The Big Picture
- Ahsoka should avoid unnecessary cameos and distractions from other Star Wars characters to create a more impactful and focused narrative.
- The series should ensure that the episode count is meaningful and purposeful, allowing the protagonist’s emotional journey to take center stage.
- Instead of focusing on future movie plans, it is important to prioritize the present and create emotional hooks for audiences to care about the characters in Ahsoka.
Ahsoka is about to premiere on Disney+, marking the return of Rosario Dawson‘s performance as the former Jedi who walked away from the Order after the Council didn’t trust her. But even if a new Star Wars series might sound exciting, there are a couple of issues seen in the other galactic adventures that have arrived on the platform in recent years that should be avoided by Dave Filoni‘s latest project. The Mandalorian had a lot of potential when it premiered in 2019, but some recent cameos and distractions have kept it from achieving the potential the studio desired from it.
Let the Cameos Go
The first season of The Mandalorian introduced Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) as a lonesome warrior who has to find his way through an uncertain galaxy after the fall of the Empire. But even if he was already used to collecting bounties without asking too much about his client’s intention, everything changed for him when he got to meet Grogu. The creature formerly known as Baby Yoda immediately captured his heart, making him think twice before heading towards any dangerous situation. The story centered on the bond they were forming, but it wouldn’t last for long.
Starting with the second season of the successful series, the plot tried to follow Din’s journey of finding a Jedi Master who could teach Grogu in the ways of the Force, but the narrative got too distracted by the characters from other Star Wars titles that kept popping up for quick appearances. Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), and even Ahsoka herself were placed in the spotlight, not because of how they affected the protagonist’s journey, but simply because they were there. If the new series wants to create an emotional impact on its audience, it needs to stay away from those tropes.
Ahsoka will have plenty of connections to the wider Star Wars galaxy merely because of the characters who will be a part of the main cast of the series, and it doesn’t need any more deep cuts that the general audience simply won’t understand or care about. Part of the reason why the previous live-action series haven’t had the cultural impact Disney hoped they could have was because there weren’t a lot of hooks present for new audiences to jump in, bringing back plot lines and characters simply because of nostalgia instead of actively looking to expand the fan base.
Give Purpose to the Episode Count
When The Book of Boba Fett premiered in the final days of 2021, audiences were expected to see an idea similar to what was proposed for a theatrical movie before the box office performance of Solo: A Star Wars Story made Lucasfilm scrap their plans for more spinoff. Instead, the studio released a simplistic story over the course of a couple of months, with a climatic battle taking place in the final episode. But instead of allowing Temuera Morrison to shine with a profound look at his character, most of the episodes centered around a bunch of filler narrative only to arrive at a place of development during its final moments.
Ahsoka has a confirmed schedule consisting of eight episodes, with two chapters being released as part of the series’ premiere on August 23. The show will run until October, allowing fans to go on a journey with their favorite characters throughout most of the fall. But the story should have a meaningful reason to use its runtime. If Ahsoka Tano is embarking on a journey to find Ezra (Eman Esfandi) before the evil Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) has a chance of bringing the Empire back to its former glory, let her take her time with it. The protagonist needs to explore her emotions more than anything else. She doesn’t need to mindlessly fly through the galaxy before a slightly thrilling fight in the finale.
The Mandalorian faced this problem during its most recent installment, where Din Djarin had to confront Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) once and for all. The season only existed to establish Bo-Katan as the new ruler of Mandalore, separate the protagonist from his cult and kill off the antagonist that had been threatening his life for about three and a half years. It took the series eight episodes to do that when that narrative could’ve been established in a movie made for either theaters or television. Instead of organically adopting the storytelling possibilities a television schedule offers, The Mandalorian tried to extend the premise of a movie for six hours. That’s something Ahsoka could avoid.
Forget About Dave Filoni’s Upcoming Movie
There’s no denying that the Star Wars universe has always had an interconnected nature to it, especially after Disney acquired the franchise back in 2012. But considering the current state the franchise finds itself in, it would be the best for the new stories told in the galaxy where the Skywalker Saga took place to focus on its characters’ emotional arcs instead of referencing other narratives. Even if the future of the series is starting to shape up, the present is important for Star Wars, perhaps now more than ever, unless the studio is willing to risk the general audience’s interest in their universe.
Back at this year’s Star Wars Celebration Europe, it was announced that Dave Filoni will be directing a new movie set in the franchise meant for theatrical release, set to close out the plot lines established in the live-action series related to The Mandalorian. Taking into account the characters that have been vital to that interconnected narrative, Din Djarin, Boba Fett, Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ahsoka herself are speculated to appear in the film, but that doesn’t mean audiences have to care about that right now. If there’s no emotional hook for the public to care about the character today, there won’t be much to worry about when the movie eventually flies toward the big screen.
Looking back at the story that began with Din Djarin in retrospective, Filoni and Jon Favreau have been quite busy planting the seeds of the adventure to come, setting the stage for one final showdown between the heroes of Mandalore and the forces that want to bring back the Empire to what it was when Darth Vader was still around. But perhaps thinking too much about the future is what led The Mandalorian to stop paying attention to what is happening today. And if Ahsoka wants to create some momentum toward the release of the upcoming movie, it has to trust the Force and give audiences a protagonist they can care about.
You can check out the official trailer for Ahsoka below, before the series premieres on Disney+ on August 23.
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