Taika Waititi is arguably best known for his work as the director of Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok. That said, he's also contributing to another huge part of the Disney family: Star Wars. Fans have known for a while that Waititi is on board Star Wars' first live-action TV series, The Mandalorian. Originally, he was only revealed to be directing one of the episodes of the Disney+ show's first season.
Now, executive producer Jon Favreau has shared an image that may reveal Waititi is also on board as the voice of a classic Star Wars character. Take a look:
That looks an awful lot like Taika Waititi recording lines as the droid IG-88 for The Mandalorian, right? There can be little doubt that this is a behind-the-scenes look at The Mandalorian, after all, even if Jon Favreau did post it on Instagram without a helpful caption. Favreau had already teased that IG-88 would appear on the show, and what do IG-88, Favreau, Waititi, and a Mandalorian-style helmet have in common if not for The Mandalorian?
Now, is it possible that Taika Waititi is simply recording a voiceover for a special feature or something that wouldn't mean he's voicing the droid that first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back? Sure. Still, my money is on Jon Favreau throwing info-starved fans a treat and revealing who will be voicing the iconic droid.
Hardly the most pivotal character in The Empire Strikes Back or any of the other Star Wars projects he briefly appeared in, IG-88 is an assassin droid. He was one of the group of bounty hunters Darth Vader assigned to capture the Millennium Falcon in Empire. The honor for that capture went, of course, to Boba Fett, who may or may not appear on the show himself.
Taika Waititi is more prolific as a director than an actor, but his one recent voice acting role was pretty high profile. He voiced the unforgettable Korg in Thor: Ragnarok. If he could bring a revolutionary alien to the big screen for Marvel to perfection, why not a droid on the small screen for Star Wars?
Considering the way Taika Waititi has spoken about working on Star Wars, there can be little doubt that he has more than enough enthusiasm to voice a character on top of directing an episode. He sounded like a kid in a candy store when describing the experience, even though working on Star Wars meant that he couldn't go a bit rogue with his own tone like he did with Thor: Ragnarok.
We can only hope that more information about Taika Waititi as IG-88 releases soon, as well as more info about The Mandalorian overall. What we know so far about The Mandalorian is intriguing, but I think we could all stand for more. New details about all things Star Wars will undoubtedly be revealed at Star Wars Celebration in April, and CinemaBlend will share those details as they become available for those who can't attend the huge Star Wars event.
