Jon Favreau, Executive Producer toย The Mandalorianย and one of the founding figures of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, introduces the show cryptically by saying: “This is a character you’ve never met before and a period of time you’ve never seen before.”
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Previous announcements about the show setย The Mandalorianย 5 years after the events ofย Return of the Jedi.ย The focus will be on new or previously untapped characters. A complete synopsis reads:
After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic โฆ
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Last April 11’s unveiling of Disney’s new projects brought to attentionย Favreau’s ambition to makeย The Mandalorianย feel as much a part of the Star Wars universe as any of the new films do. According to him, they’re “trying to make it look like Star Wars โ a lot of visual effects, a lot of editing.” With an extravagant budget of $100 million ($10 million more thanย Game of Thrones’ย season 8 budget), this is something very much within their reach.
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The cast features a hodgepodge of talents and personalities โ just like any other Star Wars installment.ย Pedro Pascal, who is best known for driving a spear through the Mountain’s eye inย Game of Thrones,ย will be playing the (still unnamed) lead character.ย Omid Abtahiย fromย American Gods,ย Emily Swallowย fromย Supernatural,ย Giancarlo Esposito fromย Breaking Badย andย Better Call Saul,ย Nick Nolteย fromย Warrior,ย Gina Caranoย from Deadpool,ย Carl Weathers fromย Predator,ย andย Werner Herzogย who is better known as a director round out the anonymous set of characters.
Although it has been revealed thatย Taika Waititiย (Thor: Ragnarok)ย will be doubling as director for an episode and voice to IG-88. This assassin droid was one of the many summoned by Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back.ย
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Vintage droid R5-D4 will also be resurfacing in the series. The last time this droid was seen was inย A New Hope,ย as Luke Skywalker and his uncle surveyed the droids for sale from a group of Jawas.
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Other directors slated to lead at least one episode of the series includeย Deborah Chowย (Jessica Jones),ย Rick Famuyiwaย (Dope),ย Bryce Dallas Howardย (Solemates), andย Dave Filoniย (Star Wars: The Clone Wars,ย Star Wars Rebels).
A teaser trailer and behind-the-scenes footage was shown at the Star Wars celebration but has not yet been released to the public.ย The show will premiere sometime late 2019.
What do you hope to see in this new series?ย