Just when the Star Wars sequel trilogy was reaching its unceremonious conclusion in The Rise of Skywalker, with the divided fanbase locked in a civil war and the general audience’s interest in the saga waning, both diehard obsessives and casual viewers were brought together in a rare instance of harmony by a little show called The Mandalorian.
As the box office failure of Solo had Disney fearing that “Star Wars fatigue” was setting in, Jon Favreau swooped in with a gripping story about fascinating original characters set in uncharted territories of George Lucas’ galaxy far, far away and saved the franchise.
Jon Favreau Has An Unwavering Command Of Tone
From the semi-improvised superheroics of Iron Man to the unique mix of holiday spirit and oddball fish-out-of-water antics in Elf, Jon Favreau is a master of establishing tone and balancing it perfectly. The director has accredited this ability to Dungeons & Dragons, explaining that playing the role-playing game “gave me a really strong background in imagination, storytelling, understanding how to create tone and a sense of balance.”
Tone is one of the toughest elements to get right in a Star Wars story. Lucas was influenced by a very specific facet of pulp fiction that’s difficult to replicate, so recapturing that Star Wars feeling is trickier than it seems. But Favreau has nailed it with The Mandalorian. One of the most refreshing things when the first season was released was simply that it felt like Star Wars.
Pedro Pascal Has Curated An Iconic New Star Wars Protagonist
As the sequel trilogy demonstrated, creating a new Star Wars protagonist from scratch isn’t easy. But the title character in The Mandalorian is already an iconic new hero who’s joined the ranks of the saga’s greats, like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Han Solo, and Pedro Pascal’s electrifying performance has gone a long way toward making that happen.
Mando’s refusal to remove his helmet (most of the time) has meant that Pascal’s ability to express emotion has been limited to his voice and body language. (The character is sometimes played on-screen by a body double, but Pascal worked out the character’s body language with the doubles.)
It Reminded Fans Who Were Disillusioned By The Sequels Why They Love Star Wars
The Star Wars sequel trilogy was enjoyed by a lot of fans, but there were also many who were left bitter and disillusioned by the movies’ inconsistent story arcs, betrayal of legacy characters, endless creation of new Force rules, and disappointing payoffs (or, worse still, non-existent payoffs).
The sharp storytelling, lovable characters, forward planning, and pure escapism of The Mandalorian have reminded those disillusioned fans why they love Star Wars.
Ludwig Göransson Has Evolved Star Wars Music
Music has always been crucial to the Star Wars saga, and The Mandalorian has maintained this spirit with Ludwig Göransson’s breathtaking compositions. John Williams’ sweeping orchestrations were perfect for the Shakespearean tragedy of the Skywalker saga, but Göransson has taken a completely different approach to The Mandalorian’s music.
Instead of emulating Williams’ style, Göransson has put his own personal stamp on the music of The Mandalorian, incorporating new musical genres like dubstep and capturing the essence of Din Djarin with a haunting bass recorder.
Every Director Has Brought Their Own Personal Take On A Galaxy Far, Far Away
While Jon Favreau is the guiding vision behind The Mandalorian, he’s brought on a crack team of directors including Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Rick Famuyiwa to not only bring that vision to life but to put their own personal stamp on the Star Wars universe.
From Boba Fett’s triumphant return to action helmed by Robert Rodriguez to the ice spider attack helmed by Peyton Reed, every Mandalorian director has provided their own personal take on a galaxy far, far away while fitting the show’s own signature style like a glove.
It Embraces Every Facet Of Star Wars Lore
Where a lot of new Star Wars media picks and chooses which elements of the canon it wants to acknowledge — J.J. Abrams decided to retroactively make Darth Vader evil again and joked about putting Jar Jar Binks’ corpse in the Jakku desert as a mean-spirited Easter egg — The Mandalorian embraces every facet of Star Wars lore.
The show’s Easter eggs don’t discriminate amongst the canon. It has prequel memes like “the high ground,” sequel trilogy setups like Luke Skywalker’s Jedi academy, and references to controversial elements like Gungans and M-counts and Canto Bight slot machines.
The Supporting Cast Is Filled With Memorable Characters
In addition to having two iconic leads in Mando and Grogu, The Mandalorian has a supporting cast filled with memorable characters that have quickly become beloved among the fanbase.
The spin-off potential of characters like Cara Dune and Migs Mayfeld is being recognized, while the appearances of familiar faces like Ahsoka Tano and Boba Fett are always refreshing. Returning characters have never felt gratuitous on this show — at least not yet — because they always appear organically in the context of Mando’s story.
Grogu Was A Global Sensation
Grogu, or “the Child” as he was called at the beginning of the series, or “Baby Yoda” as he was colloquially termed by the internet, became a global phenomenon overnight. The Mandalorian’s infant companion was left out of all the marketing to preserve the surprise in the pilot episode, then he was everywhere.
Disney underestimated how much Grogu merch it would need. Even people with no interest in Star Wars became interested in The Mandalorian because of the “Baby Yoda” sensation.
It’s Being Used As An Arrowverse-Style Jumping-Off Point For An Interconnected TV Universe
Two spin-offs from The Mandalorian were announced at Disney’s Investor Day event, with a third being announced by a post-credits stinger in the show itself a few days later. The series will run concurrently with Ahsoka, Rangers of the New Republic, and The Book of Boba Fett, which will all lead toward a “climactic story event.”
This is certainly an exciting development. The Mandalorian is being used as an Arrowverse-style jumping-off point for a vast interconnected TV universe.
Almost The Entire Fanbase Agrees It’s Awesome
The most obvious way that The Mandalorian saved Star Wars is that almost every fan can agree that it’s awesome.
Fans who could argue for days about the merits and/or pitfalls of the prequel and sequel trilogies have engaged in diplomatic discussions about the adventures of Din Djarin.