The ongoing Star Wars drama project "Asoka" has new news that Chinese actor Liu Chengyu may join as Sabine Ren of Mandalorian.
Liu Chengyu is an apprentice of Yang Ziqiong, a mixed-race child of China and Italy, who has stepped into the film industry since starring in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2", and participated in "Detective Chinatown 2", "Mumbai Hotel" and "Armed With a Gun in his Waist".
"Asoka" is a spin-off of the earlier hit Star Wars episode The Mandalorian. Following the success, Disney and Lucasfilm announced several spin-offs of The Mandalorian, with The Book of Boba Fett already in production and Asoka still casting. Earlier confirmation was that Rosario Dawson, the actor of Asoka in The Mandalorian, would continue to star, and Hayden Christensen, the actor of Anakin Skywalker in the prequel film, would also join.
Ahsoka is an original character in the Star Wars 3D anime Clone Wars, appearing as an apprentice of Anakin Skywalker during the Clone Wars.
Sabine Wren is a Mandalorian from the Rennes clan. In the current Star Wars film and television series, she only appears in "Rise of the Rebels".
Rise of the Rebels is a Star Wars animated series that began airing in 2014 and is the first animation since Lucasfilm was acquired by Disney. After Lucasfilm was acquired, "The Clone Wars", which was broadcast to season 5 at the time, was cut off, and the more sub-supply "Rise of the Rebels" was arranged to follow.
Rise of the Rebels tells the story of the ghost squads that grew from smugglers to rebels during the Galactic Empire. A total of four seasons, the beginning of the plot is very low, the reputation is very low, but then and gradually introduced a variety of classic elements, and interspersed with the entire rebel army from the formation to the growth of the process, and even the legendary universe of the classic characters into the history, the end of the word of mouth has risen a lot.
Sabine is a member of the protagonist's Ghost Squad, and in addition to using the Mandalorian's combat skills, she is also a genius technician and graffiti artist. He joined the Imperial Military Academy, where he developed a weapon against The Besca Steel, which would evaporate the Mandalorians in armor. Realizing what the Empire would do with such a weapon, Sabine fled the military academy and joined the Ghost Squad.
The Ghost Squad uses the Phantom spacecraft as a vehicle and base of action, and includes captain Hera, Kennan, and Zebu, as well as the astronaut mechanic robot Chebao and the protagonist Ezra.
As the plot unfolds, each of the protagonists gradually reveals their own background and develops a related plot.
Captain Hera, surnamed Sindura, is the daughter of Cham Sindura of Tyrek, and has been freeing slaves for Tyrek from the Clone Wars to the Galactic Civil War. Chebao is the robot that Hera picked up during the Clone Wars.
Kennan, formerly known as Caleb Doom, is a Jedi apprentice. His master was killed during Order 66, and Kennan escaped, stopping his lightsaber in anonymity and becoming a smuggler.
Ezra is a Force Sensitive, and after encountering the Ghost Squad, he begins to learn to use the Force with Kennan and gradually grows into a powerful Jedi.
After the plot unfolds, Ahsoka and the aging clone aide-de-camp Rex also join in, introducing the follow-up of the popular characters of the Clone Wars, and also associating Ahsoka with Ezra and Sabine. At the end of the anime, Ezra rushes into hyperspace with Marshal Sauron in order to liberate his home planet Lotta. After the victory at the Battle of Endor, Asoka and Sabine began their search for Ezra.
In the later reboot of Clone Wars Season 7, Kennan appears briefly as an apprentice, and then shows his escape scene during the execution of Order 66 in Defect squad. Young Hera and her parents also appeared in "Defective Squad".
In Rise of the Rebels, Sabine coincidentally obtains the Dark Sword representing the Ruler of the Mandalorians, then returns to his clan and begins to try to unite the Mandalorians from the long strife. After meeting Bo-Catan, Sabine realizes that she is the better leader, gives her the Dark Sword, and returns to the rebels.
The Dark Sword reappears in The Mandalorian, but in the hands of the Imperial Governor Gideon. Bo-Catan then appears and wants to retrieve the Dark Sword. Ahsoka also made a brief appearance, becoming the clue to Luke Skywalker.
Judging by these pre-plots and character relationships, Sabine Renne appears in "Asoka", and the Dark Sword or Ezra will be the relevant elements. If it's related to the Dark Sword, Bo-Catan should have been introduced, as she was previously cast in The Mandalorian by the animated voice actress Katie Sackhof, but there's no news yet that Katie has joined the crew of Asoka. If it is related to Ezra, it will be another animated character entering the live-action world, I don't know who will play it?
As early as August, it was reported that Disney and Lucasfilm were selecting actors for Sabine, and many fans at the time wanted her voice actress in Rise of the Rebels, Tia Silka, to play Sabine, just like Katie Sackhof.
However, it seems that the casting this time will still be inclined to whether the actor's appearance is close to the character image, and Liu Chengyu's eyebrows are more like Sabine than the Indian-born Tia. In fact, the Mandalorians are a race that gathers together based on faith, so there will be red-haired white people like Bo-Catan, and there will also be characters like Boba Fett, played by Temura Morrison, who has Maori ancestry. The protagonist of the Mandalorian episode, Ding Jarin the Mandalorian, is also an adopted battlefield orphan. In the anime, Sabine's mother is also more East Asian.
In fact, in contrast, Liu Chengyu's facial features are more like Shabin, and from this point of view, it is indeed more suitable for playing Shabin. I hope that in the end, Liu Chengyu's appearance in the play can be more beautiful.