If Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was one of the most anticipated movies of the year, The Mandalorian is one of the most anticipated shows! Today at Star Wars Celebration, fans got their debut look at the first live-action Star Wars show and it was amazing. We learned quite a bit of about the series with the panel consisting of Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano and Carl Weathers. Here’s what we learned! 

The Setting

We already knew that the series would be set in the Outer Rim so new planets would be a given. What we didn’t know was that the series will be set 5 years after The Return of the Jedi. “It was really compelling to me what happens after the celebration, The Empire falling, the revolution’s successful and then what happens?” Favreau elaborated. “So you have vestiges of The Empire, you have only the strong surviving, you have chaos taking over in the galaxy.” It’s going to be the wild west of Star Wars, essentially. 

The Characters

Pedro Pascal is playing the still nameless Mandalorian. He’s a mysterious, lone bounty hunter and gun fighter working in the Outer Reaches. “Some might say he as questionable moral character,” Pascal teased. “He’s a bada**”. The character was inspired by Clint Eastwood.

Gina Carano is playing Cara Dune, an ex-Rebel Shocktrooper who’s a bit of a loner. “[She’s] having a bit of trouble re-intergrating [herself] into society.

Carl Weathers is playing Greef Carga. He’s the leader of a guild of bounty hunters. “He’s looking for someone to go after a product he wants to bring to a client that’s worth a lot and is very valuable.”

Nick Nolte, Werner Herzog, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Swallow and Omid Abtahi round out the rest of the cast in yet to be revealed roles.

Additionally we learned that Favreau and Filoni enlisted the help of The 501st Legion when they needed Stormtroopers. For the first time ever, the costume club have been featured on film. The cast also praised the group for being completely knowledgable and professional on set and were so happy they were included.

Filming

One of the things we learned was that the show is all about using practical effects as much as possible. They were so dedicated to it that the built a model of The Mandalorian’s ship, the Razorcrest, and filmed it in the Lucasfilm basement. They showed the audience the multiple camera passes they make just to show the ship flying in space. They’re bringing it back to the way the first films were made!

Footage

Fans at the panel were shown three bits of footage. First we were shown a featurette, starting with The Mandalorian on an icy planet, using nothing but a tracking beacon, making his way to a cantina. The rest flashed images by of making the series while actor and director interviews were shown. We were promised new races, new ships, new planets and so much more.

After the live stream ended, fans were treated to a scene and a teaser trailer.

The scene showed The Mandalorian meeting Greef in a cantina. He’s looking for a big bounty, one that’s not a waste of gas. That’s when Greef gives him a card – it’s a face to face bounty, worth a lot of money. The Mandalorian seems a bit apprehensive but takes it. He makes his way to the location (after looking at lizard monkies on a spit), and holds up the card for identification. An adorable gonk droid leads the Mando to a room filled with Stormtroopers, looking at him intently. Wernor Herzog invites him in from behind a desk. The room is so tense that when another character walks into the room, The Mando whips out his two guns as the Stormtroopers raise their guns to him. He’s outnumbered 4 to 1. “I like those odds,” The Mando spits back at him. 

Herzog’s character eases the tension by explaining that the Doctor who entered the room abruptly is fine. Then he explains the bounty. He wants the target taken in alive. Realizing that bounty hunting is a risky job, he’ll offer less money for proof of death. The Doctor immediately objects but Herzog’s character silences him. The payment for the bounty? A beskar. A high price for a Mandalorian, given that’s what their armor is made of. He silently accepts the bounty and goes to leave. “Is the world more peaceful since the revolution,” asks Herzgog’s character, further indicating he was a high ranking member of the Imperials. “Look outside. I see nothing but death and chaos.”

The scene was followed up with a montage trailer that really got fans excited. We saw The Mandalorian flying his ship (which we saw the behind the scenes of earlier), the Mando and Cara in hand-to-hand combat that ends with them both pointing blasters at one another’s heads. We saw Giancarlo Esposito’s character surrounded by Death Troopers, telling them to “burn them out” as a Flametrooper blasts a building in flame. We also saw other bounty hunters like 4-LOM and IG-88, with 88 taking out a plaza of people. There was also a brutal shot of The Mandalorian using his gun to whip a Stormtrooper, breaking the helmet into pieces. There was so much more and you’ll definitely want to look forward to this series!

Check out the panel and officially released images below and let us know what you think! Be sure to come back to Geek Girl Authority for more of The Mandalorian news.

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Photo: Lucasfilm

Photo: Lucasfilm

Photo: Lucasfilm

Photo: Lucasfilm