The latest issue of Empire Magazine hits shelves today, May 11th, and features twenty pages of interviews from Star Wars Celebration, where Dave Filoni confirmed that Grand Admiral Thrawn is the biggest threat in the New Republic era.
Speaking to Thrawn being confirmed as the big villain of this era, Filoni detailed, “Definitely, in my eyes. When Timothy Zahn wrote Heir to the Empire, Thrawn became this very iconic villain, because he was different than anything we’d seen before. He wasn’t another helmet-wearing, lightsaber-wielding bad guy, you know? There’s a lot of pull to make characters that are like Vader, because it is so iconic. But the boldness that Tim had was to make somebody that wasn’t like that, that didn’t have those abilities, but could fight in a different way. In the words ‘Star Wars,’ the ‘war’ part of it — him being a Grand Admiral, a leader, a military strategist, a Moriarty archetype, someone that will out-think you, out-strategize you — that really resonated. He’s a critical player in this time period. We’re fortunate to have that character, and fortunate to have Lars [Mikkelsen] playing him.”
You can order a print copy of Empire magazine online now here.
Watch all four seasons of Star Wars Rebels on Disney+ now, and mark your calendars for for the start of the live-action Ahsoka series coming to the streaming platform this August.
