Good afternoon from the Celebration Stage at Star Wars Celebration Japan. Scroll down and refresh for updates on the Ahsoka panel!

LIVE UPDATES

1.04 – Panel starts with a behind-the-scenes sizzle reel from Season 1.

1.07 – Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, Rosario Dawson come out onstage.

1.09 – Filoni talks about Hayao Miyazaki’s influence (and specifically, Princess Mononoke) on Star Wars and the creation of Ahsoka, the character.

1.09 – Favreau: “After the first season of The Mandalorian, we were figuring out what to do next, and we thought there’d be an opportunity to start introducing other characters that had been introduced in other media. First and foremost, his favorite character, Ahsoka. It sort of served as a de facto pilot for us to see if this show could work.”

1.11 – Filoni: It came to my attention because you [Rosario] were involved online. And then it came to me where I was like ‘Oh yeah, you would be good as Ahsoka.’”

1.14 – Filoni talks about shooting the fight between Diana Lee Inosanto and Dawson’s Ahsoka in the episode of The Mandalorian in only one day, and then George Lucas showing up to visit.

1.15 – Rosario Dawson talks about jumping from a one-episode appearance to playing her across different series and finally into her own show.

1.17 – Filoni talks about the complications of bringing Ahsoka to live action due to the complex costume and makeup required for the character.

1.18 – Favreau talks about how the creative process changes as they are working on different series. “There was a sense where Dave was really supporting when we were working to bring Mandalorian to the screen. But when we worked on episodes to bring characters he had created, the creative center of gravity shifted, because so many people felt connected to what he had created. I was trying to support as much as I could.”

1.19 – “It’s an elegant way of saying I have some toys and Jon has some toys, and we’re always like ‘I can’t play with your toys and you can’t play with mine.’” – Dave Filoni

1.20 – “We can mention Thrawn in your show. But then I get to play with him.” – Dave Filoni

1.21 – “It’s the collaboration that for me has been what this is about,” added Favreau

1.22 – “I think it’s the power of the character. You’re a warrior, but also this time a mentor. I try to design each show so that you don’t have to see anything else. If you watch the first season of Ahsoka, it’s no different than when you jump into A New Hope and Obi-Wan is talking about the Clone Wars,” says Dave Filoni.

1.23 – “No one has had more influence on Ahsoka than her master, Anakin Skywalker.” A video plays from Episode 5.

1.26 – Hayden Christensen walks out.

1.27 – “It was a dream to get to do,” says Hayden Christensen about bringing Ahsoka and Anakin together in live-action.

1.28 – Rosario Dawson talks about the scope of the character we got to see after witnessing young and mature Ahsoka in the same show. The crowd erupts as she mentions Ariana Greenblatt’s name.

1.29 – “She was awesome. That’s a hard one. I’ve been on this for a long time and collaborated with Ashley Eckstein for years. I’ve drawn this character almost every day for years and years, so I know every expression she has. But when she appeared in the headtails, that was one of the most surreal moments. Then she started imitating you, on set and off set. And I’m just in the background like, ‘This is weird.’ I don’t know what she was talking about. There’s clones in the background. I was like ‘This is real.’”

1.31 – “Don’t wait for a time and think it’s gonna happen later,” Dave Filoni says George Lucas taught him.

1.32 – “It was too much fun,” says Hayden Christensen. “It’s a really compelling time period in Anakin’s life that we never got to see in live-action. Back when we were making Episode III, George was talking about the Clone Wars and how he was a great warrior and a leader. And I was like ‘Sounds really cool George.’ I was really excited to get to do that in live-action.”

1.34 – “I had to make up entire dimensions to get to work with you,” says Dave Filoni to Hayden Christensen. He jokes how Hayden can swing a lightsaber like no one else.

1.35 – The conversation turns to Sabine being Ahsoka’s Padawan in the show.

1.37 – “I’m loving seeing Ahsoka take on that new challenge,” says Rosario Dawson about her becoming a master.

1.40 – “When I was doing Clone Wars, I was like ‘I really need to see Hayden do this.’ And then it was ‘I really need to see you do this.’” Hayden Christensen and Filoni go back and forth about collaborating with George Lucas over the years.

1.41 – The host turns it to the end of the first season. What does the ending mean? Dave Filoni: “It means you get Season 2.”

1.41 – “We’re about to go into it in a week when we start filming,” says Rosario Dawson.

1.42 – “Season 2 was a big challenge in many ways. It was particularly challenging because of losing Ray [Stevenson]. I knew Ray from working as a voice actor with him. I always thought that when I make live-action, I need him to play a powerful Jedi Knight that I had in mind. He was wonderful to all of us. How big a loss you think it is, it’s bigger. It was a challenge for me to even think about continuing the character, but I had a great team around me. I’m confident now that Ray would be happy with the direction we’re going in. We’re continuing because the character was meant to be important. Baylan is representing a parallel to Ahsoka, as someone who walked away from the Order in a different way. It led us to the idea of bringing someone else to play the part.”

1.44 – “I talked with Jon and we decided we needed to find the right person, and we thought we needed someone to play the part that understood what Ray did.”

1.45 – Dave Filoni announced Rory McCann will be taking over the role. Two pictures of him in costume appear on screen.

1.45 – “You’ll love him. We love him. The Force is with him,” says Filoni about McCann.

1.46 – “I’m lucky because I get to be a part of it, but really, I’m just the first audience member,” says Favreau. Says his creative process starts with him drawing, which then becomes a script, and then “a collaborative art.” Says that what’s different now is that he now has the voices of the cast with him.

1.47 – “Really, Star Wars is about family, about evil, about relationships. For me, as someone who gets to be a part of this family too, I’m looking forward to seeing how these relationships will be fulfilled.”

1.48 – Filoni talks about some of the sets from the pictures on screen, from Season 2.

1.49 – Filoni confirms Admiral Ackbar will be back on Season 2, going up against Grand Admiral Thrawn.

1.50 – We will get to see Loth kittens. “I have to pay for the show somehow.”

1.51 – “It’s a big mystery. The father is there. The son is there. Most of the daughter is there,” says Filoni about the Mortis Gods.

1.52 – “Thrawn is the right villain of this time period for the simple reason given in Heir to the Empire. The genius of that is that he doesn’t have the Force but holds his own against anybody.”

1.53 – Filoni says how he hadn’t worked with Lars Mikkelsen in studio since the work they did in animation was done remotely, and therefore hadn’t realized (but was delighted by) how tall he was.

1.54 – Favreau talks about Thrawn and how having a smart villain makes for a much better story.

1.55 – Rosario Dawson talks about how Lars Mikkelsen is the nicest, kindest, most beautiful person, and how he had tears in his eyes during the last Celebration when he was announced. Praises the entire cast and crew, adds how excited she is to work with Rory McCann after training together for the past few months.

1.57 – “We haven’t read all the episodes and oh my God, he keeps rewriting them,” says Rosario Dawson. “As we speak,” adds Favreau.

1.58 – Anakin will be back in Season 2, says Hayden Christensen. The crowd roars.

1.59 – “We have one more thing. This is a tricky one. We haven’t filmed anything. So I thought back when I was a kid and I’d seen A New Hope, and all of a sudden there was a trailer for Empire Strikes Back.” We’re seeing a retro-looking trailer for Season 2.

2.02 – The trailer confirms Sabine, Chopper, Hera, and Zeb coming back for Season 2.