Star Wars Rebels returns to Disney XD tonight as its third season gets underway, and it is bringing with it one of the most beloved characters from the Expanded Universe, as Grand Admiral Thrawn is introduced to the official Star Wars canon.
During an interview with Comic Book, Rebels showrunner Dave Filoni has been discussing the fan reaction to the inclusion of Thrawn (which was announced back at Star Wars Celebration in July), as well as the responsibility he feels to do the character justice.
“It was pretty amazing,” said Filoni with regards to the fan reaction. “It’s definitely one of those things as you build up to it that you’re wondering, ‘Okay, is this actually … Was this a good idea’ You always have that moment. No matter how much you like it and think it’s good and made the right decisions. There comes that time when you’re about to show it to an audience, and you’re like, ‘Oh, I wonder what they’re really going to think of this.'”
“We just wanted to always make sure that the character that we were bringing to the screen is very, very, very similar to what Timothy Zahn did in the book,” he continued. “If it couldn’t be, then it wasn’t going to be true to Thrawn, and we should just make it somebody else. I think that we were able to do that faithfully, and the energy in the room… People were… I have to say though, I was really surprised. I know how much people like the character, but I think when it’s not from one of the films you can always easily underestimate how much it means to somebody.”
Thrawn will make his debut in tonight’s double-length season three premiere ‘Steps Into Shadow’, and you can take a look at a couple of clips and a featurette for the episode here.
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Originally published September 24, 2016. Updated December 16, 2019.
