The Mandalorian assembled a lot of talent behind the scenes, having brought together a murder’s row of directors for its first season. However, the show also brought in strong performers in front of the camera, and I’m not just talking about Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Giancarlo Esposito and Carl Weathers. Other familiar (and talented) names like Nick Nolte, Ming-Na Wen and Bill Burr all popped up during the first set of episodes. Now, it sounds like Simon Pegg wants to get in on the action, and he knows just the role he wants to play.
Simon Pegg wants to join The Mandalorian as infamous bounty hunter Dengar, a role that he’s already voiced in two other projects. Although Pegg seems unsure of Lucasfilm’s willingness to cast him for the role in the live-action realm, he did use another recent casting to show that there is hope for him:
I've mentioned it a few times, but surely, if Taika [Waititi] and [Jon] Favreau decide to bring Dengar into The Mandalorian, then I have some form [of experience] in the past having played him in Star Wars: Battlefront and The Clone Wars. So just saying. I heard they just employed Katee Sackhoff to play a character that wasn't in the movies but she played it before in a different Star Wars thing, so just saying.
Simon Pegg sounded excited by the idea when he spoke to Collider and, for a Star Wars fan, it’s interesting to think about. For those who don’t know, Dengar is a classic character who originally debuted in The Empire Strikes Back. The galactic bounty hunter appears as one of several that Darth Vader recruits to hunt down the Millennium Falcon. He also made a brief appearance in Return of the Jedi, during which he can be seen at Jabba’s palace.
Although he played a small role in the films, Dengar has become a revered figure in Star Wars lore and has since appeared in novels, comic books, and other materials.
The idea of Dengar showing up in The Mandalorian is intriguing and would make a lot of sense. Din Djarin (Mando) is heavily embroiled in the world of bounty hunters and, he could still cross paths with plenty of ruthless individuals. It’s also possible that Dengar gets recruited by Moff Gideon to help him track down Mando, or the two could find themselves teaming up in a dangerous situation.
Pegg was also astute in pointing out Katee Sackhoff’s reported casting as Bo-Katan Kryze for the second season of The Mandalorian. Like Pegg, Sackhoff originated the role on the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Interestingly though, for Pegg, this wouldn't be his first live-action Star Wars project as he previously played Unkar Plutt, a junk parts dealer on Jakku, in The Force Awakens.
Producer Dave Filoni has a knack for using characters (and actors) in multiple projects, so seeing Simon Pegg reprise Dengar in live-action certainly isn’t out of the realm of possibility. The Mandalorian Season 1 is currently streaming on Disney+.
