A new hope for Star Wars on Disney+ in ‘The Mandalorian’

LOS ANGELES — Never heard of a Mandalorian? You’re not alone.

Actor Pedro Pascal hadn’t either when he started talking to Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni about an ambitious new “Star Wars” series that would become a marquee offering for the Walt Disney Co.’s new streaming service, Disney+, which launches Nov. 12.

But Pascal, known for playing Oberyn Martell on “Game of Thrones,” knew that this Mandalorian character looked a lot like Boba Fett and that was enough for him. The stoic bounty hunter behind the helmet who made his debut in “The Empire Strikes Back” became a cultish fan favorite and happened to be Pascal’s preferred action figure as a kid. When he got out of the meeting and wanted to share the news, he could barely get the words out.

“I was like, ‘They want me to be — it’s not Boba Fett, but it’s like, you remember. They want me to be the coolest looking thing in Star Wars, you know?’” Pascal said, channeling his energy from that day. “It was a big geeky moment.”

“The Lion King” and “Jungle Book” director Jon Favreau was enlisted to executive produce and write for “The Mandalorian,” which is set in the franchise’s Outer Rim five years after “Return of the Jedi” and 25 years before the events of “The Force Awakens.” The eight-episode series, which will roll out on a near-weekly basis, follows the title character in his bounty hunting adventures.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2JKTwTi