‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian’ Will Be Close in Tone to Original Trilogy

Star Wars: The Mandalorian is the first live-action Star Wars TV series, leaving many fans wondering what we can expect from the adventure. According to Taika Waititi, who directed one of the episodes, the overall goal for the series was to honor the spirit of the original trilogy.

“Star Wars is very different to Marvel style,” the Thor: Ragnarok director shared with press after a TCA event, per SlashFilm. “They know that the tone of the first films really should be kind of adhered to. That’s what the fans like and you can’t really disrespect it, I guess is a nicer way of saying, ‘Can’t put too many jokes in.’ There’s a bit, definitely, my tone is in there, the dialogue and stuff like that.”

Before Waititi became a Marvel Cinematic Universe director, he had delivered audiences films like What We Do in the Shadows and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, two of the most acclaimed comedies in their years of release. It was the comedic tone that he brought to Ragnarok that made the film a huge success, showing a new perspective on the character that had largely been missing.

Understandably, it’s easy to see why fans would assume his Star Wars content would be similarly humorous, though it sounds as if he restrained that element of his filmmaking style to be more consistent with the humor, or lack thereof, found in the original trilogy of films.

In the new series, 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.

Boba Fett is arguably the most well-known Mandalorian and, while we aren’t expecting him to show up in the series given his demise in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Waititi promised the new series would honor the things that captivated audiences most when it comes to gun-slinging bounty hunters.

“For most kids growing up with those films, [Boba Fett] was one of the most favorite characters, even though he’s barely in the films,” Waititi pointed out. “Just the idea of bounty hunters, the helmets are so cool. Just getting to see characters like that and getting to shoot with them is pretty cool.”

The series was developed by Iron Man and The Jungle Book director Jon Favreau, with Waititi praising the filmmaker’s work on this series.

“Favreau’s a genius and so smart and so good at what he does and creating these worlds,” the director noted. “The scripts are really great. It was really fun doing something in the Star Wars universe. It was every kid’s dream just to see a stormtrooper. When you’re doing these scenes with like 50 or 60 of them, it’s pretty amazing. I loved it.”

Star Wars: The Mandalorian will debut on Disney’s new streaming platform, Disney+, but the end of the year.

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