Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season Two Premiere Featured a Surprise Deadwood Reunion

In the season two premiere of The Mandalorian the series wasted no time tying itself back into the larger Star Wars universe with plenty of easter eggs and references. Surprising characters from the first season returned, unlikely cameos from the original movie appeared, and even a tongue-in-cheek reference to a dangerous Star Wars action figure from decades ago. The Jon Favreau created series didn’t stop there however, as it featured a pointed yet subtle reference to a TV series that clearly had a big influence on The Mandalorian and its many uses of storytelling devices from westerns. Spoilers below for the first episode of Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 2! Continue reading at your own risk…

x As you know doubt know or have heard, none other than Timothy Olyphant appears in the episode, taking on the role of Cobb Vanth, a lawman type character that has set up shop in the Tatooine settlement of Mos Pelgo. Before Pedro Pascal’s titular bounty hunter meets “The Marshall” however, he makes contact with a Weequay bartender, which the episode’s credits revealed was played by none other than actor W. Earl Brown.

Fans of the HBO TV series Deadwood will no doubt recall Brown’s role as Dan Dority, the right hand man and bartender for Ian McShane’s Al Swearengen, where he starred opposite none other than Timothy Olyphant as former marshall turned sheriff Seth Bullock. The pair’s scenes together deliver a sense of familiarity that evokes their scenes together from the David Milch series, especially because they’re literally working in the same character dynamics as they did during their years in Deadwood as lawman and barkeep.

Brown took to Twitter to open about his experience getting the part as the Weequay bartender and reuniting with Olyphant, revealing that Jon Favreau wanted him specifically for the part but that he didn’t even realize he was putting together a Deadwood reunion.

“I swear to God, I love that show — I absolutely idolize Milch. We cast you first,” Favreau said, according to Brown. “When I said ‘hire Earl Brown’ I did not consciously think I was recreating your DEADWOOD dynamic, but here we are — DEADWOOD In Space…”

Brown further revealed that the day he started working on the show was before the first season had even premiered, and how he learned about the existence of Baby Yoda aka The Child from his time on the set of season two and not from watching the show like the rest of us.

The Mandalorian debuts new episodes on Disney+ every Friday. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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