Timothy Zahn is understandably considered perhaps the greatest Star Wars novelist of all time, and much of that is thanks to his work about Grand Admiral Thrawn. After penning a trilogy of stories set after Return of the Jedi (which are no longer canon but were essentially Episodes VII, VIII, and IX at the time), Zahn later wrote two more Thrawn trilogies which revealed his origin and place in the Empire as part of Disney's Star Wars Galaxy.
Lars Mikkelsen lent his voice to the villain in Star Wars Rebels and will reprise the role - this time in live-action - in August's Ahsoka.
During the Paris Fan Festival, CloneWeb (via SFFGazette.com) spoke to Zahn about what it's been like seeing Thrawn brought into the new canon. "There's not much difference between the original Thrawn and the Thrawn of this new timeline," he said. "It's the same character, in different geopolitical conditions, surrounded by different characters, but he hasn't changed."
As for how he feels about Thrawn taking centre stage in Ahsoka, the author added: "The danger is that the screenwriters write it badly. He is a tactician, always ahead of his enemies. Dave Filoni showed in Rebels that he understood the character. So I think everything will be fine, as long as Filoni and Jon Favreau remain at the helm."
"And I am of course available to help them if needed," Zahn added. "We only talked briefly about all this but Dave promised to meet the writers and discuss with them in the near future."
ALSO READ: The Mandalorian Finally Reveals The Truth
Behind Moff Gideon's Sinister Cloning Experiments - SPOILERS
Favreau and Filoni mentioned their plans to meet with Zahn at Star Wars Celebration, so we're guessing he'll play a meaningful role in helping shape where Thrawn's story is heading as the "Heir to the Empire."
As for how he feels about Mikkelsen bringing his creation to life, the writer shared nothing but praise for the Ahsoka star. "I visualize the characters in terms of attitude, not so much in time as voice or appearance. Lars Mikkelsen did a wonderful job with the voice. The actor is Danish. He doesn't really have an accent but he has a particular vocal cadence when he plays Thrawn which gives him a little alien side. He's the perfect cast."
Zahn concluded by sharing his hopes to be able to fill in some of those gaps after the Grand Admiral vanished alongside Ezra Bridger in the Rebels finale.
"I would like to write more novels. And we pitch ideas to Lucasfilm. As for Thrawn, there's a nine-year gap between the end of Rebels and the character's reappearance in Ahsoka. There are things to do during this time."
Hopefully, we'll have more to share with you on that soon!