The Mandalorian Features Return of Classic Star Wars Aliens

The latest episode of Star Wars: The Mandalorian featured a lot more references and characters that long-time fans are likely to recognize, especially for those who are fans of the original trilogy. While previous installments in the Disney+ series have provided winks and nods at some fan-favorite movies, especially last week’s episode that took place on the iconic desert planet of Tatooine, the hits continue to come for the new episodes as Mando joins a group of old allies in order to pull off a dangerous prison break.

Some of the characters the Mandalorian teams up with are likely recognizable to those who are familiar with the franchise. One character named Xi’an, played by Game of Thrones and Harry Potter actress Natalia Tena, is a Twi’lek assassin who is proficient with knives. Twi’leks are prominent in the series, with Bib Fortuna arguably the most prominent after his appearance at Jabba’s palace in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

There’s another member of the crew who is a Devaronian, a devilish looking alien that was first glimpsed at in the Mos Eisley cantina in Star Wars: A New Hope. With red skin and horns, this character named Burg was played by Clancy Brown, a character actor who might best be known for his voice work as Mr. Krabbs in SpongeBob SquarePants. Devaronians don’t play a major role in the movies, though one character played a prominent part in Star Wars Rebels as a criminal leader on the world of Lothal.

And while technically this member of the crew is a droid, it still bears a striking similarity to another cult-favorite character who first debuted in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The droid known simply as Zero looks very similar to the model of 4-LOM, with the striking bug-like eyes being the biggest giveaway.

These characters make up the Mandalorian’s crew, but we also see a multi-limbed Ardennian in the jail, which is the same species as Rio Durant from Solo: A Star Wars Story. This is especially interesting because show runner Jon Favreau provided the voice for Rio Durant in the film. The character in The Mandalorian did not speak, and is only seen briefly in a prison cell while the team of characters attempt to make their way through the ship.

These are just a few of the recognizable species that have appeared in the series thus far. We’ll likely get a lot more as the series wraps up with just two more episodes.

New episodes of Star Wars: The Mandalorian debut on Fridays on Disney+. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here. Disney has also launched a gift subscription option for the holidays.

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