Fan Art Depicts Benedict Cumberbatch As Grand Admiral Thrawn
One of the most popular non-film characters in all of Star Wars is the Chiss Imperial, Grand Admiral Thrawn. First introduced in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, Thrawn made a big impact with his military prowess and effective leadership. Once Lucasfilm made all of the Star Wars Expanded Universe material non-canon, fans hoped that Thrawn would come back into the spotlight once again in a canon property.
They got their wish.
He first appeared in the 3D-animated series Star Wars:Rebels and made a large impact with the show there. However, there have long been rumors of Thrawn appearing in some manner of live action Star Wars show. The rumors were all but confirmed in the second season of The Mandalorian, where former Jedi exile Ahsoka Tano name drops him. With a solo spinoff show for Ahsoka in the works, fans have speculated that Thrawn might be the main antagonist there.
With no confirmation that Thrawn will play a part in Ahsoka's show, there's obviously no indication of who may play him in the series if he is present as a character. With that said, artist ApexForm has given everybody an idea of what they would like to see. ApexForm's specialty is featuring popular characters in possible situations, as well as portrayals of actors and actresses rumored to play them. This time, they made their desires known when they created fan art of Thrawn played by popular actor Benedict Cumberbatch, best known for characters such as Smaug the dragon in The Hobbit, Dr. Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Sherlock Holmes in the accurately titled show Sherlock.
It's hard to argue that they didn't nail this one. They could have just given Cumberbatch blue face paint and costume and called it a day, but the way that they added the ambiance of the darkness and shadows of the room really makes it look like an official screenshot for something. The way it's depicted makes it seem like Cumberbatch would be perfect for the role. He's not opposed to playing villains, such as the aforementioned Smaug, so seeing him in a role that he could really cut loose and have fun with would be highly entertaining. He's done nerdy properties, so this isn't outside of the realm of possibility.
Of course, everything right now is speculation, and it technically isn't even official that Thrawn will be in the Ahsoka series, much less that Cumberbatch is being considered for the role. So far, all we have is a cool piece of fan art to give us a tantalizing look at something that could be. While it seems likely that Thrawn will show up in the Ahsoka series, it remains to be seen who will be in the role. Who knows, though? It could be that the role has not been cast yet, and the powers that be may see that the fans want Cumberbatch for the role, so they could give him a call. The possibility is also there that they have cast Thrawn, but they may be keeping everything under wraps until we actually see the show, like when they did not reveal that Luke Skywalker would be a part of the final episode of the second season of The Mandalorian. We'll have to wait and see, but my gut is that we'll see Thrawn. Maybe ApexForm and fans everywhere will get their wish, and we won't be limited to seeing Cumberbatch as Thrawn in mere fan art.
And if Cumberbatch isn't available or doesn't want to do the role, somebody else could come in and knock it out of the park. Perhaps Gilbert Gottfried is available. Could work.
Source(s): Game Rant