And there it is: Our first look at the star of the upcoming live-action Star Wars TV show, The Mandalorian.
StarWars.com revealed the photo along with a list of directors for the show. They include Star Wars alum Dave Filoni, who’ll direct the first episode, as well as Deborah Chow (Jessica Jones), Rick Famuyiwa (Dope), Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World), and Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok).
Wow. Here’s the full image.
On Wednesday, Jon Favreau, who is executive producing and writing the series, revealed a synopsis for The Mandalorian, which was reiterated today on the StarWars.com post. It 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.
So now we have our look at that “lone gunfighter,” and what a look it is. We still don’t know the gender of the character, which is obviously by design. But no matter what, this is an imposing, confident presence, with a great mix of Mandalorian armour and personal, functional additions. And they were not lying about the gunslinger thing. The Mandalorian has a large gun on their back as well as one on their hip.
Then there’s that list of directors, which is different from the one that was rumoured a few days back. Filoni was kind of a given, but it’s still incredibly exciting to see him called into live-action as he helped drive The Clone Wars and Rebels to incredible success.
No one is more deserving. Taika Waititi is basically the coolest addition ever, to the point where it’s almost disappointing he’s only working on the TV show. (At least so far.) And there’s diversity too! Chow not only worked on Jessica Jones, but The Man in the High Castle, Better Call Saul, Iron Fist, Mr. Robot and Fear the Walking Dead among others.
This appointment makes her one of the first women to direct a live-action Star Wars project. Famuyiwa is one of the biggest fanboy directors out there, and Dallas Howard, while primarily known as an actress, obviously has Star Wars in her blood. (Her dad is Ron Howard, if you need it spelled out.)
It was also revealed that production has begun (which, duh) and that along with Favreau and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, the show will be executive produced by Dave Filoni, Colin Wilson, and Karen Gilchrist, who is a co-executive producer.
So what are we still missing? The casting is the biggest thing yet to be revealed. Who is under that mask? We don’t know. Also the release date, though that’s surely coming once Disney has some news about its streaming service. For now, though, we are left to stare at that awesome image and wait for The Mandalorian to arrive.