Star Wars Rebels showrunner Dave Filoni confirms Warwick Davis will be voicing a character in season 4. One of the most admirable aspects of Star Wars Rebels has been how well it's managed to tread the line between paying homage to the classic Star Wars films and expanded universe, without ever feeling like wasted or forced opportunities. That's not just in what characters the show has included either, like Sam Witwer's Darth Maul or Grand Moff Tarkin, but with the names that have been cast as guest voice actors in the show from time to time as well.

In fact, Rebels has had its fair share of cool cameo voice appearances, from Original Trilogy actors James Earl Jones as Darth Vader or Billy Dee Williams as Lando Calrissian, all the way to feature characters that form interesting connections to some of the current Star Wars films, with appearances from characters like Forest Whitaker's Saw Gerrera. And now, it looks like yet another Star Wars legacy actor will be getting his turn to play around in the Rebels series as well.

During the official Star Wars Rebels panel this morning, Dave Filoni announced that Warwick Davis has been cast in the upcoming fourth season of the series, much to the excitement of everyone in the room. Even more interestingly too, Filoni revealed that Davis will be providing the voice performance for a character named Rukh, the assassin bodyguard to the villainous Grand Admiral Thrawn, the main antagonist introduced in season 3 who will be returning to wreak havoc on the Rebel Alliance once again.

Now, for the Star Wars fans out there who are more well-versed in the Expanded Universe, Rukh will be a familiar name. He was originally introduced alongside Thrawn in Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, as a Noghri warrior that worked with Thrawn and the Empire following the devastation of his home planet, Honoghr, as a result of a nearby orbital battle.

In Zahn's original novels, Rukh is depicted as a character who's fiercely loyal to the Empire, believing that their involvement in the battle was what saved them. In return, Rukh and his fellow Noghri commandos carry out missions for the Empire, though it's entirely possible that Rebels could tweak and play around with Rukh's backstory and overall role in the Star Wars universe when he's introduced in the show. Also of note is that Rukh ultimately goes on to kill Thrawn himself in The Last Command, after learning of the Empire's role in the destruction of Honoghr, which means that the seeds for Thrawn's ultimate demise may already be introduced in the first couple episodes of the new, final season.

Next: Star Wars Rebels Season 4 Trailer

Star Wars Rebels season 4 premieres this fall on Disney XD.

Source: Lucasfilm