'Star Wars Rebels' updates: New clip reveals how Thrawn came to life

A screenshot of Grand Admiral Thrawn from the "Star Wars Rebels" season 3 trailer YouTube/Disney

Fans are up for another beloved character back story in the new "Star Wars Rebels" Blu-Ray release video clip that reveals how Thrawn came to life.

First introduced in Timothy Zahn's "Heir to the Empire" novel trilogy in the early '90s, and then re-introduced in season 3 of "Star Wars Rebels" on Disney XD, Grand Admiral Thrawn (voiced by Lars Mikkelsen) became a fan favorite in the "Star Wars" expanded universe otherwise known as "Legends."

"Star Wars Rebels" show creator Dave Filoni and Lucasfilm Story Group member Kiri Hart have played with the idea of putting Thrawn in "Rebels" for some time, Filoni told ComicBook.

Hart, for one, has loved Thrawn before "Rebels" was even conceptualized. "Before I ever worked at Lucasfilm or ever imagined that I could work at Lucasfilm, I loved that trilogy, 'Heir to the Empire'," he said, adding, "I loved the character immediately. He was just so different."

Grand Admiral Thrawn is an Imperial military commander who took over the Galactic Empire's remaining forces five years after the events of the film "Return of the Jedi" (1983). He has battled the "Star Wars" universe's most famous heroes including Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Chewbacca.

Thrawn also received his own novel this year titled "Star Wars: Thrawn," which was written by Zahn and published last April 11.

Marvel announced at the July 2017 San Diego Comic Con that the novel will be turned into a comic series, which will begin in February 2018. The mini-series will be written by Jody Houser who also adapted "Rogue One" into the comic book series. The "Thrawn" comics will have art by Luke Ross and Nolan Woodard and lettering from Clayton Cowles.

The Thrawn origin video, together with other exclusive video and audio commentaries, will be released along with the season 3 Blu-Ray on Aug. 29.

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