Stuntman Brendan Wayne, who serves as one of the body doubles for Din Djarin on The Mandalorian, has suggested the show’s upcoming third series will more closely follow the hit show’s debut season. Wayne, who is responsible for lending Djarin his trademark gunslinger swagger by handling all the weapon-based action scenes, is also the grandson of one of cinema’s most famous cowboys, John Wayne. The stunt performer had managed to land the coveted gig as one of Mando’s stunt doubles after working with showrunner Jon Favreau on 2011’s Cowboys & Aliens and was eventually asked by Favreau to come in to test for a “super top secret” project.
Set five years after the events of Return of the Jedi, The Mandalorian premiered on Disney+ in November 2019, and helped to usher in a whole new era of live-action Star Wars content. While the Star Wars sequel trilogy has been a source of much division in the fanbase, Favreau’s handling of the franchise’s first live-action television series was widely praised for staying true to the Western influences which underpinned George Lucas’s original trilogy. Teaming up with The Clone Wars’ creator Dave Filoni, Favreau upped the stakes in season 2 by including some much-beloved franchise characters, including Bo-Katan, Boba Fett, Ahsoka Tano, and even Luke Skywalker himself.
With Lucasfilm currently overseeing the development of several other live-action series, including The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka spinoffs following their season 2 appearances, Wayne suggests that the next season of The Mandalorian return to basics. Speaking with the Star Wars Sessions podcast, Wayne believes the next season will focus less on introducing new characters and put more emphasis on Djarin’s own character journey. Check out what he had to say below:
I think we've introduced the world in which Mando exists now. Not that there aren't going to be new things, I'm sure... I think there will be a lot less introductions, and a lot more going back towards the first season of delving deeper into the character and things like that I think… Have I read one script? No. Have I heard some things? Sure. So I'm guessing. But I can tell you this. If anyone's going to be able to continue telling a story, it's Jon [Favreau]. And raising the stakes? It's Jon.
While the season 2 finale saw Djarin complete his quest of reuniting Grogu with the Jedi, entrusting him into the care of Luke Skywalker, the Mandalorian bounty hunter has plenty to keep his story moving forward. Now in possession of the Darksaber, a symbol of leadership and a one-of-a-kind weapon that holds great cultural significance to the Mandalorian people, Djarin’s new road seems to set him on a path toward reuniting the fractured remnants of Mandalore. Whether Katee Sackhoff’s Bo Katan will serve as an ally or impediment to that end remains to be seen.
One of the other big questions fans will also want to see answered will be whether or not Mando will get to be reunited with Grogu during the events of season 3. While the story would suggest that their respective paths have diverged, Mando and Grogu are an iconic pairing, and their relationship was the emotional core of the first two seasons. Certainly, many fans would find it hard to envision The Mandalorian season 3 without Grogu present in some form.
Source: Star Wars Sessions via Comicbook.com