The Ahsoka panel at Star Wars Celebration 2025 was filled with teases for Season 2, a first look at Rory McCann as Baylan Skoll, stories from the making of the series, and much more. To ensure you don't miss a thing, we're here to break it all down in one place for you. While we have yet to see footage of Season 2 of Ahsoka or get a release date, we did learn a bit about what we can expect in these new episodes and it's about time we jumped right in.First Look at Rory McCann as Baylan Skoll in Ahsoka Revealed at Star Wars CelebrationThe Ahsoka panel at Star Wars Celebration gave us our first look at Rory McCann as Baylan Skoll in Season 2. For those unfamaliar, McCann is taking on the role after the passing of Ray Stevenson. Stevenson died just three months before the premiere of Ahsoka, but his portrayal of Baylan was the high point of the series for many fans.Ahsoka series creator Dave Filoni talked more about the challenge of moving on after Ray, especially because he was "the most beautiful person on screen and off." However, while it took some time, he is "confident Ray would be happy with the direction we've chosen."For Filoni, Baylan is meant to be the parallel to Ahsoka in every way, and he's so grateful that "there's a blueprint for what this character should be because Ray had played him so iconically." Lastly, Filoni noted that he felt very fortunate to meet and cast McCann, as he knew his "whole focus was not letting Ray down." Hayden Christensen Is Officially Returning as Anakin Skywalker in Ahsoka Season 2After playing an important role in the first season of Ahsoka, it was confirmed at Star Wars Celebration that Hayden Christensen will officially be returning as Anakin Skywalker in Season 2. We didn't learn much about what Anakin's role will be in these new episodes, but Christensen did stop by the Ahsoka panel to discuss returning as the beloved character. "It was a dream to get to do," Christensen said. "The way they conceived how to do it was brilliant in getting to explore the World Between Worlds. I thought it was all really exciting." This was also obviously a big deal for Ahsoka series creator Dave Filoni as he joked he knew he needed to work with Christensen/Anakin again and had to "invent entire dimensions to make it happen." For Christensen, one of the joys of returning as Anakin was being able to bring to life a version of the character from the Clone Wars that he really didn't get to play."All of this had been presented well in the animated world, but I was really excited to do that in live action," Christensen said. "As much as I love the traditional Jedi robes I wore during the prequels, it was exciting to get to see Anakin with a new look."Ahsoka Will See the Return of Many More Familiar FacesThe Ahsoka panel didn't feature a traditional trailer, but it did give us a glimpse into what we can expect from Season 2 and who we can expect to see return. The trailer had no moving footage and was just filled with images, but it did confirm Sabine, Ezra, Zeb, and Chopper will all be back.Elsewhere in the panel, it was revealed that Admiral Ackbar will have a big part to play in the upcoming story and will face-off against Grand Admiral Thrawn. There will also be incredibly adorable Loth-Kittens and, according to Filoni, "X-Wings, A-Wings, and Wings I can't tell you about."We don't yet know when Ahsoka will be returning to Disney+, but it was shared that the team is still re-writing episodes leading into production starting next week. PlayBehind-the-Scenes Stories Reveal More About AhsokaAlongside the big reveals for Season 2, we learned a lot more about Ahsoka, its inspirations, and more from the actors and creatives who brought it to life. It all began with Filoni sharing that he has been very inspired by Studio Ghibli's Hayao Miyazki in his life and that his favorite movie is Princess Mononoke. In fact, that film is the reason Ahsoka has two wolf fangs on her cheeks.Filoni was joined by Jon Favreau and Rosario Dawson on stage and they talked a bit about how the Ahsoka series was brought to life. It all began after Season 1 of The Mandalorian and happened when Filoni and Favreau were taking about what they should bring to life next.Filoni's love for Ahsoka Tano is no secret as he helped create her with George Lucas, and the pair agreed they should play with the idea of bringing her to live-action. This led to them doing an episode for Season 2 of The Mandalorian featuring her after finding the right person and aesthetic for the character.We all know now that Rosario Dawson was the one chosen to play Ahsoka in live-action after Ashley Eckstein played her so wonderfully in the animated world, and Dawson talked about what it was like to find out she'd be playing the character.This all happened after the big online push for Dawson to play Ahsoka, and Filoni and Favreau both agreed she'd be great for the character. When it was time for Dawson to get the role, she said they showed her art and drawings they had done of her as the character and she needed to mute herself on the video call because she was jumping up and down and freaking out.Even still, they were treating this Ahsoka apperance as a one-off as they still weren't sure they could make Ahsoka work long term. Every Upcoming Star Wars Movie and TV Show"Even if this never happens again, I’m so grateful," Dawson said. "It was just so magnificent on so many levels. To see the fan reaction that allowed this story to continue was a dream come true.”As we all know, Ahsoka's journey would continue far beyond that one episode. While there was still doubt they could get Ahsoka on screen on a day-to-day basis as it was a complicated thing, it all proved to be worth it in the end."When we started to move into the Ahsoka episodes with revisted characters like Bo-Katan, everything shifted toward a continuation of what Dave and George had done with animation while culminating storylines that already been established," Favreau said.For the team, Ahsoka is not so different from watching A New Hope as it it starts in the middle of Ahsoka's journey and there is so much that came before and after. It just made perfect sense.There is also so much yet to learn about Ahsoka, and Dawson is just as excited about us as getting to explore and fill out her story."I did not know where this character was going in live action," Dawson said. "I could understand her fear, anxiety, and stress and desire to help from afar. She wasn't willing to take over the mentor role herself, so it became a wonderful thing that I got to explore." Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.