A fan-made concept trailer for a hypothetical adaptation the Thrawn trilogy has Star Wars fans talking this weekend, and wondering what the future might hold for this corner of the franchise. YouTube user Jar Jar Jinks uploaded the video on Wednesday, utilizing footage and audio from Star Wars movies and TV shows as well as audiobooks and other fan creations. It’s impressive considering those constraints, showing just how much Star Wars has already set up Thrawn so far. We’ve seen the character in Ahsoka and Star Wars Rebels, but it’s still not clear which parts of his story re canon in the Disney era.
The Thrawn trilogy — also known as the Heir to the Empire trilogy — is one of the most successful Star Wars novel spinoffs of all time. Written by Timothy Zahn and published between 1991 and 1993, these books introduced Grand Admiral Thrawn along with several other key elements of the franchise. The planet Coruscant was first depicted in these books, and later incorporated heavily into the prequel trilogy. For years, fans have suggested that an adaptation of these books would be a great way for the Star Wars franchise to move forward.
One enterprising fan has taken some initiative, piecing together a trailer that has many commenters hyped up. It uses footage from several Star Wars movies and TV shows, and other movies as well, such as Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. For Thrawn’s spoken lines, it draws from audiobooks, and in a few places, fan films stitch the story together.
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Zahn’s original novels were a huge hit and helped ignite the Star Wars Expanded Universe — now known as Star Wars Legends — in novels and comics, but when Disney acquired the franchise and simplified its canon, it was unclear if Thrawn as still relevant to the main story. Even now, it’s unclear if his whole story will be imported into the new canon as it is, or altered and re-worked. Thrawn was set up as a major villain in Ashoka, and has been referenced in Tales of the Empire and The Mandalorian as well.
Zahn’s more recent work focuses on Thrawn’s history, with one trilogy of novels set during the early days of the Empire, and another set even further back in the past when Thrawn was growing up outside of known space. However, his Heir to the Empire trilogy was set five years after the events Return of the Jedi — the exact same timeframe when The Mandalorian and all the other Disney+ streaming series are set. Now that Thrawn has been introduced in Ahsoka, fans are hoping that at least some parts of that story will make it to the screen at last.
For now, fans can find all of Zahn’s books and other works featuring Thrawn in print, digital, and audiobook formats. Ahsoka is streaming now on Disney+, and Season 2 just began filming.
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