All “Star Wars” fans seem to have their sights set on December and ‘Rise of Skywalker,’ which is putting the finishing touches on the Skywalker Saga that began with the 1977 original film. However, before that film hits theaters, fans of the galaxy far, far away will have their “Star Wars” itch scratched thanks to the new Disney+ series “The Mandalorian,” which premieres in November.
But much like every project coming out of Lucasfilm and Disney, there’s not much that is known about the upcoming live-action series. Particularly, in regards to the plot and characters. We know there’s a Mandalorian dude in a cool costume played by Pedro Pascal. We know he’s surrounded by quality actors and a crew of directors that is full of incredible names. But thanks to actor Giancarlo Esposito, we know a bit more about what went on behind the scenes, and how a random guy named George Lucas helped shape the series. He must be something special, that guy.
“I’ve got a great costume. We got great set pieces,” said Esposito in a new interview with Collider. “I’m not giving anything away because [Jon Favreau] is an artist, truly an artist. [He was] working with George Lucas on this particular piece and making it a piece that we can really relate to now in our world that we’re in.”
He added, “Besides the fact that there are so many Star Wars fans and freaks out there that really don’t get enough of this, finally we have a [Star Wars] piece that for the first time ever is shot outside of a London studio.”
So, for fans wondering where Lucas has been in regards to the “Star Wars” franchise, we know that he was consulted for ‘Rise of Skywalker.’ But now, we have confirmation that he seems to have been pretty involved (at least early on in the process) with ‘Mandalorian,’ which should please plenty of OG ‘Star Wars’ fans.
Esposito was definitely not forthcoming about any of the plot specifics, or about which character he’ll be portraying, but he had plenty to say about the talent that Favreau brought on to direct episodes and how he was impressed that Favreau didn’t just decide to direct the whole damn thing himself.
Esposito said:
“Well, you know what’s cool about ‘Mandalorian’ is you figure a guy who wrote it, who figured it out with George Lucas, would direct every episode? That would be all ego, right? [Favreau] has amassed some incredible directors from different parts of the planet to give their take on an episode. I find that to be so phenomenal because then we have new and fresh ideas every single episode, coming into this particular show, that reflect the fans—because the directors are also fans. They’re from Australia, from England, from wherever you are, it reflects their take of their people on how they saw the original and how they’re going to do it as well. So you get new, fresh energy into a piece that is already energetic because of all the stuff that’s going on on the screen, because of all the technicality that they’ve worked out. This is going to be a fantastic show.”
Those directors he’s referring to are none other than Bryce Dallas Howard (from the House of Howard), Taika Waititi (you know who he is, don’t make me elaborate), Deborah Chow, who has directed for “Mr. Robot,” and Rick Famuyiwa, director of “Dope” and who was lucky enough to leave “The Flash” before that project became a dumpster fire.
The Jon Favreau lovefest continues with Esposito talking about the new technology that was used in the Disney+ series. Again, with no plot or character specifics, it’s difficult to really decipher what he’s speaking about, but suffice to say, it sounds incredibly technical and interesting…and expensive.
“Jon Favreau’s brilliant,” raved the actor. “Technically, this show has a new technology [that’s] never really [been] refined as much as it is right now. We’re in a place called The Volume, where we do most of our acting, where set pieces are brought in, where we can control the physical atmosphere of what is projected on the walls and control how gravity is; you get a feeling that gravity is being played with. This is a show that’s gonna be really fantastic.”
“The Mandalorian” was recently announced as a launch title for the Disney+ streaming service that will arrive on November 12.