‘Star Wars’: Is Taika Waititi Voicing IG-88 in ‘The Mandalorian’?

Star Wars fans are getting more and more excited for The Mandalorian, as the live-action series is expected to expand the franchise into a new direction. While we still have yet to see officially footage from the series, a new behind-the-scenes photo has fans buzzing.

Jon Favreau, who serves as showrunner on The Mandalorian, recently shared a photo from post-production work on the series. The photo shows actor and director Taika Waititi standing in the recording booth, with a screenshot partially showing IG-88 is onscreen. In between Waititi and the screen is a pretty awesome version of the Mandalorian mask.

While the Thor: Ragnarok and What We Do in the Shadows director was already set to helm one of The Mandalorian‘s episodes, previous rumors had suggested that he could also have some sort of a role in front of the camera. Granted, Favreau’s captionless photo doesn’t have a whole lot of context around it, but it certainly appears to confirm that Waititi is voicing some sort of character.

So that begs the question — could Waititi be portraying IG-88? The fan-favorite droid, who first appeared in Empire Strikes Back, admittedly never spoke (or really did a whole lot of anything) while on the big screen. But IG-88’s characterization has been expanded on in other tie-in material (most recently in an episode of Star Wars: Forces of Destiny), with some portrayals showing him speaking. Although IG-88 might have a drastically different voice from how Waititi portrayed Thor: Ragnarok’s Korg, it’d be pretty easy to see the actor-director lending his voice to the iconic droid.

But even then, the photo appears to be framed in such a way that IG-88 might be sharing the screen with another character, who could very well be the one that Waititi is voicing.

Regardless of whether or not Waititi is voicing IG-88, his impact on the series will definitely be felt — and in a slightly-different way than people saw in Thor: Ragnarok.

“Star Wars is very different to Marvel style,” Waititi said earlier this year. “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.”

Do you want to see Taika Waititi voice IG-88 in The Mandalorian? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The Mandalorian is expected to debut sometime this year on Disney+.