The Darksaber is one of the most feared weapons in the Star Wars universe, and The Mandalorian gave fans their first look at the legendary blade in live-action. Though the Darksaber's unique black blade may look otherworldly, behind-the-scenes footage shows that it still looks pretty deadly even without CGI.
Filming lightsaber battles has been a challenge since the very start of the Star Wars franchise. George Lucas' original 1977 film used poles with a highly reflective covering, so that they would reflect back any light shone at them many times over. The latter two films of the original trilogy had the actors fighting with slim wooden poles, which were then used as a guide for rotoscoping the light blades in post-production. A similar approach was used for the prequel trilogy, where the actors fought with plastic swords that were then enhanced with CGI.
Lightsaber technology reached its pinnacle, however, with Disney's sequel trilogy - and it was this technology that was used to create the Darksaber. Starting with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the prop swords used on set actually lit up with their respective lightsaber colors. This allowed them to function not only as a prop, but as a lighting source. The first episode of the Disney+ documentary series Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian shows a behind-the-scenes look at the Darksaber before CGI is added, and even on set the blade looks quite intimidating:
Wielded by Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), the Darksaber makes its appearance at the very end of The Mandalorian's season 1 finale. Gideon uses it to cut his way out of TIE fighter wreckage in the wake of a humiliating defeat by Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal). The Mandalorians have a notable history of conflict with the Jedi, but the Darksaber was created by the only Mandalorian ever to be inducted into the Jedi Order: Tarre Vizsla. The weapon has previously been seen in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, wielded by warriors like Darth Maul and Sabine Wren. However, it had never been seen in live-action until The Mandalorian.
Like the lightsabers used in Disney's Star Wars movies, the prop version of the Darksaber resembles a toy version of the actual sword. Made of plastic with lighting surrounding the blade, the Darksaber is enhanced in post-production to create the unnatural darkness of the blade and to add a shimmering effect to the light surrounding it. Speaking in an interview with IMDb about his experiences filming The Mandalorian season 2, Esposito admitted that he has "bopped" himself in the head with the Darksaber a number of times, and broken three of the prop swords.
In contrast to the green screen-heavy approach of the Star Wars prequels, The Mandalorian has displayed a strong commitment to using real environments and practical effects. One of the most impressive behind-the-scenes details is the use of Stagecraft, a revolutionary form of rear-projection that allows virtual sets to be rendered in real-time around the actors. That means that when Mando is dog-fighting in space, the stars really are spinning around Pascal on set. Given this commitment to making things feel real, it's little wonder that the pre-CGI Darksaber still looks pretty scary.