Taika Waititi Voicing Classic Droid Character in The Mandalorian
Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi’s involvement in the live-action Star Wars series The Mandalorian just got even more interesting. The super talented director—and actor—is not only helming the season finale of the new series, but he’s also got a potentially juicy role. We already knew that Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian would have an original Star Wars feel. Now we know that Waititi may be voicing a character that first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back.
Favreau shared a new behind-the-scenes photo from the sound booth which shows Waititi at the mic. Favreau has shared a bunch of photos for the upcoming Disney + series, but this might be the most definitive. You’ll see Waititi at the mic with an image on the screen in front of him. And who’s in that image? It appears to be the droid IG-88—a bounty hunter first glimpsed in Empire. Here’s the photo:
View this post on Instagram
Now compare the droid pictured in the above image with the droid that Favreau shared this past Christmas. It appears to be the same one that Waititi will be voicing—whether it’s IG-88 or IG-11 is still unclear:
Waititi last deployed his acting kills voicing the lovable alien rock creature Korg in his very own Thor: Ragnarok. Now that it appears he’s once again a part of the cast, one wonders if he’ll steal every scene he’s in like he did in Ragnarok. StarWars.com description of IG-88 is fairly menacing:
Many people in the galaxy fear droids, what with the memories of the Clone Wars still fresh in their minds. Far more terrifying than battle droids were assassin droids, independently programmed mechanical killers that had no masters. IG-88 is a battered chrome war droid who has become a bounty hunter, and answered Darth Vader’s call to capture the Millennium Falcon during the events surrounding the Battle of Hoth.
Waititi managed to turn the colossal Korg into a cuddly behemoth. Will he turn the assassin droid IG-88 into a character you’d want to root for? Knowing Waititi, there’s a strong possibility.
The Mandalorian debuts on Disney+ at some point this year.
Featured image: An image from the set of ‘The Mandalorian.’ Courtesy Walt Disney Studios.
