Ahsoka, episode 6: no, it’s not Elon Musk who plays Thrawn

If the web is amused by the resemblance between the new Star Wars villain and the boss of X, it is in reality Mads Mikkelsen’s big brother who plays the Grand Admiral in the flesh.

It is finally here ! Fans of Star Wars were awaiting the arrival of Grand Admiral Thrawn in Ahsoka since weeks. The big villain of Rebels took its first steps in “live action” during episode 6, online on Disney Plus. And the first thing that struck the web was the appearance of the character: not his blue look, very close to that of the animated series, but his astonishing resemblance to… Elon Musk !

Who plays Thrawn in Ahsoka?

Obviously, it is not Elon Musk who plays Thrawn in the “live” series, but the actor Lars Mikkelsen.

If his face is familiar to you, it’s because the 59-year-old Dane was recently the Stregobor of The Witcher on Netflix. But he also went through House of Cards (he played Viktor Petrov in seasons 3-6) after being revealed in Borgen.

Lars is also the older brother of Mads Mikkelsen. The hero of Drunkvillain of the last Indiana Jones and of Harry Potter, had, moreover, also made a stint in the Far Far Away franchise a few years ago, playing Jyn Erso’s father in Rogue One. A minor role, while his brother arrives in the universe with a certain pressure.

Who is Grand Admiral Thrawn in Star Wars ?

Because Thrawn is not just anyone! Real name Mitth’raw’nuruodo, this humanoid of the Chiss race is a former senior officer in the army of the Long-toothed Emperor, who managed to find a place at the top of the hierarchy. From the expanded mythology of Star Warsit was first imagined by Timothy Zahn in his book Heir To The Empirewhich is part of the extended universe of Star Wars. He became “canon” thanks to Dave Filoniwhich included it in the history of the animated series Rebelsbefore bringing him back in the flesh in Ahsoka :

“In my eyes, he’s the central villain now. When Timothy Zahn wrote his book, Thrawn became this very iconic villain, because he was different from anything we’d seen before in Star Wars. This wasn’t another bad guy with a helmet and a lightsaber. You see what I mean ? There’s a lot of ease in creating characters that look like Vader, because it’s so iconic to the franchise. But Tim’s audacity was to make someone who wasn’t like that, who didn’t have these abilities, gifted with the Force, but who could fight in a different way.” he recently detailed in Empire magazine.

Filoni therefore has great ambitions for this Grand Admiral, whom he sees as the incarnation of war in “Star Wars”: “He’s a leader, a military strategist, an archetype of Sherlock Holmes’ Moriarty. Someone who will beat you, who will outsmart you…Thrawn will be a crucial player in this period of the New Republic and we are lucky to have this character and to have Lars Mikkelsen now to bring it to life.”

Ahsoka will continue next Wednesday on Disney Plus.