Lucasfilm may have made most of its big announcements on day 1 of Star Wars Celebration, but it saved a few for day 2. At the Ahsoka season 2 panel, series creator Dave Filoni and star Rosario Dawson confirmed that Hayden Christensen will return as Anakin Skywalker.
Christensen first played the adult Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones in 2002 and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in 2005. He reprised his role for Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries in 2022 before taking on a larger part in the first season of Ahsoka. Anakin’s Force ghost was last seen in the season 1 finale watching over Ahsoka (Dawson) after she was trapped in a distant galaxy.
During the panel, it was also announced that Game of Thrones‘ Rory McCann will be taking over the role of Baylan Skol, the former Jedi who was played by the late Ray Stevenson in the first season of Ahsoka. Skol stood out from the rest of the antagonists on the series because he wasn’t a Sith or malevolently evil. Instead, Skol was ambivalent about the light and dark sides of the Force while pursuing his own agenda. Filoni confirmed that his journey will continue in parallel to Ahsoka’s in season 2.
One of the lingering threads from the previous season was the return of Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen), one of the most formidable military minds in the Empire. Filoni revealed that the New Republic’s Admiral Ackbar will appear in the second season and go “head-to-head with Thrawn.” Filoni also joked that he had to restrain himself from using Ackbar’s famous “it’s a trap!” line from Return of the Jedi.
Production of Ahsoka season 2 is expected to begin later this month. In related news from Star Wars Celebration, Darth Maul is getting his own animated series in 2026. Lucasfilm also formally announced Shawn Levy and Ryan Gosling’s Star Wars film and shared a first look at The Mandalorian & Grogu.