The Mandalorianhas been shooting for quite a few weeks now, and fans still haven’t been given much information about the first-ever live-action Star Wars TV Show. None of the cast has been revealed, and it’s anyone’s guess as to who’s under that helmet in the only released photo fromJon Favreau’s new Star Wars TV show. Now, a new rumor claims thatRockyandAction Jacksonlegend Carl Weathers has joined the cast.
Shooting continues on the 10 episode first season ofThe Mandalorian, which is being exclusively made forDisney+, Disney’s new streaming service. Jon Favreau is the madman behind this extension of theStar Warsuniverse, which will take fans to the Outer Rim with a lone gunman who hails from the same home planet as Boba Fett and his father Jango, though no other connection has been confirmed yet.
When first announced, Lucasfilm only gave Star Wars fans a brief outline of what this will be, along with a first look at the title character in his shiny stainless steel armor. Now, a few more details have slowly squeezed out. TheMaking Star Wars podcastclaims that Carl Weathers is finally making a return to the small screen after winning new fans playing himself in what are arguably some of the funniest episodes ofArrested Developmentever made. He also had an important role inChicago Justice.
It isn’t known what character Carl Weathers will be playing, though we’re pretty sure it’s not based on any existing character in either the new Disney or abandoned Legends canon. It’s also not known how substantial his role is, or to what capacity he will be appearing in these first ten episodes, which reportedly cast $10 million an episode to produce, giving the first season an overall budget of $100 million.
What is pretty much a certainty is that he won’t be playing the title character ofThe Mandalorian. Weathers is perhaps best known as Apollo Creed in the first 4Rockymovies. Creed’s legend will live on in this November’sCreed II, and the actor’s presence will certainly be felt in this new sequel. Weathers also had a very memorable role in 1987’sPredatorstarring opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger. So the man knows a thing or two about countering alien threats from the far reaches of the galaxy.
Taika Waititi, who is directing one of the first ten episodes, has also been confirmed to have a role in the show. It is now being reported that he will voice a droid character. Also directing an episode is Solo director Ron Howard’s daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard, who stars in theJurassic Worldseries. She, too, has been confirmed for a role. It is now said that she will be playing a minor supporting character, though it isn’t known if either new character will be recurring. However that shakes out we can pretty much guarantee that we’ll see action figures for both of them.
Jon Favreau is the executive producer forThe Mandalorian. He, too, will have an on-screen role in the series, though there is little to no information about his character at this time. He did play the four-armed alien Rio inSolo, who’s fate assures he won’t be back. Dave Filoni, who is a big part of the animatedStar Warsworld is confirmed to direct the first episode. Other episode directors include Deborah Chow (Jessica Jones) and Rick Famuyiwa (Dope), with the line up intentionally diverse.The Mandalorianwill also give us the first femaleStar Warsdirectors, which a faction of the fan base has been asking for, for quite some time.
Last month, it was widely reported thatthieves had broken into The Mandalorian setand made away with some very important equipment from the camera department. One of these items was said to be a memory card with a ton of show info on it. Lucasfilm was in an immediate panic, worried that important intel would leak. Since then, we haven’t heard or seen any leaks from the show, and there has been no update on whether the purloined items were ever recovered.The Mandalorianwill arrive on Disney+ sometime in 2019.
