'Star Wars Rebels': Story behind introduction of Thrawn

Thrawn is a popular villain in “Star Wars Rebels.” The blue-skinned Chiss has made such an impact that he will be back for the final instalment on the show, unlike other villains who are no longer seen. A new video shows how the team behind the animation series brought the character into life.

Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) was originally a character in the Expanded Universe novels. However, Disney made these books non-canon, changing the name to Legends. That hasn’t stopped producers and directors involved with the franchise from bringing in popular characters from these books.

In the video posted on Nerdist, executive producer Dave Filoni said he had been talking about bringing Thrawn into the show for a long time. This introduction opened the door for the character to appear in other movies, books, and comics from the franchise.

The introduction of Thrawn was good news for the team working on the project. Senior vice president for development Kiri Hart said she loved the book trilogy in which the Chiss villain was featured before she started working at Lucasfilm.

Senior concept designer Amy Beth Christenson is also a big fan of the books and has been a fan for a long time. She too was excited about working on a project with a character from the books she loves so much. When Timothy Zahn, author of “Star Wars: Thrawn,” was first told that the villain will be introduced in the animation series, he felt a range of emotions.

The Blu-ray of the third season of “Star Wars Rebels” will be released on Aug. 29. Fans can watch the additional content in the Blu-ray such as an interview with the team.