“For our friend Ray,” reads the first episode of the “Star Wars” series “Ahsoka” on Disney+ in large letters. This is a tribute to one of the stars of the series and the “Star Wars” saga: Ray Stevenson!
Because Ray Stevenson can be seen in “Star Wars: Ahsoka” in one of his very last roles. The Northern Irish actor plays ex-Jedi turned dark side Baylan Skoll, who proves what a badass villain he is right from the opening scene. Sadly, Ray Stevenson passed away unexpectedly in Italy on May 21, 2023, just four days before his 59th birthday. He was shooting a movie there when he was suddenly taken to the hospital for unknown reasons and died shortly after.
In “Ahsoka,” he can now once again show how impressively he can embody villains – something he also recently did wonderfully in the action hit “RRR.” Stevenson has been seen and heard in over 60 roles in film and television since he first appeared in front of the camera in 1993 in the television series “Instructions for Adultery.” Many are unforgotten…
Ray Stevenson in
Among the actor’s best-known blockbuster roles are his appearances in the “Thor” films. However, he gave his best Marvel performance as Punisher in Lexi Alexander’s ultra-brutal “Punisher: War Zone.”
You might also know Stevenson from “King Arthur”, the adventure film “The Three Musketeers”, the comedy “The Different Cops”, the end-time actioner “The Book Of Eli”, the “Divergent” trilogy or series like “Rome”, the 7th season of “Dexter”, “Black Sails” or “Vikings” and “The Medici – Rulers of Florence”. He also had a lot of fun in the two “Accident Man” movies at the side of Scott Adkins.
“AHSOKA”: ALREADY RAY STEVENSON’S 2ND “STAR WARS” ROLE
In “Ahsoka” we now see him as Baylan Skoll as mentioned – a completely new character created especially for the series. However, this is the second “Star Wars” role for Stevenson. In the animated series “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Star Wars Rebels” he was already heard as the voice of the Mandalorian Gar Saxon in the original version. Saxon served the Empire and helped it subjugate his homeland.
Even though he now has a completely different role in “Ahsoka,” there could be a reference to his previous appearances. In “Star Wars Rebels,” Stevenson’s Gar Saxon engages in an intense lightsaber duel with Sabine Wren after taking the dark saber from her. Sabine defends herself with the borrowed lightsaber of her friend Ezra Bridger – which she still owns in “Ahsoka” after his disappearance.
We would be very surprised if Sabine, now embodied by Natasha Liu Bordizzo, would not wield the green glowing weapon against Baylan Skoll in the further course of the series. Thus, both Ray Stevenson-influenced “Star Wars” characters would then fight Sabine Wren and “her” green lightsaber.
MORE ON “AHSOKA IN THE MOVIEPILOT PODCAST
If you’re interested in more on the opening episodes of “Ahsoka,” we recommend listening to Moviepilot’s podcast Streamgestöber.
In it, Moviepilot colleagues Jan Felix Wuttig and Max Wieseler discuss in detail the first two episodes of the new Star Wars series “Ahsoka,” which can be seen on Disney+, and tell you whether it’s a worthy “The Mandalorian” successor – or another “Boba Fett” disaster?
