Why mess with perfection? Lars Mikkelsen, the Danish actor who provided the voice to Thrawn in Rebels, will reprise his role when the character arrives for Ahsoka when the show debuts in August.
With Dave Filoni in charge of Star Wars, we’ve been seeing plenty of familiar faces straight from the animated realm. Next to Ahsoka, Grand Admiral Thrawn has been at the top of that wish list. While the casting news won’t necessarily break his key appearances wide open, it will help build the anticipation for Ahsoka. In the meantime, you’ll want to take aim at these issues.
THE KEYS
Thrawn’s keys kicked into high gear after he was name-dropped in The Mandalorian’s second season. With him on the cusp of a live-action debut, those issues should get another wave of speculation. Since the market as a whole has been down for the past year, we’re not likely to see any records being broken. On the bright side, that makes these comics easier on your budgets than we’ve seen in quite a while.
STAR WARS: HEIR TO THE EMPIRE #1
Adapted from Timothy Zahn’s novels, Heir to the Empire gave us our first glimpse at Thrawn in a comic. Although that is the major selling point, there are two other characters who could be players in the future. For one, there’s Luke Skywalker’s wife, Mara Jade, who has been heavily rumored for live-action for years.
We also get the debut of a Palpatine clone, Joruus C'baoth. As we saw in the sequel trilogy, Disney isn't through with the Emperor just yet, so Jorrus could be on the agenda at some point.
STAR WARS: DARK FORCE RISING #1
Outside of Heir to the Empire, this was the first time readers saw more of Thrawn. This is a great addition for anyone looking for a cheaper alternative to Heir to the Empire #1.
Since this isn’t a major moment in the character’s history, flippers are likely to overlook it as it’s not going to earn huge returns. That in itself will keep the prices down for Thrawn collectors.
STAR WARS: THRAWN #1
In what would prove to be a predictor to Disney’s future Star Wars plans, Thrawn was given his first self-titled comic in 2018. Here you get his full origin story in a six-issue limited series. Origin comics don’t tend to be of huge collecting importance, but a character’s initial starring comic is always a boon for fans. The Mattina variant is worth owning simply for the stunning cover art.
MORE THRAWN?
Since last year, there have been theories that Thrawn will be the linchpin between The Mandalorian and Ahsoka. That begs the question, could we see a Thrawn spinoff series? It’s been a persistent rumor for years. With him coming to live action, we are likely to see that bit of gossip dusted off, which would help the key issues gain even more traction in the secondary market.
