Who plays IG-11 in The Mandalorian? In late 2019, the Star Wars-themed series became a breakout hit for Disney+, leaving many subscribers wondering about the bounty hunter droid’s identity. In The Mandalorian season 1, IG-11 appears in three of the eight episodes - beginning with the series premiere and ending in the season 1 finale.
In the pilot, IG-11 teams up with the titular Mando during a battle sequence, only to later be destroyed after threatening to kill Baby Yoda, officially known as “The Child”. IG-11 later returns for The Mandalorian season 1’s final two episodes, after being re-built by Kuiil to protect Mando's little friend, the series’ most enigmatic and popular character. In “Redemption” IG-11 is present when the Mandalorian, aka Din Djarin, finally removes his helmet, allowing the droid to treat some nasty injuries. The Mandalorian season 1 ends with IG-11 sacrificing himself in order to protect Baby Yoda and company from Stormtroopers.
Taika Waititi plays IG-11 in The Mandalorian, and he's perhaps best known for directing Thor: Ragnarok. In addition to directing, Waititi also portrays Korg in the MCU and played a fantastical version of Adolf Hitler in Jojo Rabbit, a 2019 film that he wrote and directed. Waititi, a New Zealand native, began his filmmaking career in the early 2000s, and earned an Oscar nomination for the 2004 short Two Cars, One Night. After releasing the features Eagle vs Shark and Boy, Waititii wrote, directed, and starred in the 2014 indie hit What We Do in the Shadows, and later released another small-budget success called Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
Waititi directed The Mandalorian season 1 finale, one of the most highly-anticipated pop culture events of fall 2019. And though Waititi is mostly associated with movies, his TV resume dates back to 2007-2009 when he directed four episodes of Flight of the Conchords, an HBO musical comedy created by and starring friend and collaborator Jemaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows). But working on The Mandalorian is easily one of Waititi's more high-profile gigs, as a director and actor.
IG-11 was a highly-anticipated character in The Mandalorian season 1 due to IG-88 being a key member of Darth Vader's bounty hunter team in The Empire Strikes Back, and audiences finally got to see how an IG unit handles combat in the season's penultimate episode when IG-11 almost took out an entire company of Stormtroopers by himself. But beyond that, having Waititi lending his voice to IG-11 was an interesting choice. When trying to find IG-11's voice, Waititi told IGN that "you couldn't take away personality and emotion, but... it also can't be completely devoid."
Unfortunately, while IG-11 returned after being killed the first time around, this time, he self-destructed, which means it's highly unlikely he'll return in season 2. However, that doesn't mean Waititi can't play another character in The Mandalorian. Perhaps he could appear in physical form next time around.