Back when it was first announed that Jon Favreau was getting his own Star Wars franchise, I went and created a whole line of Pod Save America inspired t-shirts at our merch store. Turns out Lucasfilm had turned over its first live action Star Wars series to the director of Iron Man and not President Obama’s former speechwriter-turned-podcaster. For the last several months, no one knew what Favreau’s mysterious show was going to be about. Until now.
On Instagram, Favreau revealed the first description of the show, now called The Mandalorian.
Set after the events of the Original Trilogy, but before The Force Awakens, The Mandalorian follows “the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.” Since it doesn’t look like we’ll ever get that James Mangold-directed Boba Fett movie, a show about a Mandalorian gunslinger is the next best thing.
While no cast members have been announced yet, we did make a plea on Twitter to consider POC actors because most in-canon depictions of Mandalorians thus far — from the Fetts to Clan Wren — have been non-white.
Just a reminder to @Jon_Favreau that the most prominent Mandalorians we’ve seen throughout #StarWars have been non-white. #SWRepMatters #TheMandalorian https://t.co/onA2scxe2E pic.twitter.com/bWbDD1Letd
— The Nerds of Color (@TheNerdsofColor) October 4, 2018
One good sign? Lucasfilm also announced its first slate of directors for the series, and Holy Wookiee Braids, is it amazing! Star Wars: Rebels and Clone Wars creator Dave Filoni will direct the pilot, while folks like Deborah Chow (Jessica Jones), Rick Famuyiwa (Dope), Bryce Dallas Howard (Solemates), and Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) will be directing subsequent episodes! For Filoni, Mandalorian will be his first time guiding live action Star Wars characters, while Howard will keep it in the family since her father Ron directed this year’s Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Chow, Famuyiwa, and Waititi will be the first directors of color to helm a live action Star Wars production in the history of the franchise.
I’m cautiously optimistic but I’m not paying money for Disney’s new streaming service to watch another show about another stubbly white guy with a gun.