Taika Waititi Discusses THE MANDALORIAN, Not Disrespecting The Tone of STAR WARS, and More
I can’t wait to see how Jon Favreau’s Star Wars series The Mandalorian turns out! I think I’m more excited about this series than I am for J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode IX, especially with the directing talent that has been brought on board.
One of the directors, Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), recently talked about The Mandalorian, which is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order and follows “a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.”
The filmmaker confirmed that the series would match the tone of the original trilogy, but also explains that his style and tone will be felt in the series as well. He explained to the press at a recent TCA panel for his What We Do In the Shadows TV series:
“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 can’t put too many jokes in. There’s a bit, definitely my tone is in there, the dialogue and stuff like that.”
He goes on to talk about how awesome of a character that Boba Fett was to the fans of the franchise, and he talks about his legacy living on through the idea of bounty hunters in this series:
“For most kids growing up with those films, [Boba Fett] was one of the most favorite characters, even though he’s barely in the films. 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.”
Pedro Pascal is set to play the lead Mandalorian bounty hunter character in this new series and is joined by Gina Carano (Deadpool), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Emily Swallow (Supernatural), Carl Weathers (Predator), Omid Abtahi (American Gods), and Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man).
Waititi also talked about Favreau and praised what he has done in building this world. He also says there are going to be a lot of Stormtroopers.
“Favreau’s a genius and so smart and so good at what he does and creating these worlds,” Waititi said. “The scripts are really great. It was really fun doing something in the Star Wars universe. It was every kid’s dream just to see a storm trooper. When you’re doing these scenes with like 50 or 60 of them, it’s pretty amazing. I loved it.”
The Mandalorian is written and executive produced by Favreau, with other directors that include Dave Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels), who is directing the first episode and serving as executive producer alongside Kathleen Kennedy and Colin Wilson. Additional directors include Deborah Chow (Jessica Jones), Rick Famuyiwa (Dope), and Bryce Dallas Howard (Solemates).
It was also previously revealed the story will follow a bounty hunter who is protecting a baby that he was initially sent to kill. You can read some more details regarding that here.
The Mandalorian will be released on Disney+ later this year.
Source: /Film