Ahsoka - Disney+ series

[mikeszekely]

8 hours ago, Thom said:

Was Ewen McGregor too young to BE (TO BE) Obi-wan, or was Alec Guinness too old?

Well, let's see... Alec Guinness was older, but no worse than Katiee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan.  Sources say Obi-Wan was born in 57 BBY, and Guinness was 63 when A New Hope came out.

Meanwhile, the Obi-Wan show was supposed to be 9 BBY, so Obi-Wan would have been 48.  Ewan McGregor (who, fun fact, is married to the actress that played Hera in Ahsoka) was 51 when it hit Disney+.

We can work backward, too.  Obi-Wan was 38 at the end of the Clone Wars, and Ewan was 34 at the time of Revenge of the Sith.  Obi-Wan was 35 at the start of the Clone Wars, Ewan was 31 when Attack of the Clones premiered.  Obi-Wan was 25 when he killed Darth Maul, Ewan was 28 when The Phantom Menace came out.

[tekering]

1 hour ago, mikeszekely said:

Obi-Wan was 25 when he killed Darth Maul

Actually, he was 55. 😉

[mikeszekely]

8 hours ago, tekering said:

Actually, he was 55. 😉

[sh9000]

https://www.starwars.com/news/ahsoka-behind-the-scenes?cmp=smc|11844902488

Behind the scenes.

[Bolt]

Looks like they all had a great time. Very endearing. 

[sh9000]

Yep I love some of the pics that the cast posted.  Here's a few I found with Ray Stevenson.

[Thom]

The Bright Side of the Dark Side!

[Tking22]

Once again, he was one of the best, most interesting parks of Ahsoka, damn shame Disney will have to recast to wrap his story up in season 2. And once again, great frakking Punisher. 

[Big s]

Finally finished the show. It was definitely a tough one to get through. It just wasn’t very captivating. I haven’t seen the cartoons since the animation was so ugly, so there’s a lot of name drops and references to things people are supposed to care about, but if you don’t know what to care about it’s tough to care about the show. The biggest problem I have with the show is that it’s not even about Ahsoka , it’s more like the Sabine and friends show. Not sure if I kept missing it, but where does Sabines helmet keep disappearing to and how does it return?

The show has great looking, but stupid action like how a lightsaber can be strong enough to deflect anti ship weapons, but not kill at other times. Reva in Obi show took a couple lightsabers to the chest and walked it off. Sabine took one of them and she just needed a little nap and she was left with a little sunburn, no organ damage. There’s a bunch of zombies and they have the best weapons imaginable for a zombie apocalypse, but they don’t swipe off many body parts until those super armored guys come out.

As far as characters, I don’t know why anyone cares about Thrawn. He’s not even smart enough to close a few doors. Ezra, another kinda pointless character goes through so much trouble to get on the big ship and the next time we see him, he just left for no reason. He may as well have just stayed to help the other good guys get off the planet that I don’t really know why nobody can just leave, cause they don’t explain it in this show very well or at all.

There’s plenty of action, so it’s not a dull show, but it’s just not very interesting. I’d say overall it’s not as bad as the Obi or Boba shows, mainly because they don’t really ruin a character that I’m familiar with and it has its fun moments. I liked the non Jedi more than the blueberry crew though. But overall this still has a meh kinda feel to it. I would hope to get more of a focus on Ahsoka in anything upcoming with her name in the title, but she got her show hijacked way worse than Boba’s show. I think that for those that did see the cartoons, they would probably be more invested and would either really like it or possibly hate it but for those that didn’t it’s probably not bad but also not great.

 

[Thom]

I think the show was enough about Ahsoka for the title, but was glad it didn't dwell on her the entire time. I enjoyed seeing the other characters getting filled out, as well as interacting with the MC, as much as seeing Ahsoka.

Lightsabers are also a bit of a macguffin, with their power ramped up or dimmed depending on the scene/mission. It's also possible Shin didn't intend to kill Sabine in that moment and so 'turned the blade' as it were. And I imagine there was quite a bit of surgery we didn't see to repair the damage. It's also 'ancient aliens' medicine, so thus more akin the 'magic.'

IMO, Thrawn was really good. He rarely fell into the usual villain trope of over-extension and pride/immediate victory over all. His one goal was to get off of Peridea and back to the Empire. And once he knew who is adversary was, he took immediate steps to mitigate her advantages. Against a Jedi, he did pretty good. I'm really hoping they keep that up for season 2, as a good, competent villain makes a show.

As for Ezra, I don't think there was much reason for him to stay on the Chimaera. Yes, he is a Jedi(ish) but it was much more important to get word of Thrawn's return to the New Republic than spy or sabotage. And, letting their friends know that Ahsoka and Sabine are stuck in another galaxy could spur on a rescue mission.

[Bolt]

The Zombie troopers were awesome. I was happy to see another EU side bit there.

[Big s]

6 hours ago, Thom said:

I think the show was enough about Ahsoka for the title, but was glad it didn't dwell on her the entire time. I enjoyed seeing the other characters getting filled out, as well as interacting with the MC, as much as seeing Ahsoka.

I personally think she was sidelined. Maybe for those that are used to the character, they’ve already gotten to know her and don’t need more, but for those of us that only know her from a few live action cameos, she seems a bit flat as a character. And it feels like she really only starred in one episode. Beyond that she was a bit of a side character, but not as bad as Willow. I guess that due to the title I was expecting a story that really focused on her rather than Sabine and Ezra Miller

 

4 hours ago, Bolt said:

The Zombie troopers were awesome. I was happy to see another EU side bit there.

I kinda thought they were lame. The walking dead have lame zombies, but at least they bite. These just stumble and get in the way and don’t even attack. They just get a little handsy and mumble. 
I actually think that if they were gonna be as lame as they were that Ahsoka could have done that cool thing where she made her light sabers fly around and dice them up, but for some reason they just didn’t do anything cool in that scene. It’s like the action in this show was geared mostly to a very young audience and you could only get a dismemberment if the body part was covered by a helmet. 

[Thom]

1 hour ago, Big s said:

I personally think she was sidelined. Maybe for those that are used to the character, they’ve already gotten to know her and don’t need more, but for those of us that only know her from a few live action cameos, she seems a bit flat as a character. And it feels like she really only starred in one episode. Beyond that she was a bit of a side character, but not as bad as Willow. I guess that due to the title I was expecting a story that really focused on her rather than Sabine and Ezra Miller

I've only seen her in some of the live actions as well. I've never seen Rebels or the other animated show either, for about the same reason, as I am much more a live action fan for Star Wars/Trek stuff. And yes, despite the title, it was definitely more ensemble.

[renegadeleader1]

3 hours ago, Big s said:

I kinda thought they were lame. The walking dead have lame zombies, but at least they bite. These just stumble and get in the way and don’t even attack. They just get a little handsy and mumble. 
I actually think that if they were gonna be as lame as they were that Ahsoka could have done that cool thing where she made her light sabers fly around and dice them up, but for some reason they just didn’t do anything cool in that scene. It’s like the action in this show was geared mostly to a very young audience and you could only get a dismemberment if the body part was covered by a helmet. 

Zombie troopers sucked when they were originally introduced in the EU, they sucked when Disney brought them back for books and comics, and they again suck now in live action.

 

I hate how they are just a lame pop culture trend staple gunned onto the Star Wars universe because "OMG! Zombies!" Were all the rage a while back.

 

I also don't like how they and the Night Sisters are being used to undercut Thrawn's character just because Filoni has a hard on for them.

 

What made Thrawn such an imposing threat in the original novels was in a in a universe of force users and supernatural powers he used his intellect and tactics to out think and out maneuver his opponents. 

 

Now?

 

He's just fourth banana to three Macbeth witch rejects with a goofy zombie army at his command and a dork in a leper death mask as a sidekick.

Edited November 22, 2023 by renegadeleader1

[Big s]

5 hours ago, renegadeleader1 said:

Zombie troopers sucked when they were originally introduced in the EU, they sucked when Disney brought them back for books and comics, and they again suck now in live action.

Did they really suck this bad though before? The ones in this show were so useless that just dropping a couple pillows and spitting used chewing gum on the stairs would have been more effective. They really should have left that whole scene out.

 

5 hours ago, renegadeleader1 said:

What made Thrawn such an imposing threat in the original novels was in a in a universe of force users and supernatural powers he used his intellect and tactics to out think and out maneuver his opponents.

He was kinda dull here. I know nothing about him previous to this, but he seemed just as bumbling as most bad guys in Star Wars if not worse. I mean this guy couldn’t even command his troops to close a door. And I don’t know about the cargo they were loading, but they seemed to have quite a bit of time to load it. They took out Ahsoka’s ship with two tie fighters, the smart thing would’ve been to order a few more to be ready nearby to continue the attack to slow the enemy further down. But either way at least thanks to Ezra Miller’s idiocy they managed to get away. 

I still don’t get what the point of him getting on the ship was. He just told the one lady what she already knew with no real new info. And what was the point of stealing a small ship and then not taking off the dead guys helmet. He could’ve been shot at, but that might’ve made a more satisfying end to his story since he seemed kinda pointless to the story overall 

[mechaninac]

6 hours ago, Big s said:

He was kinda dull here. I know nothing about him previous to this, but he seemed just as bumbling as most bad guys in Star Wars if not worse. I mean this guy couldn’t even command his troops to close a door...

Characters are only as smart or interesting as the person writing them.  The best description of the Ashoka series' version of Thrawn that I've read is that he is a dumb person's interpretation of a smart person... a 2-dimensional, thinly superficial competence and menace that do not stand up to even the most cursory scrutiny.

[Big s]

39 minutes ago, mechaninac said:

Characters are only as smart or interesting as the person writing them.  The best description of the Ashoka series' version of Thrawn that I've read is that he is a dumb person's interpretation of a smart person... a 2-dimensional, thinly superficial competence and menace that do not stand up to even the most cursory scrutiny.

That’s a much better wording of what I was trying to say. He’s a really bad character and feels absolutely forgettable. The nerdy guy in the sequel trilogy seemed more memorable than this boring Smurf. Unless they change things up in the next season, Thrawn will go down in history as the worst big leading bad guy with a leadership position in Star Wars and that’s something I thought would be really tough to pull off.

I can’t blame the actor, he seems like he’s struggling with the material he was given.

[Roy Focker]

Did anyone share this news yet?

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/star-wars-vet-dave-filoni-lucasfilm-chief-creative-officer-1235669321/amp/

He's passionate about his work, and a loyal company man but the talent is not there. Or be more exact he seems to play it safe. Guess that's what Disney wants. I like to see the guy wow us all with an original live-action project that doesn't have a built in audience of fanatics. 

[Big s]

5 minutes ago, Roy Focker said:

Did anyone share this news yet?

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/star-wars-vet-dave-filoni-lucasfilm-chief-creative-officer-1235669321/amp/

He's passionate about his work, and a loyal company man but the talent is not there. Or be more exact he seems to play it safe. Guess that's what Disney wants. I like to see the guy wow us all with an original live-action project that doesn't have a built in audience of fanatics. 

This sounds like a bad idea. The streaming numbers for the shows have been down since things began and to do a feature film with characters from the live action shows will just mean that the audience for the movie will be mainly comprised of people that were satisfied with the shows. I doubt Andor will have much to do with things since his story basically ends at the beginning of the og Star Wars and this takes place between the old and new trilogy. I guess that at least that means no Obi Wan stuff either. So this will be more Mandalorian, Ahsoka and Boba stuff. Which people that watched weren’t totally satisfied with ether series lately. So the ticket buying audience will be a lot smaller than they’re hoping for almost guaranteeing a box office bomb. They really should think about just doing an original story that doesn’t have to rely on established characters or major events 

[mechaninac]

1 hour ago, Roy Focker said:

Did anyone share this news yet?

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/star-wars-vet-dave-filoni-lucasfilm-chief-creative-officer-1235669321/amp/

He's passionate about his work, and a loyal company man but the talent is not there. Or be more exact he seems to play it safe. Guess that's what Disney wants. I like to see the guy wow us all with an original live-action project that doesn't have a built in audience of fanatics. 

Unfortunately, he has abandoned Favreau's vision for Star Wars and, as the absolute lackey that he is, has fully embraced the direction KK set out for Star Wars.  Unless he can prove otherwise (BoBF, Kenobi, Mando season 3, Ahsoka and The Bad Batch certainly weren't it), all roads lead to the sequel trilogy... and forgettable mediocrity that undermines what Lucas created, driving away legacy fans while failing to attract new ones to replace them.

[mechaninac]

1 hour ago, Big s said:

...They really should think about just doing an original story that doesn’t have to rely on established characters or major events 

They are; it's called The Acolyte, and it's going to be, by all account, absolutely atrocious.

[Bolt]

2 hours ago, Roy Focker said:

Did anyone share this news yet?

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/star-wars-vet-dave-filoni-lucasfilm-chief-creative-officer-1235669321/amp/

He's passionate about his work, and a loyal company man but the talent is not there. Or be more exact he seems to play it safe. Guess that's what Disney wants. I like to see the guy wow us all with an original live-action project that doesn't have a built in audience of fanatics. 

Yes , it's official. He at least knows what long time fans want. And is more in tune with SW than Kk . Whatever he does, or anyone else , for that matter, SW will always have a built in audience of fanatics. So I'm not sure your ever gonna get what you want. 
 

[azrael]

3 hours ago, mechaninac said:

Unfortunately, he has abandoned Favreau's vision for Star Wars and, as the absolute lackey that he is, has fully embraced the direction KK set out for Star Wars.  Unless he can prove otherwise (BoBF, Kenobi, Mando season 3, Ahsoka and The Bad Batch certainly weren't it), all roads lead to the sequel trilogy... and forgettable mediocrity that undermines what Lucas created, driving away legacy fans while failing to attract new ones to replace them.

I don't think he has a choice about the direction KK put the franchise on. She's still in charge, unfortunately.

I am somewhat glad they put him in charge, but the stuff coming out from his neck of the woods has been... underwhelming of late. And I don't know how much patience the suits will have with him if he doesn't bring the numbers up (and it's not helping that streaming subscription prices keep going up making it less attractive to continue). 

[Roy Focker]

Underwhelming is an appropriate description. They can make a trailer that gets you hyped to see something but the actual product doesn't really keep the casual fans attention. I don't see him taking the kind of risks with the franchise that will get people talking.

[mechaninac]

5 minutes ago, azrael said:

I don't think he has a choice about the direction KK put the franchise on. She's still in charge, unfortunately.

That's fair, and foreboding for the viability of the franchise's popularity and profitability... both have cratered since shortly after (the release of TLJ) Disney took over.  The prospects under current (mis)management/"leadership" -- not just Lucasfilm, but everything under the Disney umbrella -- do not engender any optimism for the future.

[Big s]

3 minutes ago, azrael said:

I don't think he has a choice about the direction KK put the franchise on. She's still in charge, unfortunately.

I am somewhat glad they put him in charge, but the stuff coming out from his neck of the woods has been... underwhelming of late. And I don't know how much patience the suits will have with him if he doesn't bring the numbers up (and it's not helping that streaming subscription prices keep going up making it less attractive to continue). 

I get the feeling that he’s more of a children’s show kinda guy than a person that can handle a larger project. The stuff happening in ahsoka was really childishly tame for the most part, even for Star Wars. The characters didn’t seem to be adult characters and were very kids cartoon kinda bland. Even the bad guys seemed like something out of a kids cartoon. The action was way more cartoony than anything thing else other than maybe the Boba show.

This kinda stuff is probably enough to keep a preschooler happy and not frighten them, but they need someone that can handle at least a teenage audience.

They need someone in charge that can handle an older aging audience and still find a fine line for a younger at the same time. It’s not a job that just anyone can do easily, but shows like Stranger Things are a great example of how it can be done well 

[Mog]

The ideas were there for Mando Season 3 and Ahsoka.  But yeah, I can agree with the underwhelming feeling.

And there are moments when Bad Batch can absolutely shine (basically anything involving Crosshair).

But he needs to go for broke and get back to mixing a little death and love back into the stories.

#Bridger-Wren 😜

[Big s]

6 minutes ago, Mog said:

#Bridger-Wren

Sorry bro, but it’s obvious that they’re just pals. There wasn’t even a slight hint of will they won’t they. They totally friend zoned eachother. There was more chemistry between Sabine and the girl with the He Man hair

[Mog]

Nah, she’s been holding a candle for him.

C’mon, living in his old place, becoming a Loth-cat lady, watching old recordings he made for her, willing to risk the whole galaxy on the off-chance of rescuing him.

You could argue it’s because they’re family.  But she’s already an auntie, has a work mom (Hera), and the kooky uncle (Zeb).  And yet, she still got that proverbial candle for Ezra.

Girl’s always had issues hiding her true emotions.

Plus, Ezra already met her parents before. 

Edited November 23, 2023 by Mog

[azrael]

3 hours ago, Mog said:

The ideas were there for Mando Season 3 and Ahsoka.  But yeah, I can agree with the underwhelming feeling.

And there are moments when Bad Batch can absolutely shine (basically anything involving Crosshair).

But he needs to go for broke and get back to mixing a little death and love back into the stories.

Funny that you mention that cuz here's a quote from the Vanity Fair article:

Quote

By vaulting Bridger and Thrawn into an entirely different galaxy, he created an opportunity to explore ancient rituals for opening those gateways, the way nature flows between them in the form of galaxy-hopping space leviathans, and perhaps clear the way for other storytellers to explore these new realms themselves. “You know me, I plan for a long game. I really do. And that encompasses a lot more than it used to, as I help other people as well,” he says.

Expect this broader universe to be a factor in any future season of Ahsoka or that feature film he is developing. “I’m setting up what seems to be a larger conflict with the Imperial remnant,” Filoni says. “That conflict can’t just mirror what we’ve seen before. It has to take on a different shape. It can’t just be the Empire versus what looks like the Rebellion, or even the Republic. It has to be visually different.”

I can see Filoni is trying to flesh out things post-Empire, but he's also holding back (hence, I'm being underwhelmed by the shows we have). The shows should come to some narrative ending each season, otherwise we get a "That's it????"-kind of ending. Like with Ashoka.

I do appreciate Filoni is trying to not repeat sequels cookie cutter plots that they were.  

[Duke Togo]

There are two schools on Filoni: those who believe he is part of the solution, and those who think he's part of the problem. And I can't even agree on this amongst my friends. 

[Seto Kaiba]

On the subject of Filoni, whether he's a part of the problem or a part of the solution feels to me like it's entirely a matter or individual perspective.

I think it really depends on how attached one is to the pre-Disney Expanded Universe and one's tolerance for fanservice... as his Disney-era work is heavy on both.

[Big s]

5 hours ago, Mog said:

Nah, she’s been holding a candle for him.

C’mon, living in his old place, becoming a Loth-cat lady, watching old recordings he made for her, willing to risk the whole galaxy on the off-chance of rescuing him.

You could argue it’s because they’re family.  But she’s already an auntie, has a work mom (Hera), and the kooky uncle (Zeb).  And yet, she still got that proverbial candle for Ezra.

Girl’s always had issues hiding her true emotions.

Plus, Ezra already met her parents before. 

But Ezra had moved on with his new partner and she seemed totally fine with it, because she’s kinda moved on as well 

[Mog]

56 minutes ago, Big s said:

But Ezra had moved on with his new partner and she seemed totally fine with it, because she’s kinda moved on as well 

What? 

Regarding Filoni.  He’s had his stinkers.  But his high points have been some of the best stuff from recent Star Wars.

[Big s]

1 hour ago, Mog said:

What? 

The little backpack buddy. He seems really happy and gets along with his new family. Sabine seems to have ms. He Man Hair(can’t remember her name, but remember a side by side meme of her next to prince Adam.)

Honestly , I probably wouldn’t remember Thrawn’s name if people weren’t talking about him. He seems like an easily forgettable character