Say what ?

Yep...just saw there's a season 3, but it's starting at Christmas next year. I'll take it! Otherwise, I don't know why I bought the stupid animatronic Child doll.

Great way to end the season. Did you all watch after the credits? That was pretty cool.

I had the same feeling I had walking out of Star Wars in 1978 -the one year anniversary rerelease- during the last 20 minutes of chapter 16.
It was utterly audacious what they pulled off.
I was weeping.
What a sucker I still am for well made Star Wars.
I forgive Disney, and Ryan Johnson for The Last Jedi.
That's how happy I am for the quality of Mando chapters 1-16.

Message from the Yavin Base Freeeek Kingdom.

So no more baby yoda? Must have sold all the merchandise they could. It was a good season but I think I preferred season 1.

I think they are - smartly - IMO, giving him a rest so as to avoid overexposure. Perhaps the Mandalorian story was only worked out this far, and now they need time to regroup. Pretty damn amazing storytelling, both seasons.

Let’s hope they keep Favreau and Filoni in charge. I am sure Kathleen Kennedy is a great producer but I do sort of think it’s time for fans (who have a proven track record in filmmaking) to take the reins.

I just watched this thing on Netflix about the making of “Elf”, and Favreau has VISION. He may turn out to be one of the most important filmmakers in (popular) history. And Filoni has an amazing grasp of arc storytelling and is probably the biggest Star Wars nerd ever.

Agreed. Loving what they are doing right now. This feels much closer to the original trilogy. Sure the timeline is part of that, but the style and storytelling is a huge part as well. Boba is getting his own stuff now (that is the after credits piece for those who may have missed it). They are jumping back in to just before the Rogue One story as well. Hopefully the High Republic stuff is good. The first book drops next month I believe.

Also all the Thrawn stuff is awesome. Almost done with the latest book and the second comes in April!

Very little CG, too. NO monsters are CG that I can remember (except the Krayt dragon obviously). Still managed to make that a good episode by not going TOO crazy overdoing it with the CG and violating physics left and right.

I agree. It was becoming the baby yoda show. Hopefully mando gets back to kicking ass next year

Just clarified: Book of Boba is in ADDITION to Season 3. Holy crap. That’s a lot of Star Wars.

That’s awesome is what it is, I was wondering about that.

I don't know, having the she warriors all march Rambo style straight down a hall without any over, and without getting hit once seems like it's violating physics a bit....just sayin. But overall, you're dead on.

You know that’s not what I meant

It's the superhero advance. Or the Mario invincibility star.

I'm not really bothered by it since it's just part of the action.

There was a fair amount of CG in the final episode between the Dark Troopers and the surprise guest in act three. I was psyched that he showed up but found the deep fake face shots to be pretty, well, fake looking. I guess the budget for Rogue One was much higher, but you’d think they’d be able to top a four year old movie, or at least those South Park Sassy Trump videos from YouTube.

That aside, I very much enjoyed the last episode and am looking forward to Season Three!

Some discussion if Pascal returns next year. In an interview yesterday? A bigwig stated that they look forward to the character returning next year. They specifically did not mention Pascal. Set rumor has it something bigger than the helmet dust up, if that was even a thing in the first place.

That wasn’t a Deep Fake (not sure if you were being specific, but that does mean a specific set of technologies), that was a an actor playing Luke in the fight scenes, and Mark Hamill himself playing Luke in the control room scene. Not Deep Fake (never used in a film yet AFAIK) nor pure CG (Tarkin / Leia in Rogue One), but the de-aging process they used in Ant Man on Michael Douglas. Personally I think that was considerably more successful than what was done in Rogue One, but yes still doesn’t look quite real.

Check this out for a combination of animated CG and a fairly quick Deepfake:

My wife got one for Christmas.

Some tea to calm my nerves:

https://screenrant.com/mandalorian-season-3-pedro-pascal-return-brendan-wayne/

Not true, my friend:

https://www.thewrap.com/luke-skywalker-mandalorian-max-lloyd-jones/

I laughed when someone said it was played by Hamill, it clearly WAS NOT.

Hamill is rather portly at this stage of his life, as am I.

The stunt double? Guys going to say anything to stay employed. If he's wrong not like anyone is going to remember or impact his career a wit.

"It's unknown what the issue is with Pedro Pascal at this time, but interestingly enough, while announcing the new Boba Fett series and The Mandalorian Season 3, Jon Favreau told Good Morning America that The Mandalorian Season 3 will "back with the main character that we all know and love," and Favreau didn't say Pedro Pascal will be back, which is now leading to speculation that there are still problems with Pascal and that the actor could possibly be replaced."

The reality is.. Anyone can be Mando if the helmet never comes off. Just a guy in a suit. I hope Pedro comes back.. but three people have played Boba Fett.

Aah, my mistake - Jon Favreau commented that Hamill was on set, and specifically mentioned the de-aging process - I guess I just assumed he did his own voice. Man, that must be weird!

That just ruins it for me. It's like cartoon, but if it works for the other 5 billion on the planet, who cares right?

It was a great 3rd act, one of the best in the show so far aside I think from the very first episode.

If Mark was going to make an appearance in the show this is how it was going to go down and well done. Enjoyed it! Time marches on and waits for no man.

Well, he DID do his own voice...but that wasn't him in the control room. And his creepy mouth moving when he talked was the only part I thought looked terrible.

I can always count on you flynnibus, my own personal stalker.

Actors are replaced all the time for various reasons, pretending otherwise doesn't change the fact. Disney isn't going to put up with someone having an ego fit on the set with their successful series they desperately need on Disney streaming.

Ask Terrence Howard how that worked out for him.

Gotcha - we're on the same page - yes clearly it wasn't his body in there. Still awesome to see! I definitely wouldn't be terribly upset if they ever Special-Editioned that scene once technology improves

De-aging might have been the way to go if they could have got to the level seen in The Irishman, which was noticeable but not distracting. Whatever they did here, Luke’s eyes and mouth were both quite creepy. Does make you wonder if they couldn’t just have found a Luke impersonator. Hamill could still have done the overdub of course.

But that was a minute of screen time, and Luke’s return was a thrill and very well handled otherwise so I won’t obsess about the little details.

Shit, just watched this, the “quick” deepfake looks much better to me. Why isn’t everyone using it?!?

I will take what I can get.

Limited by budget I assume, tentpole movie productions get more money to spend. My wife thought his mouth looked odd too, didn't distract me though.

I disagreed with the comment "The reality is.. Anyone can be Mando if the helmet never comes off. Just a guy in a suit"

The fact their face is covered negates some issues - but it doesn't make their performance generic.

With him taking his helmet off several times this season maybe the compromise will be that he doesn’t have to keep wearing it constantly during season 3...

My preference is helmet, but if that’s what it takes to keep Pedro, I will accept it.

Boba Fett was played by 3 guys, Luke Skywalker had a physical stand in for the last episode.

Like I said, I hope Pedro keeps the role (Who would not want the red viper of Dorne?) but ultimately Disney is going to look at it as "any guy can be in the suit will do" which might have had something to do with Boba Fett coming back.

I can almost see the sales pitch in my head at Disney "Oh so the guy in the suit doesn't want to play ball? Well we have another Mandalorian right here!" Which if I was Pedro would take as a shot across the bow.

Hollywood man, just how they roll.

Partially true, but a character as beloved as Skywalker, it does matter.

I’m interpreting that as some subtle negotiating. I know they didn’t expect The show to be as successful as it is, and I bet Pedro only signed on for 1 season, with an option year. His representation is probably asking for a big bump in salary. (IMO they should give at least as much to the FX team and to Werner Herzog, who shamed Disney into building and fully using the puppet Baby Yoda, vs a CG one)

Beloved to us, others not so much.

The first movie out of the box should have been Luke Skywalker doing badass Jedi stuff mopping up the Empire or tangling with Thrawn.

Instead we had to wait 8 years and a TV show before the character was given his proper due, I enjoyed every minute of it on screen.

Shameful.

1152181 (resized).jpg

In three different time periods. And really only the prequels had any significant acting/performance through Jengo.. and they brought that actor back for Mandalorian.

But Boba Fett really isn't a good comparison as he was never the big performer and center of the story. He was just a henchmen character in the OT that we all loved because he projected being a badass and he had cool toys. Heck, most of his screentime is done by stuntmen in ROTJ... not the actor we think of.

But while Boba Fett is a huge character in stature, he's not really a very developed character in performance in the OT. So not a whole lot to 'hold onto'. This is not the same with Din's character and position in Mandalorian.

And everyone is talking about how funky it was... and off.

The choices to bring in BF would have been made long before the latest Pedro kerfuffle. Plus, they've been playing BF up from his very first scene as a face character... so not sure how that fits the hypothesis?

Book of Boba Fett looks to be a story arc... or mini series.. not the new Mandalorian center of attention.

Point being... Din/Petro's performance is not just being a body double. He and the show have been praised for their ability to convey so much while even being masked 99% of the time. That's not a mannequin job.

Actually it was reported a good chunk of the season 2 was done by a body double and he was allowed to dub lines in studio when the dust up about the helmet was reported.

Example:

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/12/pedro-pascal-mandalorian-stunt-doubles-1202195863/

Pedro Pascal receives top billing on “The Mandalorian” for playing the title character, but it turns out that’s not actually Pascal underneath the helmet and armor in every episode of the buzzy Disney+ “Star Wars” series. In fact, at least one episode of “The Mandalorian” did not feature Pascal in any capacity. Bryce Dallas Howard tells Vulture that Pascal was absent from the fourth episode, “Sanctuary,” which she directed. Pascal did not act in the episode because he was starring on Broadway in “King Lear.”

So who is the real Mandalorian? The creation of the character was a joint effort among Pascal and doubles Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder. Howard worked closely with Wayne when she was helming her episode. Wayne happens to the grandson of legendary Western star John Wayne. “He absolutely just brought everything to that character,” Howard told Vulture about working with Wayne. “We were able to find the moments and figure them out together.”

Even when Pascal is not performing as the Mandalorian on set, he is always voicing the Mandalorian in episodes. Wayne says the two men saw each other “frequently” on set and collaborated to ensure the Mandalorian’s movements would be seamless between the two of them.

This. There were a lot of good stories and characters in the EU that disney decided to throw away to allow what they so-called "creative freedom". Ugh.

That doesn't mean everything in the EU was perfect--there is some clunky stuff with rough edges in the mix.

But the point is that there was plenty of room in the EU for new stories that don't have to be directly connected to the main characters of the OT, as The Mandalorian has proven. Disney didn't need to throw away the EU to make room for the really clunky, unplanned, uneven, and very rough cornerstone films they put out. They would've been better served following or fitting into existing EU stories that already had a roadmap in place, rather than making something up quite literally on the fly. If disney really wanted "creative freedom" they could have just done some other new space opera where there were no established rules or characters to contend with.

Point was from Disney management perspective they have a stand by Mandalorian if one becomes difficult. From either a practical point of view or a negotiation hammer.

Boba Fett was not even a factor in season two till maybe the last 2 or 3 episodes? They did the season one ender with him being shot from behind looking at the female assassin but it could have literally been anyone. You only know in hindsight it was Boba.

I was really hoping that Leia was going to be the "Jedi" that answered the call. They probably both heard the call and discussed it. Maybe? It would be awesome to see her kick ass after 5 years of training.

I would have settled for events 20 years after ROTJ. The ages of the actors and actress would have not been a huge factor and it would have been an interesting backdrop.

So you defeat the Emperor.. Now what? Years of strife and struggle pulling the Republic back together. Political maneuvering and skullduggery. Perfect time for Thrawn to pop up after gathering the scattered Empire forces out on the outer rim and strike to rebuild the Empire.

Introduce 2nd generation Skywalkers, Mara Jade perhaps? Do some flashbacks of Luke kicking ass.

The SW Deep Fake guy did a two-up of the Luke scene. Does anyone prefer Disney's version? Is there some issue licensing the Deep Fake technology, or are they just too cheap to pay Mark Hamill for his likeness rights?

God, get rid of Pedro already and/or stop showing your face. I don;t need to see "Jeremy Renner's uglier brother" whilst trying to watch the fucking Mandalorian!

Maybe Timothy Oliphant could step in as the lead for season three. Then they can cast Walton Goggins as Thrawn, and we'll have Justified in Space. I'd watch that.

I'm worried aboot Baby Yoda. I don't know if they can pull it off without him.

The thought of Goggins in blue facepaint made me burst out laughing.

Watch him in "Fatman" with Mel Gibson, highly entertaining.