Rosario Dawson is confirmed to have a guest role in The Mandalorian season 2. Just yesterday, reports stated the actress had been cast to play fan-favorite character Ahsoka Tano (a staple of Star Wars' animated series) in live-action on the hit Disney+ original. Dawson's involvement in The Mandalorian came as a pleasant surprise, seeing that season 2 completed production earlier this month without so much as a hint she was joining the show. After keeping Baby Yoda under wraps ahead of the series premiere, this was the latest illustration of the Mandalorian team's penchant for secrecy.
Obviously, details about how Ahsoka factors into The Mandalorian are nonexistent, with fans left to theorize until information is officially revealed. It'll probably be some time before Lucasfilm starts to peel back the curtain on season 2 (it doesn't debut until October this year and it remains to be seen if post-production will be affected by the COVID-19 outbreak), but there's at least one nugget about Dawson's character available.
According to Deadline, Dawson's character is "not a series regular role," meaning she'll have a supporting guest part on the show. The outlet also notes Dawson is not "officially confirmed" to be playing Ahsoka, though right now it does appear she will be bringing Anakin Skywalker's former Padawan to life.
Clearly, there remains a lot of questions about Dawson on The Mandalorian, though this bit provides a little clarity. Whether she's Ahsoka or someone else, she isn't going to be a main character in season 2. It's plausible she'll have either a one-off guest spot or play into a mini arc spanning a couple of episodes at most. Depending on how things develop, Dawson could potentially return in future Mandalorian seasons; she's a big enough name that Lucasfilm would probably want to keep her around if possible. If Dawson is indeed playing Ahsoka, she'll almost assuredly have something to do with Baby Yoda, or could square off against villain Moff Gideon (who's in possession of the dark saber).
It'll be interesting to see how Lucasfilm handles Dawson in The Mandalorian when it comes time to market season 2. The studio famously did not include Baby Yoda in any season 1 promotional materials, saving the character's reveal as a major surprise. The difference here is that news of Dawson's casting broke months before the show returns, so the cat is out of the bag. Still, Lucasfilm may want to keep things close to the chest (international Mandalorian trailers make no mention of Baby Yoda) and play up the mystery surrounding Dawson's role. Live-action Ahsoka would be a terrific advertising tool, but The Mandalorian is such a success, trailers and TV spots don't need to feature her.
Source: Deadline