Dave Filoni maintains that he “very rarely” makes a concerted effort to find ways to provide avenues for characters he created for the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels to make the jump to live-action. Rather, Filoni says he looks at them as characters with whom he is “comfortable” and likes “to see around” as he continues to tell stories in the live-action series The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and soon, Ahsoka.
One such character with whom Filoni–and fans–is exceedingly familiar, Bo-Katan Kryze has become an integral part of the ongoing story of The Mandalorian after first being introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars before returning in a major role in Star Wars Rebels. While Bo-Katan’s story continues in The Mandalorian, the core cast of characters of Rebels will see their story continued in Ahsoka, which streams later this year on Disney Plus. But while Ahsoka Tano’s live-action debut came during the second season of The Mandalorian, the crew of the Ghost is patiently waiting to take their turn. While footage from Ahsoka has revealed that Chopper, Hera, Sabine and Ezra, as well as villain Grand Admiral Thrawn, are all set to appear, there had been no word on whether Lasat hero Zeb would make the jump to live-action.
The good news is that fans won’t have to wait any longer to find out as Zeb made his live-action debut in Chapter 21 of The Mandalorian, The Pirate. While it was little more than a cameo, Zeb shared a scene with Paul Sun-Hyung Lee‘s New Republic Adelphi Ranger Carson Teva in a bar on an unnamed planet. The bar was a cameo fest as Filoni, executive producer Rick Famuyiwa and director and Obi-Wan Kenobi showrunner Deborah Chow all appeared in their respective Star Wars roles but the surprise appearance of Zeb was certainly the highlight.
The scene revealed that Zeb, whose familiar voice was once again provided by Rebels voice actor Stephen Blum, has joined the New Republic as a Ranger. For a character who often expressed his desire to stay out of the larger goings on in the galaxy, Zeb has certainly come a long way. The episode of The Mandalorian also works as a bit of a proof of concept for bringing the Lasat character to live-action for Ahsoka and it’s a test Lucasfilm passed with flying colors. Given the intersection of the plots of The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, it shouldn’t be too hard to find a way for Zeb to meet up with his old friends and join their search for Ezra Bridger!
