In the era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, many fans just assume that large franchises are always painstakingly interconnected. Everything, down to small characters and off-handed comments, should pay off at some point. Even though “Star Wars” is very much a cohesive universe, the upcoming Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” isn’t going to be as connected as you might think.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the people responsible for telling the story of “The Mandalorian” are quick to explain that the characters and plot that they want to tell in the series isn’t going to be as intricately connected with previous films and TV series as you might expect. The series is envisioned as a good jumping on point for fans of the films or those who may not be steeped in the lore as the diehards.
READ MORE: Pedro Pascal Says ‘The Mandalorian’ Will Blur The Lines Between Good And Evil
And they definitely want you to know one thing, for certain, Pedro Pascal’s mysterious bounty hunter is not Boba Fett, much to the chagrin of fans who speculated that this was the case.
“If you’re a fan, you have a good idea of who Boba Fett is,” said Dave Filoni, producer and director of two episodes of “The Mandalorian.” “You know he’s a clone kid; you know how that affects him. I told a little bit of his story in ‘The Clone Wars.’ “So the clean space that you might assume is there, is not as there.”
And apparently, one of the main driving forces behind “The Mandalorian” is the idea that these are new characters, without the complicated lore that accompanies many of the faces in the “Star Wars” universe. An example is with the character IG-11, who definitely looks like the famous IG-88 but is very different. According to Taika Waititi, who voices the new droid, that’s on purpose.
He explained, “There’s nothing really for anyone to latch on to and say this is sacred, which is great because it means you are giving them something that they recognize and they want, but you also get to keep surprising them in new ways and go, Well, also, we’re going to do this with them, you know? I think that keeps the whole thing alive.”
While “The Mandalorian” will feature plenty of references and Easter Eggs that will surely delight the most hardcore of “Star Wars” fans, Filoni explained that he and writer-creator-showrunner Jon Favreau have no interest mining previous stories for use in their series. In fact, they’re perfectly happy letting lore and previous stories exist without any meddling.
“Those stories mean something to somebody,” Filoni said. “They certainly mean something to the people that created those stories. And so if I don’t have to pull up the track on something, I don’t want to. And Jon feels the same way.”
“The Mandalorian” debuts on Disney+ tomorrow.
