Rosario Dawson offered some comments on whether Ahsoka is simply a continuation of Star Wars Rebels.
Many fans consider it just that.
After all, the show will see nearly its entire cast make live-action debuts, including Hera Syndulla and Sabine Wren. It'll even answer all the big cliffhangers the show left for viewers at the end of its fourth season, including whatever happened to Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger.
Ahsoka showrunner Dave Filoni recently confirmed that calling the upcoming Disney+ series Season 5 of Star Wars Rebels was "one way of looking at it."
Natasha Liu Bordizzo, who plays Sabine Wren in the upcoming show, shared that watching Rebels beforehand "will add more weight to everything."
Is Ahsoka Season 5 of Rebels?
But what about everyone that hasn't seen the animated side of Star Wars?
Following comments from showrunner Dave Filoni and Sabine Wren actress Natasha Liu Bordizzo on the topic, while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Ahsoka star Rosario Dawson offered her opinion about whether the upcoming series is a continuation of Star Wars Rebels.
When asked if the show is basically season 5 of Rebels, to which the star responded "yes," but then went into a lengthier response, first explaining the many tiers of Star Wars fans:
"Oh my goodness, yes. Natasha [Liu Bordizzo] said something to that effect, and there was some fanfare about it. But it’s important. With Star Wars fans, there’s folks who really just watch the films, but now and especially with 'The Mandalorian', more [and more] people are watching the live-action shows. And then there are people who watch the animated shows. There’s even a tier beyond that with all the books and fan fiction."
Dawson elaborated that "it's always been very highly considered to make sure [everyone can watch it]:"
"So there’s different levels to the Star Wars family, and it’s always been very highly considered to make sure [everyone can watch it]. Dave [Filoni] has done a really brilliant job, and knowing the universe so inside and out — and having created so many of the characters and spaces within that universe — he just knows where to start. He knows what needs to be alluded to, and he is just really brilliant at figuring out how to make it for both. So it made a big impact and difference having him on set."
The star then went on to talk about the "six-month shoot," which she claims "would've been a year" had they not "had two different crews" hard at work all at once:
"We filmed in tandem the whole time. It was a six-month shoot, and it probably would’ve been a year had we not had two different crews filming multiple different episodes at the same time. So it was a lot, and it was constantly being jumbled around, but Dave made pre-vises or pre-animations for the entirety of each episode."
Dawson noted Filoni's habit with pre-vises came "from his animation work" and that the filmmaker simply "had it down" while creating the show:
"He brought that over from his animation work, but he wouldn’t let us really watch it. So I haven’t seen anything of 'Ahsoka' either, but that’s not surprising. It’s a very weird project to be a part of, as it’s one of the biggest things, so they’re like, 'See nothing, say nothing.' But Dave had it down, and the different directors kept that connection."
She shared that even the stars themselves "didn't have it all in advance:"
"So it was beautiful to just craft this thing as itself. It is a new part of the journey, but you don’t need to know the previous part of it to get engaged. And that’s one of the things I’m excited for people to see and experience. We got so excited when we were doing our table reads. We had it revealed to us episode by episode; we didn’t have it all in advance. And then Dave used our voices [from the table reads] and put them in the pre-vises that they watched."
Dawson ended by stating how everyone behind the scenes "had many test opportunities" to see if Ahsoka would "work for both the dedicated old-school fans and the new:"
"So we had these little animated video game characters of ourselves on these sets that they were starting to design and build, and you would watch these mini episodes. So it was pretty remarkable. But they figured it out, and they had many test opportunities to figure out if it was gonna work for both the dedicated old-school fans and the new."
Ahsoka is for Old and New Fans
Many fans won't be surprised to hear that the creatives are aiming to make sure this new content is accessible as possible.
Though, there should be no doubt that being caught up on, in this case, Star Wars Rebels, would only increase the weight and meaning of everything. The same could even be said of the show's relation (and The Clone Wars) to The Mandalorian, which has been playing off of lore first established on the animated side of things for quite a while now.
Next year's The Acolyte will be facing a similar question regarding its audience.
The story will take place in the High Republic, which is an era first fleshed out by over a dozen books and even more comics. Despite that, the show will undoubtedly be accessible to a wider audience, just like Ahsoka.
Though, with that said, going forward, it seems that Dave Filoni is positioning Ahsoka and her world as set up for his big MandoVerse crossover event film—a project that'll almost certainly be a little less friendly to those who haven't watched anything prior.
Ahsoka hits Disney+ on August 23.
