Another fan-favorite animated Star Wars character is headed to live-action, with the news that Eman Esfandi will play Ezra Bridger in the upcoming Star Wars: Ahsoka limited series for Disney+.

Bridger first appeared on the Star Wars Rebels, which ran for four seasons from 2014 through 2018. One of the main characters in the series, he started as a teenaged con artist who joined the Rebellion in the hopes of freeing his home planet from Imperial control; by the show’s end, he had been trained in the ways of the Jedi and had seemingly sacrificed himself for the good of the galaxy, having disappeared alongside Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn at the end of the Rebels series.

It’s been speculated that, as the live-action Ahsoka Tano — played by Roxanne Dawson — was searching for Thrawn in her appearance in the second season of The Mandalorian, that her ultimate goal is finding Ezra… a hope perhaps strengthened by this new casting announcement.

Esfandi may not be an actor familiar to many people (yet), but he’s appeared in the Robert Rodriguez horror movie Red 11, as well as King Richard, and the upcoming military drama The Inspection. He certainly looks the part, based on previous appearances, but we’ll have to withhold final approval on his casting until we get to see him in action as Ezra… but that might come sooner than it seems; it’s possible that fans might get a glimpse at footage from Star Wars: Ahsoka during Saturday morning’s Lucasfilm presentation at D23 Expo 2022.

News of Esfandi’s casting was broken by Cinelinx, and confirmed by the Hollywood Reporter.

Catch up on this and all the big news, reports, interviews, and galleries of the weekend with Popverse's D23 Expo 2022 coverage round-up.