As the date for The Mandalorian's premiere draws ever closer it's becoming more apparent that the first live-action Star Wars series will be unlike anything fans have seen before. The cast is phenomenal and features an actor synonymous with villanous roles thanks to his time on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul: Giancarlo Esposito. The Gus Fring actor was at the host-less 71st Primetime Emmys, and was able to talk a bit about his mysterious character in The Mandalorian, Moff Gideon.
So, what's Moff Gideon all about? Esposito was surprisingly candid about his role and even teased that all may not be as it seems when it comes to his Empire-affiliated character.
I play a guy who was a warden of the universe. He was in power before the [Empire] collapsed. You don't know if he's good or bad ... but he certainly is a guy who has order in his life. He's an exciting guy because he has all of the equipment and spaceships at his ready.
For those that don't know, Moff is a title and not the first name of Giancarlo Esposito's character. Like the actor told Entertainment Tonight, it was a position of power in the Empire in which he held dominion over a portion of the galaxy on behalf of Emperor Palpatine. Grand Moff Tarkin was a higher ranking version of this role, so just imagine Esposito's Gideon in the same sense with the ships but no Death Star.
One interesting detail about Moff Gideon's character is that though the Empire is no longer a thing, he's still in control of a lot of spaceships and equipment. Considering The Mandalorian takes place years after Return of the Jedi, this might show just how capable a strategist Gideon is to maintain a bulk of the things allotted to him by the Empire. Has no one challenged him, or has everyone who tried failed?
It's also interesting that Giancarlo Esposito spoke to his character's sense of order. Order was one of the driving principles behind why the Empire had such a militaristic approach to policing the galaxy, so perhaps Moff Gideon is continuing to act as the law of this section of the Outer Rim in an attempt to keep order in an otherwise lawless region. That, or he's the guy with the biggest army and is exploiting surrounding planets and their peoples for his own gain.
It's really hard to see some nobility in any Empire-affiliated Star Wars character, especially when they're played by Giancarlo Esposito. Of course, if I was a director who wanted to serve up a twist that the former high-ranking Empire official was actually a decent person I might be compelled to use Esposito to subvert audience expectations. Could Moff Gideon actually be a solid dude, or did Esposito just throw that bit in there to keep fans on their toes?
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The Mandalorian makes its debut on Disney+ when the streaming service premieres Tuesday, November 12 at 12:01 PT. Stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest news in what's happening with movies and television, especially with the launch of some major streaming services just around the corner.
