Once again we’re on the eve of a new episode of The Mandalorian, with tomorrow’s third episode likely to shed some major light on where the season is going next. Star Wars fans are eager for answers on the legendary Mythosaur, we’re hoping to see some conflict between Din Djarin and Bo-Katan over the Darksaber, and potentially the long-awaited return of Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon.
But until that drops there’s a lot of other Star Wars news to chew over, though some fans are likely to be disappointed in one specific casting revelation.
Lars Mikkelsen rules himself out of playing the live-action Thrawn
Grand Admiral Thrawn will soon arrive in the flesh on Disney Plus, likely in the upcoming Ahsoka. Despite having completed filming and being in post-production we still have no idea who’ll be playing the Imperial tactical genius, with many fans hoping that Star Wars Rebels voice actor Lars Mikkelsen would follow Katee Sackhoff’s example and return to play his character in live-action.
Sadly it doesn’t seem that this is happening. Mikkelsen was quizzed on the role in an interview with Danish magazine StreamingGuide (via TheDirect) and was told he was the fan-favorite for casting. He responded:
“Well, I’ve heard that, but I haven’t heard anything about it yet. Then they should have approached me, but they haven’t. So it must be someone else, unfortunately.”
As if to twist the knife, he remarked that it “could have been fun” to play Thrawn in live-action, but unless he’s playing his cards very close to his chest it seems Lucasfilm is going with someone else. We still don’t have a release date for Ahsoka, though we expect a trailer soon after this season of The Mandalorian wraps. Let’s hope whoever’s stepping into Thrawn’s boots can do as good a job as Mikkelsen did.
The Bad Batch teases some kind of The Mandalorian link
The Bad Batch and The Mandalorian take place either side of the original trilogy, with The Bad Batch before and The Mandalorian afterward. But eagle-eyed fans have spotted a very subtle connection between the two shows. In the twelfth and newest episode of The Bad Batch we travel to a secret Imperial cloning facility on Mount Tantiss. There we meet Emerie Karr, a doctor sporting a very familiar insignia.
We’ve seen that in The Mandalorian on the arm of season one’s Dr. Pershing – who was eager to take Grogu’s blood for its incredibly potent midi-chlorian count. So, what’s the link? Well, right now we don’t know, though perhaps we’ll finally get some real answers on the Imperial cloning plans and an answer to “somehow Palpatine returned.”
As you’d expect, The Bad Batch‘s executive producer Brad Rau isn’t giving up any answers, only teasing that it’s “not a coincidence” and that the animated show “will get into all that.” So who knows, maybe we might get an unexpected Grogu cameo in The Bad Batch quite soon.
Die-hard Mandalorian fan completes his LEGO magnum opus
Finally for today a lesson on why you should never underestimate the creativity of Star Wars fans. One particularly dedicated one has spent a year working on a LEGO Mandalorian animation that doesn’t look out of place when put next to The LEGO Movie. But this isn’t some stop-motion creation, it’s the result of hours slaving over the 3D graphics program Blender.
Check it out:
Responses are universally positive, dubbing it a “work of art,” saying that we’ll see the creator in Hollywood, and (perhaps the highest praise of all), “Seriously looks like what ‘The Lego Movie’ would be if it was ‘Lego Star Wars movie.’ Incredible.” We can add this to the ever-growing pile of impressive fan-created Star Wars projects alongside classics like Troops, SC 38 – Reimagined, and Darth Maul: Apprentice.
Tomorrow we’ll doubtless have a heaping pile of Mandalorian news to report on. As always we’ll be burning the midnight oil and hammering refresh on Disney Plus until the episode releases so we can have the latest coverage of what’s new in Din Djarin’s world.
Until then we’re going to hoover up every bit of new information we can and begin saying our prayers that we get some hot Mythosaur action. See you tomorrow!