Disney is readying its own streaming service, Disney+, to debut later this year. To launch it, they’re bringing out the big guns: a live-action Star Wars series called The Mandalorian, starring Game of Thrones alum Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martell) in the lead roll. We’re already in.
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Disney has drafted a bunch of quality directors to helm the episodes, including Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi. At the Television Critics Awards, Waititi recently spoke about whether he’ll add his own personal touch to the material:
"A little bit, but Star Wars is very different to Marvel style. They know that the tone of the first films really should be kind of adhered to. That’s what the fans like and you can’t really disrespect it, I guess is a nicer way of saying I can’t put too many jokes in. Definitely, my tone is in there, the dialogue and stuff like that."
If you watched Thor: Ragnarok, you know Waititi’s personal style is refreshing and fun, even for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (he even got in on the actor by voicing Korg the low-key hilarious alien gladiator). Then again, sticking close to the tone of “the first films” — we’re assuming that’s the original Star Wars trilogy — isn’t a bad way to go either.
Although we don’t know a ton about the story of The Mandalorian, in Star Wars mythology, the planet of Mandalore has long been associated with the Fett family, Boba and Jango. Waititi is well aware of the pull those characters have on fans’ imaginations. “For most kids growing up with those films, was one of the most favorite characters, even though he’s barely in the films,” he said. “Just the idea of bounty hunters, the helmets are so cool. Just getting to see characters like that and getting to shoot with them is pretty cool.”
To be perfectly clear, The Mandalorian is not about Boba Fett, but rather a character who dons the armor of a Mandalorian and tries to bring peace to a lawless town:
Outside Star Wars, Waititi also confirmed that he would not be directing the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie, which has been in limbo since Disney fired director James Gunn after old, offensive tweets he made surfaced. “For me, those are James’ films,” Waititi said. “Going into something like that with his stamp all over his films, would be like going into someone’s house and saying, ‘Hey, I’m your new dad, and this is how we make peanut butter sandwiches now’. It feels kind of awkward.”
Waititi isn’t the only one talking about The Mandalorian. Showrunner Jon Favreau (the director of the first Iron Man movie) shared a photo of a droid that many old-school Star Wars fans may recognize:
That’s R5-D4, or “Red.” Luke and his Uncle Owen bought him near the start of the original Star Wars movie. Then he malfunctioned and they bought R2-D2, and the rest is history. As the story goes, R5 was part of the Rebellion before having his memory wiped. When R2 asked him to help the Rebellion, that word triggered R5’s memories and he malfunctioned on purpose to help the cause. I guess we’ll find out the truth of that soon enough.
Finally, apropos of nothing, Paypal, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk showed up on the set of The Mandalorian for…some reason:
Musk also visited the set of Game of Thrones season 8 back when it was in full swing. I guess he has time since he was forced out of Tesla?
The Mandalorian has no release date as yet, but we expect it to debut alongside Disney+ later this year.
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h/t Esquire