Robert Downey Jr in a tin can. “The idea of
a human using technology and skill and training
to overcome adversity, and to grow beyond their
limitations, is fascinating.”
Then there’s the state of the world today,
which he found he wanted to address. Not
directly, necessarily, but allegorically, in
a science-fiction show featuring Nick Nolte
as a benevolent pig-man. “Our generation is
facing the benefits and challenges of technology,”
he says. “We have to contend with those changes,
and I think our stories reflect the tensions
that exist.”
And, last but not least, there’s the personal
element; telling a story of a distant man who
learns to live, and love, and grow. “There’s some
aspect of it that has to do with responsibility
for something other than yourself,” he explains.
“I think there’s an opportunity in this show to
explore all these things.”
In the end, though, it came down to something
much simpler, and far less high-falutin’. It was, if
you will, a Fett accompli. “I like Mandalorians,”
Favreau laughs. “I’ve always liked Mandalorians.”
That’s hardly surprising. Mandalorians
are seriously cool. Originally from the planet
Mandalore, but now including members of
all kinds of species, they are an ancient order
of masked gunslinging warriors, dressed
head-to-toe in near-impenetrable BeskarRight:Jon
Favreau gives
direction in the
cockpit of the
Razorcrest.
Below: Killer
droid IG-11 (Taika
Waititi) lays down
360 degrees of
blaster fire.
Left:The job
that starts it all:
Werner Herzog’s
former Imperial
commissions
Pedro Pascal’s
Mando to collect
a bounty on
an unknown
subject.❯