After the film was announced at SWC, speculation has been rife. Now Dave Filoni confirms that Thrawn is the main villain of his Star Wars movie! This may come as little shock to anyone following along. However, there were some fans convinced Thrawn would not be the villain of the movie. Well, they were wrong. Speaking with Empire and covered in this months main magazine, Filoni talked about his upcoming Star Wars movie. First he spoke about the challenges of adapting Thrawn and staying true to the character created by author Timothy Zahn.
“There are a lot of factors, especially in playing with a character like [novelist] Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn — I want to make sure that I’m honouring ideas that Tim had, so I want to see what’s [in his books] for the story. In The Bad Batch, there is actually some crossover with the book Heir To The Empire in the military base of Tantiss. So there are little things along the way that I’ve built across different mediums, all in preparation for things that come later.”
Thrawn As The Antagonist
Filoni is then asked directly if he see’s Thrawn as the main villain of his movie?
“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.”
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Filoni was then asked if he was surprised to be offered the directing gig on a movie?
“I don’t assume anything. I don’t think that I deserve anything. Kathy, upon seeing my work in the live-action realm, was like, “Dave, we have to have you do a movie.” My goodness, a person like that telling you that is an amazing thing. But I always look at myself and say, “Well, am I ready to do that?” I appreciate that, and I think she would know. But it’s got to be the right story. And it’s got to be the right group of people backing you.”
“A big reason why I felt confident going into live-action at all was because Kathy was here. She’s been a very big supporter of me all along the way. So it’s a great moment, but I immediately think of the responsibility. I immediately think of the job that that’s going to entail, and I want to make sure I can do a good job.”
Given the materials at hand and Filoni’s experience, I’m surer he will craft an enjoyable movie. Especially for the fans who watch all the Disney+ shows Filoni is an exec producer on. Now we know, (as if we didn’t before) that it will be Thrawn who is the main villain of the movie.
What do you think of his quotes as Dave Filoni confirms that Thrawn is the main villain of his Star Wars movie? Thoughts below as always.
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