Taika Waititi may not have been able to direct his episode of The Mandalorian as loosely as he did Thor: Ragnarok, but that doesn't mean he didn't have fun on the set. The director shared a bit about his experience during a panel for the Disney+ series at the TCA Winter Press Tour, and he basically sounded like a kid in a candy store talking about some of the things he was able to film. He said:
Yeah, it was really fun doing something in the Star Wars universe. It's every kid's dream just to see a Stormtrooper. When you're doing these scenes with like 50 or 60 of them, it's pretty amazing.
Hold up, did he just say he shot a scene with 50 to 60 Stormtroopers in it? Provided he was speaking literally and not just throwing out a random number, that's a pretty impressive count for a single episode. The question is, what were that many Stormtroopers up to in a show that takes place in the outer reaches of the galaxy?
It's especially puzzling/intriguing when one considers this is an adventure set between the fall of the Empire and the rise of the First Order. Are these Stormtroopers Empire loyalists who are desperately fighting to survive, or are they early First Order troopers? It's also possible Waititi could've shot a scene that took place during the Galactic Civil War, and one of the main characters was once a Stormtrooper or in the rebellion and fought against them.
Beyond the Stormtroopers, Taika Waititi also mentioned he was excited to direct a type of character often seen in the Star Wars lore, and hinted that he may have gotten to direct a couple.
Bounty hunters, the helmets are so cool. So yeah, I mean just getting to see characters like that and getting to shoot with them was pretty cool.
Waititi might have revealed something to the TCA attendees (via Gamespot) yet again, as he noted that bounty hunters will play into The Mandalorian. He didn't specifically say who, but did note the cool helmets of the hunters which sounds like he's referring to the Mandalorian character. Mandalorians are known for mercenary and bounty hunter work, so it wouldn't be all that surprising of a reveal if so.
Taika Waititi is just one of a handful of high-profile directors contributing to The Mandalorian, as folks like Bryce Dallas Howard and Dave Filoni are credited with working on it as well. His small snippets of info do some of the work in regards to pulling back the curtain on the show, which has been shrouded in secrecy outside of a few pictures of droids and the cast list. With Star Wars Celebration just around the corner, however, it's possible more reveals aren't far off.
The Mandalorian is headed to Disney+, along with one other live-action Star Wars series and a heaping helping of Marvel stuff as well. Keep with CinemaBlend for updates on all of those things, and visit our midseason premiere guide for a breakdown of what all is headed to television in 2019.
