Disney Reveals New Star Wars: Ahsoka Footage to Be Released This Weekend

The live-action Ahsoka TV show isn't set to premiere on Disney+ for another couple of months, but some new footage from the highly anticipated Star Wars series is going to be arriving very soon. Star Wars: Ahsoka, following Rosario Dawson's titular Force-user, is the next live-action Star Wars project coming to Disney+ and the House of Mouse is planning to debut a new look at the show at the 2023 ESSENCE Festival in New Orleans, LA.

On Monday, Disney announced the lineup of guests, events, and panels that are set to take place at this year's ESSENCE Fest. The "Studio Showcase" this year will focus on Haunted Mansion, Star Wars: Ahsoka, and Disney's new animated film, Wish. Rosario Dawson stars in both Haunted Mansion and Ahsoka, so she'll be there to present the footage. A specific time for the Ahsoka footage debut hasn't been announced just yet.

"Disney is proud to return to the ESSENCE Festival of Culture as a major sponsor and showcase the magic happening across our brands," said Jill Estorino, president and managing director of Disney Parks International. "Through culture-defining storytelling, unforgettable experiences, and more, we are inviting everyone to experience first-hand 'The Power of Joy' and the many ways creativity, innovation, and contributions from Black culture are reflected across Disney."

ESSENCE Fest Primetime will livestream on Hulu throughout the weekend, airing on the streaming service from 7pm to midnight CT on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

When Does Star Wars: Ahsoka Premiere?

Star Wars fans may be getting new Ahsoka footage this weekend, but the show itself is still almost two months away. Disney+ and Lucasfilm recently used a teaser trailer to announce that Star Wars: Ahsoka would be premiering on August 23rd. 

The tentpole shows on Disney+ are being spread out a little more than they had been over the past couple of years. Ahsoka is going to be the first live-action Star Wars show since the third season of The Mandalorian, which concluded in April. There will also be a gap of a few weeks between the conclusion of Marvel's Secret Invasion and the start of Ahsoka.

Star Wars: Ahsoka Cast

Dawson leads the cast of Ahsoka as the titular character, reprising the role from The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Key characters from Star Wars Rebels will be making their way to the world of live-action with this series, as Mary Elizabeth Winstead takes on the role of Hera Syndulla, Natasha Liu Bordizzo plays Sabine Wren, and Eman Esfandi appears as Ezra Bridger. Lars Mikkelsen will play the villainous Grand Admiral Thrawn, after having lent his voice to the character in the animated shows.

Ahsoka also stars the late Ray Stevenson, who tragically passed away this year.

Fan-favorite Star Wars hero Ahsoka Tano returns in the brand new series on Disney+. Rosario Dawson stars in Star Wars: Ahsoka, premiering in August on the streamer. The series picks up after the events of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, in which we saw the former Jedi searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) and helping Luke Skywalker train Grogu. Ahsoka will be joined on her new mission alongside longtime allies Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) and Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) as they attempt to track down Thrawn, who was last seen disappearing to the far reaches of space after a confrontation with Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi). Star Wars: Ahsoka is the latest live-action series from Lucasfilm's creative duo of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni.