. The most obvious is Ahsoka herself, as Rosario Dawson is already familiar with the bounty hunter and his infant ally.
Beginning filming in April also gives the series a significant amount of wiggle room for post-production. The Mandalorian Season 2 shot for five months ahead of its October 2020 premiere, and that was without any noteworthy COVID-19 delays.
Barring any pandemic-related obstacles, this sets Ahsoka on a production schedule that will likely wrap around September, and with a release window of Spring 2023, it will have the entire winter to ensure those twin white lightsabers glow just right.
Ahsoka is currently in pre-production and will be streaming exclusively on Disney+.
MCU Writer, Editor, Podcaster
