The Mandalorian director Jon Favreau likens his Lucasfilm series to the idea of playing with Star Wars toys as a child. “That’s how I learned how to tell stories,” Favreau explained at the launch of the Star Wars: Most Wanted campaign. “You take these characters, you’re talking with your friends, and you’re acting things out [with the toys]. My job is not that different from that.”
That analogy couldn’t be any more accurate for his latest Star Wars project, The Mandalorian and Grogu. The first big-screen adventure for Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his Force-sensitive protege, the film sees Favreau turning the proverbial toy box upside down in search of new threats for our heroes. Fans have already picked out a handful of returning characters, alien species, and ships in the latest trailer, from Clone Wars bounty hunter Embo (my personal glup shitto) to the Mantellian Savrip, whose silhouette is best recognized as a holochess piece. But there are more deep cuts to uncover ahead of the film’s release in May. Here are the three nerdiest Easter eggs in the Mandalorian and Grogu trailer.
Cassian Andor’s U-wing
Okay, so the U-wing starfighter that appears in Mando & Grogu is probably not the same U-wing flown by Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) in Rogue One — but the ship’s appearance here does feel significant. The U-wing was a staple for the Galactic Rebellion in their skirmishes with the Empire, and with the Imperial Remnant rearing its head, it makes total sense to bring back the cavalry. Sigourney Weaver’s New Republic pilot stresses the importance of preventing another civil war, and though we know that’s, unfortunately, inevitable, there’s every chance that her forces will give the Remnant a run for its money all the same.
Weathers Apollo
The Star Wars galaxy lost a beloved figure with the passing of Carl Weathers, who co-starred as Greef Karga in all three seasons of The Mandalorian. It’s hard to imagine Din and Grogu continuing their adventures without Greef, but Favreau has ensured that Weathers will at least be there in spirit. Late in the trailer, all hell breaks loose on a busy street, and that aforementioned Savrip tears off the door of a shop to hurl into an unsuspecting crowd. The sign above the shop, originally in the fictional language Aurebesh, translates to “Weathers Apollo.” It’s a touching tribute to Weathers, best known for playing Apollo Creed in the Rocky films; his work as Greef Karga might be remembered just as fondly by a new generation of Star Wars fans.
The dragonsnake
Din is searching for the Hutts in The Mandalorian and Grogu, and the notorious crime family will put the bounty hunter through the wringer. Not only do we see Din face off with the super-buff Rotta the Hutt (son of Jabba, first introduced in The Clone Wars film), but he’s also later relieved of his helmet during a meeting with the Hutt clan. Whatever trouble he’s gotten into with them, it doesn’t end there, either: shortly after meeting the Hutts, he’s seemingly thrown into a pit with an albino dragonsnake.
This feels like another minor callback to The Clone Wars, which pit Obi-Wan Kenobi against a dragonsnake during his search for a very different hunt, Ziro. It also might be a bit like Luke’s confrontation with the rancor in Return of the Jedi — though the two beasts are very different, the Hutts have a habit of feeding their enemies to their pets. There’s no doubt that Din will follow in Luke and Obi-Wan’s footsteps and defeat the dragonsnake, but this is just one of many predicaments he’ll have to fight his way out of in The Mandalorian and Grogu.
