Get ready, folks: The Mandalorian Season 2 is shaping up to be an especially exciting one, coming off the spurs of last week’s Boba Fett news and reveals of impressive guest directors lending their eye. The upcoming Disney+ series has now reportedly cast Justified star Timothy Olyphant in an undisclosed role, too.
The star of HBO’s Deadwood and Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet will venture into a galaxy far, far away in The Mandalorian, according to THR. The season already wrapped filming back in March and is expected to head to the streaming platform this October.
Word of Timothy Olyphant’s involvement in The Mandalorian follows the casting of Terminator’s Kyle Reese actor Michael Biehn, who may be playing a bounty hunter from the past of Pedro Pascal’s character, Din Djarin. We’ve also heard that Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels fan-favorite Ahsoka Tano could be portrayed in live-action next season by Rosario Dawson. Katee Sackhoff is also reprising her Clone Wars voice role of Bo-Katan Kryze in the live-action series.
Another major Star Wars casting leak which dropped last Friday revealed that none-other-than Temuera Morrison would be joining the highly-anticipated sophomore season of The Mandalorian as Boba Fett. Morrison played Jango Fett in 2002’s Attack of the Clones before voicing Boba in multiple video games, including Star Wars: Battlefront. But, how did he survive that Sarlacc pit Luke threw him in?
Timothy Olyphant certainly has the resume to fit right into the western-inspired world Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni created for the series, considering his iconic role alongside Ian McShane in HBO's Deadwood, and as Raylan Givens in FX’s Justified, which ended in 2015 after six seasons.
Olyphant’s leading role in Netflix’s zom-com Santa Clarita Diet was cut short when it was cancelled back in 2019, but he has since found roles in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and even made a cameo as himself in the last season of The Good Place. The Mandalorian could be the perfect place for him to continue his impressive television career.
The Mandalorian Season 2 will see the return of Din Djarin as he continues to protect The Child (aka Baby Yoda) from the dark forces after him – namely Giancarlo Esposito’s Moff Gideon, who is in possession of the Darksaber. Carl Weathers’ Greef Carga and Gina Carano’s Cara Dune will reprise their roles, while directors including Ant-Man’s Peyton Reed and Alita: Battle Angel’s Robert Rodriguez will helm episodes during the season.
In other Star Wars news, Taika Waititi is confirmed to be co-writing and directing the next movie of the franchise, there are Disney+ shows for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Rogue One’s Cassian Andor in the works, as well as a female-centric Star Wars series from the co-creator of Russian Doll.
Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more Star Wars news as it becomes available!
