After being reported as a rumor this morning by Cinelinx, The Hollywood Reporter has just confirmed that Lucasfilm has found its Ezra Bridger.
Eman Esfandi (King Richard) will take on the role. It’s also confirmed that the character will make his live action debut in the upcoming Ahsoka series alongside Rosario Dawson.
We expect Disney to make the official announcement at the Lucasfilm panel at D23 later this weekend.
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Although the character seemed to have to sacrifice himself at the end of the canonical animated series Star Wars Rebels, the casting either means that the character is still alive or that he will appear in flashbacks.
It was previously believed that Aladdin star Mena Massoud would play the character, especially after one very cryptic Instagram post.
Even if at one point he was in talks to play the character, it seems that is not the case anymore.
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Expected to take place five years after the Return of the Jedi events, in Ahsoka, the titular character hunts for Grand Admiral Thrawn – the villain (anti-hero?) who joined Star Wars canon from the “Expanded Universe” via Star Wars Rebels (and various canon and EU novels by beloved author Timothy Zahn). Anakin Skywalker’s former padawan, Ahsoka Tano, pursues the shifty Imperial holdout hoping it will help her locate the missing Ezra Bridger, the young Jedi that disappeared with Thrawn in the finale of Rebels.
In addition to Dawson, Hayden Christensen will return to the small screen as Darth Vader after his appearance in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Also joining the cast are Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, and Ivanna Sakhno, all in currently unknown roles.
Peter Ramsey (Into the Spider-Verse) is among those in the director’s chair. Developed by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, in conjunction with their work on The Mandalorian, Ahsoka is expected to debut on Disney+ in 2023.
