Grand Admiral Thrawn first appeared in the pages of Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire and was later brought into the current canon courtesy of Star Wars Rebels. There, he was brought to life by Lars Mikkelsen and Zahn's recent novels have created a backstory for the Chiss warrior also known as Mitth'raw'nuruodo.
The actor's very deliberate way of speaking while playing the villain resonated with fans. However, when Mikkelsen brings Thrawn to life in live-action, it appears his approach will inevitably differ from when he was stood in a recording booth.
"I’m not losing the voice, but I am tweaking it into live-action," he tells Empire (via SFFGazette.com). "When you do an animated character, there’s a whole melodious approach. When you’re there as a real person, that would be just slightly too much."
Changes like these were to be expected, though we're sure Thrawn is still going to sound like the Grand Admiral we all love to hate.
Mikkelsen would go on to share more of what he loves about the character. While he was careful not to give too much away, it sounds like he's been familiarising himself with Thrawn's backstory before returning to the character several years after we last saw the Imperial in the Star Wars timeline.
"I love the way he rises through the Empire, and the way he carries himself in that environment to become somebody. And then of course, how can you not like a very clever villain? Thrawn takes the time to understand his opponent’s culture, and what they’re about. It’s lovely to be playing that."
It sounds like we're getting a real deep dive into Thrawn here, no great surprise when Dave Filoni's planned Star Wars movie is expected to be a new spin on Heir to the Empire. With any luck, that will feature appearances from Mara Jade, Joruus C'baoth, and other EU fan-favourites.
Set after the fall of the Empire, Ahsoka follows the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy.
Ahsoka will launch exclusively on Disney+ on August 23.