The third season of The Mandalorian concluded two months ago and saw Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze take a larger role in the series. Now the series leading man, Pedro Pascal, has come out in support of Bo-Katan Kryze being considered the lead in the most recent season.
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During an in-depth interview with Variety, the topic of The Mandalorian was brought up by the outlet with the interviewer discussing Lucasfilm and Disney campaigning for Katee Sackhoff as the lead of The Mandalorian season three on the awards circuit. The interviewer asked Pascal, who’s been the the first billed star of the series since it’s release in 2019 how feels about that, with his character Din Djarin sharing the spotlight with Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze, with Pascal himself being relegated to just voice work this season due to his hectic schedule. Pascal champions Bo-Katan taking “centre stage” in The Mandalorian’s third season, telling Variety that as a fan of the Bo-Katan character and of Dave Filoni’s animated series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, it’s what he wants for that character. You can read Pascal’s full quote below.
“It was great in that it also comes into a full realisation of a beloved character that is from the world of Dave Filoni in you know, Bo-Katan. Din Djarin is a creation that starts with combining the worlds of Star Wars. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni introducing this character through the live-action, The Mandalorian, and then creating the opportunities of pooling references and live-action characters from his, Dave Filoni’s, beloved animated series. Sure we, everyone, gets to kind of experience the excitement of the character [Bo-Katan] being introduced and she’s badass, and it’s perfect casting. I’m a big Battlestar Galactica fanboy, I own the DVD’s – I still can’t think of anything that has a better intro than Battlestar Galactica, just the thrill of that drum beat and showing you what’s going to happen, but throwing your scent off of what was going to happen in the episode. I remember Dave [Filoni] talking to me about the possibility of casting the voice actor in the Bo-Katan role, and I was like, ‘Katee Sackhoff? You gotta do it.’ And so anyway I think it was perfect that we get to meet and see the character, and she gets to do all this cool shit in the second season, and then take centre stage in the third and that’s what I would want for the character and as a fan of The Clone Wars.” – Pedro Pascal via Variety
The topic of Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan having a prominent role in the third season of The Mandalorian, being at times a co-lead alongside Din Djarin, was a bright spot of a middling season for me personally. The arc of Bo-Katan Kryze and Katee’s Sackhoff’s performance were without question some of the highlights of a season I found somewhat disappointing. Naturally Bo-Katan taking up a much larger role in the third season upset a portion of the fanbase, it’s not a modern Star Wars project unless there’s a subsection of the fandom being upset with something, especially when it comes to female characters having larger roles in a male led project. So with that in mind, it’s great to see Pedro Pascal, the frontman of the hit series defending the direction in which the third season chose to take, and supporting the spotlight in which Kryze shared with Djarin. To me, as a fan of both Clone Wars and Rebels, and with those series being so interconnected with The Mandalorian, it felt completely natural and deserved for the character of Bo-Katan Kryze to have such a prominent role in the third season, and for her story to evolve and end up where it did, and I’m glad somebody like Pascal see’s that and champions it.
It’s unlikely that Bo-Katan Kryze will have as significant of role in The Mandalorian season four as the character did in season three, with the end of the latest season seemingly setting up a focus on Din Djarin and Din Grogu going on adventures, likely more akin to the style of The Mandalorian’s first season, but of course with a bigger narrative being developed in the background. It’s also unlikely that Pedro Pascal will be available for most of the production due to his busy schedule once again. The actor is due to start filming the sequel to Ridley Scott’s Gladiator this Summer before shooting a horror movie, Weapons, later this year and concluding the year with production starting on The Last of Us season two, which will take up most of Pascal’s 2024.
The Mandalorian season four was due to begin filming in late September at Manhattan Beach Studios, California. Unfortunately production has been delayed until an unknown time due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike which began on May 1st and currently does not have an end in sight. At this time there seems to not be concrete idea as to when The Mandalorian can enter production and a decision likely won’t be made until the WGA and various Hollywood studios reach an agreement on a new contract that both parties are satisfied with.
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