A new hope for Star Wars on Disney Plus in ‘The Mandalorian’

Never heard of a Mandalorian? You’re t alone.

Actor Pedro Pascal hn’t eir when he started talking to Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni about an ambitious new “Star Wars” series that would become a marquee offering for Walt Disney Co.’s new streaming service, Disney Plus, which launches v. 12.

But Pascal, kwn for playing Oberyn Martell on “Game of Thrones,” knew that this Mandalorian character looked a lot like Boba Fett and that was eugh for him. stoic bounty hunter behind helmet who me his debut in “ Empire Strikes Back” became a cultish fan favorite and happened to be Pascal’s preferred action figure as a kid. When he got out of meeting and wanted to share news, he could barely get words out.

“I was like, ‘y want me to be — it’s t Boba Fett, but it’s like, you remember. y want me to be coolest looking thing in Star Wars, you kw?’” Pascal says, channeling his energy from that day. “It was a big geeky moment.”

Pascal and anyone else scratching ir hes about how y might have missed this Mandalorian concept can rest easy: It’s t even a word that’s uttered in original trilogy. But idea comes straight from George Lucas himself. He h envisioned a race of warrior peoples called Mandalore that ended up getting streamlined into one character in films — Boba Fett. “Star Wars” literature and series like “ Clone Wars” helped keep Mandalorians alive over years, and it re-emerged again when Disney and Lucasfilm started thinking about n-Skywalker ideas for new streaming service where it’s primed to get its biggest audience yet.

“ Lion King” and “Jungle Book” director Jon Favreau was enlisted to executive produce and write for “ Mandalorian,” which is set in franchise’s Outer Rim five years after “Return of Jedi” and 25 years before events of “ Force Awakens.” eight episode series, which will roll out on a near-weekly basis, follows title character in his bounty hunting ventures.

world around him is full of seedy and mysterious characters, like Greef Carga, played by Carl Wears, who les a bounty hunter guild, and former soldier Cara Dune, played by Gina Cara. As with all recent Star Wars properties, details are being kept as secret as possible.

“I h to cut my finger and sign in blood that I would say thing about it, t even say I was doing it, that I was part of it. y’re very protective of Star Wars, stories, Mandalorian, brand, and it makes sense,” Wears said. “We all want to protect it also.”

But from early foot and nature of bounty hunting profession, “ Mandalorian” does seem a little darker than your aver Star Wars story. It’s been described as a Western, leaving it open as to wher le characters are good, b or somewhere in between.

“We can be pulled to any side, any one of us,” said Cara. “Even when you begin journey with Mandalorian, you aren’t sure what side you’re on.”

Pascal agreed that it’s meant to be ambiguous.

“y separate good and evil so perfectly in world of Star Wars. And in this one it’s like we’re way more at center,” Pascal said. “We’re past those borders, and past those very, very linear, very specific lines of definition.”

While Star Wars is stranger to small screen, those efforts have mostly been animated. So when initial trailers debuted for “ Mandalorian,” in glorious live-action, many observed how movie-like it seemed, as though it would fit right in on big screen alongside “Star Wars” spiffs like “Rogue One” or “Solo.” A reported $15 million per episode budget probably didn’t hurt.

It’s also a gesture of investment into a new phase of Star Wars universe under Disney. Skywalker saga is coming to an end with “ Rise of Skywalker,” which opens in aters on Dec. 20, and next cinematic trilogy is going through its own restructuring with recent news that its overseers, “Game of Thrones” showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, have parted ways with Lucasfilm.

But “ Mandalorian” could help ease gap as future is plotted. And Favreau is alrey at work on a second season.

involvement of Favreau and Filoni, who directed pilot and has been behind “Star Wars” projects like “ Clone Wars” and “Star Wars Rebels” has everyone confident in product.

“y are Star Wars fans,” said Cara. “This is me for (fans) because two of ir own are making it.”

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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr