Star Wars Rebels wrapped up with a major cliffhanger when Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn were pulled to parts unknown by the lightspeed-hopping Purgil.
At the time, Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren vowed to find their missing friend and the former's live-action debut in The Mandalorian season 2 made it clear she was still searching for Thrawn (presumably hoping the villain could lead her to the Jedi). That story will continue in Ahsoka this August, making the series a sequel of sorts to Rebels.
There had been rumblings about an animated follow-up, though it appears those plans were scrapped in preference for the next live-action Star Wars series.
Talking to Entertainment Weekly (via SFFGazette.com), Dave Filoni was asked whether Ahsoka should be considered a sequel to Rebels. "That's an interesting question," he responded. "I suppose that's one way of looking at it, because of the epilogue that I did in Rebels. Definitely all signs are indicating that there's a continuation."
"For me, when I'm telling those stories, I don't limit things like, 'Oh, well, I did it an animation, so I would do it distinctly different in live action.' There's just the story that it is, and I was telling it in one medium."
"Rebels is a different style than Clone Wars," Filoni continues. "Even visually, that changed the way I could execute certain things in Rebels. The story kind of evolved since I worked on Rebels. Working with [Jon Favreau] and setting things down in The Mandalorian created an opportunity to see: How does Ahsoka work as a character in live action?"
We now know it worked and excitement for Ahsoka is through the roof, especially as Thrawn is set to make his live-action debut in the show.
All of the Rebels crew will be part of that series, though Filoni has previously said the animated show won't be essential viewing ahead of Ahsoka as fans without prior knowledge of Ezra and company will still be able to enjoy this follow-up. However, we're guessing that watching it will definitely help enhance the experience!
Ahsoka is set to premiere on Disney+ this August.