The Mandalorian: Game Of Thrones Star Pedro Pascal To Lead The Star Wars Series
Pedro Pascal is staking his claim on a piece of the galaxy far, far away.
As first reported by Variety, the Game of Thrones alum has accepted an offer to lead the forthcoming Star Wars series The Mandalorian, written by Jon Favreau.
Pascal, whose name has circled The Mandalorian since its announcement in early October, is said to be in active negotiations for the gig. An official deal hasn't yet gone through as of this writing, but it sounds like Pascal will formally join the Star Wars universe in no time.
Though the very nature of its name hints otherwise, The Mandalorian doesn't revolve around the fan-favorite bounty hunter Boba Fett or his "father," Janjo Fett. The series is actually set in the years following the height of the Fett family's fame, after their stories have concluded and settled into the sand, and chronicles "the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic." Viewers will watch as the new warrior (presumably the currently nameless one Pascal will portray) ventures across the Outer Rim Territory planet of Mandalore — the home of his fellow fearsome, Jedi-hating Mandalorian people – in the time "after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order."
Pascal seems a grade-A pick for The Mandalorian, having already proven his talents on the small screen on Game of Thrones — the series on which Pascal also demonstrated his ability to get viewers tune in solely to see more of his character, Prince Oberyn Martell, who only lived for seven episodes in season 4 — and on Netflix's Narcos. Clearly, the guy knows how to make a television series shine, and he'll undoubtedly do the same with The Mandalorian.
Pascal's also no stranger to action, recently appearing as Agent Whisky in Kingsman: The Golden Circle and wrapping up filming on Netflix's forthcoming actioner Triple Frontier. While we don't know exactly what style of fighting Pascal's character will prefer, the spear-dancing he did as Oberyn on Game of Thrones and the whip-cracking he did in Kingsman: The Golden Circle will certainly inform his approach to The Mandalorian, and it should be a total joy to watch.
We can't imagine that it was easy for Disney and Lucasfilm to score Pascal for The Mandalorian either, as the actor has been caught up in several high-profile projects, including If Beale Street Could Talk and the hotly anticipated superhero sequel Wonder Woman 1984. The companies seem to be hiring only the best of the best for The Mandalorian (just take a look at the list of episode directors that includes Taika Waititi, Rick Famuyiwa, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dave Filoni, and Deborah Chow as proof) and it's clear that Disney and Lucasfilm think Pascal belongs in those ranks. For what it's worth, so do we.
The Mandalorian is slated to premiere on Disney's upcoming streaming service, Disney+, sometime in 2019.