Rosario Dawson, Star Wars: Ahsoka‘s protagonist, has revealed that the upcoming Disney Plus series has taken surprising inspiration from Lord of the Rings.
Speak against Weekly entertainment (EW) Before the actors’ strike brought Hollywood to a standstill, Dawson explained how Gandalf the Gray was a major influence on the titular character Ahsoka Tano.
Dawson reprises her role as the iconic Jedi from previous shows set in that galaxy far, far away Star Wars: Ahsoka. The former Daredevil star has since portrayed the live-action iteration of the fan favorite character The Mandalorian‘s second season. Before that, Ahsoka, who made her Star Wars bow in 2008 The Clone Wars animated series, was voiced by Ashley Eckstein in the aforementioned show and sequel series Star Wars: Rebels. It is the last of these two shows that, along with Ahsoka’s appearances in The Mandalorian And Boba Fett’s bookset up Star Wars: Ahsoka‘s story.
Despite her recent appearance in the Star Wars franchise, then Ahsoka Tano’s history is extensive and packed with character development. However, Dawson believes there is much more to discover from a character evolution standpoint with the beloved Twi’lek. However, she didn’t expect the next leg of Ahsoka’s journey to be affected by everyone’s favourite Lord of the Rings wizard (sorry, Radagast the Brown).
“In the animation (shows), you saw her go white,” Dawson told EW. “But what I loved is the idea that there was another level to her. (Showrunner) Dave (Filoni) and I talked a lot about Gandalf the Gray and Gandalf the White – talking about that transition and how she’s someone who is very capable and outstanding and looked up to as a leader, but she still has a level of development to go.”
As unexpected as that inspiration may sound, Star Wars: Ahsoka also derives its signals from other notable sources. Given Star Wars’ obvious nods to Akira Kurosawa movies, the samurai genre also influenced Ahsoka’s standalone series.
“She seems like a very lone wolf, and we kind of felt that coming rebels, where she works with all these different people, but she’s really on her own in a lot of ways,” Dawson said. We get to see what that’s like for her in this position and the path she chooses like a ronin of sorts, just this warrior on her own. And I really loved that we’re able to rekindle some of these relationships that she’s had from her past.
Since they exist in separate genre universes, we’ll never see Ahsoka and Gandalf meet, let alone interact. Yet it’s still intriguing to learn that JRR Tolkien’s legendary fantasy book series inspired one of the greatest sci-fi franchises of all time. It’s almost as surreal as learning that Shazam!: Anger of the Gods was partially influenced by the iconic anime movie Akira and beloved video game series The Legend of Zelda.
Anyway, we don’t have to wait long Star Wars: Ahsoka to make his Disney Plus bow. The TV series starring Dawson launches with a two-episode premiere on one of the world’s top streaming services on Wednesday, August 23.
For more Star Wars-based coverage, learn how to get the Star Wars movies in order and learn about the other new ones Star Wars movies and TV shows coming out in the next few years. As regards Lord of the Ringsfind out everything we know Power rings season 2 on Prime Video.