A Closer Look At Star Wars' Marrok And The Inquisitor's Role In Ahsoka
The citizens of a galaxy far, far away sure love their masks and face coverings, don't they? One of the very first things we see in the original "Star Wars" is Darth Vader in his iconic helmet flanked by Stormtroopers in their respective headgear. For that matter, Boba Fett became one of the most popular supporting players in the franchise purely thanks to his Mandalorian helmet and the mystique it projects. It's not just villains and antiheroes, though. Even the sequel trilogy heroes Finn and Rey are wearing masks when we meet them in "The Force Awakens."
From a storytelling perspective, masks are a useful way of getting your audience to wonder who's underneath and what their deal is from the moment they arrive. It creates intrigue and mystery, which is particularly effective when you're trying to build hype for a new "Star Wars" project. That's presumably why the "Ahsoka" marketing has played coy about Marrok, a masked Inquisitor who's shown wielding one of their patent double-bladed spinning red lightsaber weapons while facing off with the show's namesake (Rosario Dawson) in the trailers released so far.
Disney and Lucasfilm list Marrok as being played by Paul Darnell, a stunt performer who also served as Timothy Olyphant's stunt double on "The Mandalorian" and played a Night Wind Assassin in "The Book of Boba Fett." The official Star Wars website describes Darnell's "Ahsoka" character as follows:
Once an Inquisitor hunting Jedi for the Empire, the mysterious Marrok now works as a mercenary hired by Morgan Elsbeth to carry out dark deeds. Fully encased in battered battle armor, the warrior still carries a red double-bladed saber with a circular hilt.
Welp, that clears up that mystery, right? Come on, where's the fun in that when, instead, we can speculate recklessly about who's really beneath that mask?
Is that you, Ezra?
This being the first we've ever heard of Marrok, the obvious guess would be the character is actually Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) in disguise. For those not familiar with the animated side of "Star Wars," Ezra was one of the heroes in "Star Wars Rebels" and a Jedi in training. He vanished into hyperspace during the series finale battling Grand Admiral Thrawn (Mads Mikkelsen, who also voiced the character on "Rebels"), which is why Ahsoka Tano and the other "Rebels" leads are searching for both Thrawn and Ezra when "Ahsoka" picks up years later in the "Mandalorian" era (aka. The New Republic).
Has Ezra turned to the dark side in the years since he went missing? Or is he a double agent serving Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) to keep tabs on Thrawn and discover what he and the remaining forces of the Galactic Empire are up to? Either twist feels fairly plausible in the operatic world of "Star Wars." It also wouldn't be the first time the franchise used misdirection to throw savvy fans off the scent, in which case Darnell could very well be serving as Esfandi's stunt double rather than playing his own unique character (much like he's done in his past "Star Wars" appearances).
Lest we get too carried away, it's best to recall that mysterious masked enforcers are nothing unusual for "Star Wars." Indeed, Marrok might be nothing more than hired muscle for the bad guys on "Ahsoka" and one whose backstory may or may not be fleshed out in a separate project (again, see Boba Fett). Still, as a villain in a completely different franchise once observed, "No one cared who I was till I put on the mask," so either way, Disney and Lucasfilm have already gotten what they wanted here.
"Ahsoka" begins streaming August 23, 2023, on Disney+.