Major ‘Star Wars’ cinema villain has likely been revealed: an adversary for the Mandalorian and Co.

Among the three recently announced Star Wars movies is a Dave Filoni adventure that will conclude the so-called New Republic Era. In this time between the events of “Star Wars: “Episode VI – Return of the Jedi” and “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” it is revealed that although the Emperor and Darth Vader are defeated, but in the Hidden ex – Imperials continue to act, knowing how to exploit the outrageous demands of the young republic, eventually leading to the rise of the First Order.

This time is currently mainly explored with novels and on the streaming service Disney +. The series “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett” are already set during this period. The upcoming “Ahsoka” and “Skeleton Crew” series will also be set in this era. In addition, as mentioned, there will also be a film in which the events from all these series come together.

Director Dave Filoni has previously revealed that this film will not be just another special crossover installment of the series. It’s a real movie adventure and it takes a special threat that justifies great cinema.

Now he has probably already revealed who this great threat is. It’s a character that “Star Wars” fans adore, previously known from books and series, but who has long since earned a theatrical appearance: Grand Admiral Thrawn!

“Star Wars” fan favorite Thrawn also as a movie villain

Opposite the magazine While Filoni hasn’t explicitly stated that Thrawn is the villain of the New Republic movie, he leaves no doubt about it. The “iconic bully” is “definitely the big villain” for this era. He’s the one in control, previously well-known characters like Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) are just obstacles on the way to Thrawn.

What also intrigues Filoni about Thrawn is that he’s not “another helmet-wearing, lightsaber-wielding villain,” perhaps a little joke against Moff Gideon, who becomes too much of a wannabe by the end of The Mandalorian Season 3. Darth Vader was, as Kylo Ren already pretty much knew in the new movie trilogy.

There is no danger of such a recurrence with Thrawn. He is neither a fighter nor a Force user. He just has a razor sharp mind and studies his opponents in all their facets (especially their art) to predict how they will behave and outsmart them.

We’ve seen Grand Admiral Thrawn in the Star Wars Rebels series so far, where he’s proven to be a savvy opponent of the Rebel several times. At the end of the series, he disappeared into hyperspace. In Season 2 of The Mandalorian, we found out that Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) is still looking for him. In her own series”Ahsokashe will find him. A published trailer already briefly shows him from behind. We were also able to see a longer trailer during the Star Wars Celebration, which also showed the first glimpse of his face. It also became known That Lars Michaelsen, who has already voiced the character, will also play him. He will also likely appear in the movie.

He was also mentioned briefly in The Mandalorian. As Moff Gideon consults with other ex-Imperials, Thrawn’s right-hand man Gilad Pellaeon (Xander Berkeley) is part of the briefing. Thrawn’s absence is briefly discussed.

“Thrawn”: A fan favorite for over 30 years

The character’s story is even more complex. Already between 1991 and 1993, the sci-fi author Timothy Zahn published a trilogy based on “Star Wars 6”, in which Thrawn is the new villain. The series was praised by fans and still is.

After Disney took over the Lucasfilm company and thus “Star Wars”, George Lucas’s recommendation to do tabula rasa was followed, which means: all partly contradictory side stories from hundreds of books, comics, games etc. were thrown out of the canon. But it soon became clear that they wanted to bring back the best elements – and of course Thrawn led the way.

So it wasn’t just about his appearances in “Star Wars Rebels”, but Timothy Zahn wrote two new trilogies of novels about the character, both of which are now canon. Set in the time of the prequel trilogy beyond the galaxy far, far away, the three-part series “Thrawn: The Rise” gives us the backstory. Because Thrawn actually comes from the Chiss people, who try to isolate themselves from everyone else there. But shrewd tactician Thrawn recognizes the weaknesses of this isolation for the mighty empire, but must defend against intrigue on the complicated political stage (dominated by the power plays of the various ruling families).

Meanwhile, another series of novels (consisting of Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances, and Thrawn: Betrayal) wonderfully complement the character’s appearances in Star Wars: Rebels. Here it becomes even clearer why he is such a powerful opponent and how he made his career in the empire after leaving his homeland.

With these books it becomes clear why Thrawn is such a powerful and different opponent than we know from the rest of the “Star Wars” movies. It also becomes clear why it will take a concentrated gathering of countless characters to take on him in the cinema.

It is not yet known when this movie will be released. So far, Disney hasn’t announced which of the next “Star Wars” movies will be released first. In addition to Filoni’s film in the New Republic, these are a “Star Wars 9” sequel from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy about Jedi reconstruction of Rey (Daisy Ridley) and a “Dawn Of The Jedi” film from “Logan” – Director James Mangold, which takes us back 25,000 years to tell the story of the very first Jedi.