One of the coolest parts of any Star Wars release is the ships. From our introduction to the Millennium Falcon in 1977, to the spectacle of X-wings going up against TIE Fighters, they’ve given the saga some of its greatest, most exciting moments, and some of the best pieces of iconography and, of course, merchandise. From toys to self-build models, it’s a big business that has constantly expanded, whether it’s A-wing, B-wing, or Younameit-wing.
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Every Star Wars project tends to add something new to the mix, giving major new characters their own cool ships to fly, while sometimes also drawing on the past, like The Mandalorian bringing back the awesome N-1 Starfighter that was introduced in the prequels. That’s something that continues in The Mandalorian and Grogu, which not only finds the bounty hunter once again flying a Razor Crest, but finally brings several ships to the screen that have existed in canon for years without making that leap.
3) Red Jammer Y-wing
The Y-wings have been part of Star Wars movies ever since 1977, with Gold Squadron flying them into the Battle of Yavin in the original movie. However, the one we’ve never seen is what’s known as Red Jammer. Back in 1976, the original model created for the movie had red coloring instead of yellow/gold, as the original script had Red Squadron flying the Y-wings. Although it was never finished, it was the model the others in the movies were based on, but itself has never made it to screen since the Y-wing fleet became Gold Squadron instead, due to technological limitations at the time.
50 years later, The Mandalorian and Grogu features Red Jammer in the New Republic’s attack on the Hutts’ base on Nal Hutta. It even features the ship being referred to as “Red Jammer,” flown by a pilot played by director Lee Isaac Chung, and the theme music is titled that as well. What’s more, the movie was able to use the original model from 1976, and actually had to get George Lucas’ permission to do so. That means it isn’t just a cool Easter egg, but a real piece of Star Wars history on screen.
2) The Guillotine
The Mandalorian and Grogu brings back the bounty hunter Embo, who previously appeared in several episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Embo is again accompanied by a pet anooba, this it’s not the same one (Marrok) as the animated series, and flies a saucer-shaped spaceship called the Guillotine (which actually looks a little like his hat). The vessel was heavily armed with laser turrets after some modifications by the bounty hunter, and also included a prison cell for transporting those he was bringing in for jobs.
The Guillotine was originally supposed to make it to the screen in The Clone Wars Season 6, specifically the episode “An Old Friend.” This found him hired by none other than Darth Sidious to disrupt Padmé Amidala’s plans, and briefly brought him into conflict with Anakin Skywalker. However, the ship’s appearance ended up being cut from the episode, and so aside from some concept art, it had only previously featured in comic book Hyperspace Stories: The Bad Batch – Ghost Agents until it was used in The Mandalorian and Grogu.
1) INT-4 Interceptor
Unlike the other two ships, the INT-4 Interceptor was not originally created for the screen in some way, but rather for toys. This wasn’t all that uncommon around Star Wars’ Original Trilogy, with this being released by Kenner in 1982 as part of its Mini-Rigs series. The packaging described it was being used for Imperial scouting missions to find a Rebel base, and that it was used on Hoth. In terms of design, it’s a very blocky looking ship, with two laser cannons.
The ship doesn’t have a lot of canon history, having been featured in the 2014 mobile game Star Wars: Commander, before the appearing in the comic Return of the Jedi – Ewoks 1 (which is considered canon). There, an Ewok named Peekpa came across one on Endor, confirming they had been used by the Empire during Return of the Jedi as well. That was the extent of the INT-4 Interceptor’s usage until The Mandalorian and Grogu, which sees Commander Barro trying to escape from Din Djarin in one, having had it docked in an AT-AT, which was then shot down by Mando.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is currently playing in theaters.
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