The Mandalorian panel at Star Wars celebration concluded a short while ago.While we learned some new things about the first ever live-action Star Wars series, it appears they still want to keep this as top secret as possible until launch. The crowd at Celebration got to see a scene and trailer, but it was blacked out for streaming audiences. (Fear not: you can see what you missed, including the “official” teaser, HERE Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni started on stage talking about how they launched the idea and that it was a true collaboration between them. They talked about once the mandalorian theme was settled on, how they drew heavily from old westerns, samurai (namely Kirisawa) as influences. Jon also talked about drawing from the Holiday special and Ewoks: Caravan of Courage.
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni started The Mandalorian panel off talking about how they launched the idea, and that it was a true collaboration between them. They also spoke about how they settled on The Mandalorian’s theme, and how they drew heavily from old western and samurai films (namely Kirisawa) as influences. Jon also talked about drawing from the Holiday special and Ewoks: Caravan of Courage.
The Mandalorian Panel Brought out the Stars
They then brought out three of the actors, Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, and “new actor” Carl Weathers. All three were in great spirits and very interactive with the crowd. Pedro Pascal even took a bunch of pictures. Gina stated she was shocked at how many people were present. A chant of “Apollo” followed Carl Weathers on stage.
Pedro Pescal plays the main character ‘The Mandalorian’. The weird thing is that there was no name given; Apparently, this is how the show will refer to the character. We once thought that this character, and the series, would take us back to Mandalore and deal with the planet post fall of the Empire. While this may be an overarching theme for the series, it will not be the subject for season 1. For season 1 he will simply be a lone bounty hunter/gunfighter.
Pascal would later tell about when he got the part. He walked into Jon’s office and was surrounded by hundreds of drawing and geeked out. Pedro being a long time fan asked which one was he auditioning for? The bug? The droid? Jon said no and point to a picture. You are going to be the Mandalorian. Pascal, on stage, mimicked himself breaking down into tears.
Gina Carano Joins The Mandalorian
Gina Carano will be playing Kara Dune (forgive the spellings). The interesting thing here is Carano said Kara is an ex rebel shock trooper who can’t re-assimilate into society. She is a loner. At one point Favreau said the least used person in the production was Gina’s stunt double. Gina did most of her own stunts, which isn’t surprising given her MMA background.
Finally, Carl Weathers plays Grief Myga. Grief is a rather nefarious fellow according to Weathers. He is the head of a bounty hunter guild, which may be what opens the door so easily to characters Favreau has teased. (For instance, IG-88, Bossk and others from The Empire Strikes Back). Grief has a client who wants something rather rare and valuable. He hires our protagonist to procure it, which sets up our starting story.
Where’s the Back Up?
Post clip, Favreau and Filoni went on to tell about behind the scenes happenings. Filoni talked about trying to shoot a scene where they needed more stormtroopers than they had actors or suits. They needed more of a presence. Dave called a friend of a friend of a friend. In the end, the 501st legion (Southern California Garrison) mobilized not even knowing what was happening. Filoni told them “Just come on Down.”
Filoni and the actors talked about the 501st and how professional they were. They even taught Filoni and the cast what it was to be a Stormtrooper from walking to holding blasters. This is the first time members of the 501st have ever appeared on film.
Lastly, an earlier The Mandalorian panel confirmed an earlier rumor. Mandalorian’s ship is indeed called the Razor Crest. They then showed some behind the scenes video of how some of the folks at ILM went old school. They built models and did the old pan and shoot filming just like they did back in 1977 in their garages. We have that video here:
The actors and directors repeatedly praised fans and thanked them for their support. We did not learn much factually about the new show, the enthusiasm and energy were off the charts. Carano even said that was something Favreau and Filoni brought to the set. When this launches in November it should be pretty sweet.
