It’s no secret thatStar Warshas always drawn heavily on Westerns as an influence, and it has certainly reached a peak withThe Mandalorian.Jon Favreauwas wise enough to keep the series anchored in what made everybody fall in love with the galaxy far, far away in the first place, but it’s clear that the Disney+ show uses many classical Western tropes.Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal/Brendan Wayne/Lateef Crowder)is a lone gunslinger who travels around the Outer Rim of the galaxy, a lawless frontier, offering his services as a bounty hunter. He even has his cool catchphrase — “I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.” That would already be enough for the average viewer to attest that, yes,The Mandalorianis a Western in space, but it’s possible to uncover even more influences, asmost episodes in Seasons 1 and 2draw on specific aspects of classic movies of the genre. This is the way.
The Mandalorian
The travels of a lone bounty hunter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, far from the authority of the New Republic.
‘The Mandalorian’ Season 1 Depicts a Town in Need of Protection
In Season 1, Episode 4, “Sanctuary,” Mando goes to the planet Sorgan, trying to lie low, and meets former Rebel shock trooper Cara Dune (Gina Carano), who asks him to leave and avoid attracting attention to the planet. Before he can, he’s approached by a group of fishermen. They are desperate to save their village from the recurring attacks by a Klatoonian gang and want to hire bounty hunters to help them.
This premise is a classic one in Westerns, made famous by 1960’sThe Magnificent Seven, in which a group of seven bounty hunters is hired to protect a Mexican village from bandits.But that’s not the only influence here, though, as Westerns are usually influenced by Samurai movies, andboth genres often feed off one another.The Magnificent Sevenis an adaptation of theAkira KurosawaclassicSeven Samurai, a 1954 movie with the same premise. A similar premise is used inSeason 3, Episode 5, “The Pirate,“when Din Djarin convinces the other Mandalorians to protect the planet Nevarro from an attack from the Pirate King Gorian Shard (Nonso Anozie).
‘The Mandalorian’ Season 1 Also Follows a Drifter Looking to Retire
Still in “Sanctuary,” Din Djarin lets on that he’s tired of the bounty-hunting life and would be willing to settle down somewhere, and Sorgan seems like the perfect place. Omera (Julia Jones), a village inhabitant,nearly convinces him to staythere with Grogu, but they can’t, as there’s still a bounty on both their heads and the village wouldn’t be safe with them around. This premise is the same one asGeorge Stevens’s 1953 WesternShane. Alan Ladd plays the title character, a drifter who’s hired by a family in the Wyoming frontier and is looking to lay down his pistol but is forced to pick it up again when a band of outlaws keeps attacking their property.
Season 1 of ‘The Mandalorian’ Finds a Young Gunslinger Looking to Prove Himself
In Season 1, Episode 5, “The Gunslinger,” Mando goes to Tatooine for the first time in the series. He leaves the Razor Crest in Peli Motto’s (Amy Sedaris) care and heads to the iconic Chalmun’s Cantina, a saloon-like bar that’s the perfect place to find hired guns or starships for all your shady needs. There, Mando meets a young gunslinger called Toro Calican (Jake Cannavale), who’s looking to score his first bounty by going after the assassinFennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen). Calican convinces Din Djarin, who needs money, to help him, and they venture into the Dune Sea after Shand. The plot of a young bounty hunter looking to make a name for himself is one of the main storylines inClint Eastwood’s 1992 classic,Unforgiven, in which the so-called “Schofield Kid” (Jaimz Woolvett) recruits William Munny’s (Eastwood) help in catching a group of corrupt cowboys.
The Gunslinger Is Friendly With the Natives in ‘The Mandalorian’
There’s another classic Western trope in “The Gunslinger”: when the main hero is friendly with the native peoples of the country. As Mando and Calican cross the Dune Sea, they stumble upon a group ofTusken Raiders (aka Sand People). The Tuskens are the native people of Tatooine and claim that the two bounty hunters are trespassing in their territory. Calican wants to start a fight, but Din Djarin tells him to be cool, because the Tuskens were there before them, and negotiates with them for safe passage by talking to them insign language.
InSeason 2, Episode 1, “The Marshal,“Mando again uses his good relations with the Tuskens for the benefit of the people of Mos Pelgo, who are pestered by akrayt dragon.This trope originates in the classicTrue Grit, in whichRooster Cogburn (John Wayne)pursues a band of outlaws into Indian Territory, and is confident in doing so thanks to his knowledge of the land and good relations with the natives. Both inThe MandalorianandTrue Grit, this is only possible thanks to the drifter nature of both characters, whose prior travels gave them such knowledge.
The Heroes Are Cornered in the Third Act of ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 1, Episode 7
In Season 1, Episode 7, “The Reckoning,” Mando forms a group of allies to confrontMoff Gideon’s (Giancarlo Esposito)Imperial remnant when it arrives in Nevarro looking for Grogu. The fight starts, but the heroes are soon overwhelmed and have to fall back to the local cantina. Cornered, they have to come up with a plan to either strike back or run away. They do the first, but are driven back to the cantina and are then forced to do the latter.
This is a typical third-act trope that may not be limited to Westerns, but it became popular thanks to two movies of the genre:High NoonandButch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In the first,Gary Cooper’s Will Kane confronts a gang of criminals along the streets of his town and is cornered several times, always managing to come out and defeat the villains in the end. InButch Cassidy, however, the title bandit duo is cornered in Bolivia as the police finally close in on them but, instead of running, decide to go out in a blaze of glory as they are met with a hail of bullets after deciding to confront the police.
‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2 Depicts a Town in Need of a Marshal
Back to “The Marshal” in Season 2, Mando arrives in the small town of Mos Pelgo. It even looks like a typical Western movie town, sparsely populated and with just one main street with a few buildings. There, Din meetsCobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant), who takes up the role of local Marshal after setting the town free from the shady Mining Collective wearinga mysterious Mandalorian armorhe bought from the Jawas.
Later, inEpisode 4, “The Siege,“we learn that Cara Dune has taken the position of Marshal in Nevarro after Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) turned it into a clean and legal operation that requires protection. The plot of a town that’s overrun by crime and needs a Marshal comes fromJohn Ford’s classic,The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, in which a small frontier town is pestered by an outlaw that renders local law enforcement useless against his gang.
‘The Mandalorian’ Features Many Duels and Standoffs
Other classical Western tropes are duels and standoffs, and, of course, there’s plenty inThe Mandalorian. The most interesting ones take place in the same episode — Season 2, Episode 5, “The Jedi.” After storming the citadel of Calodan on the planet Corvus, Din Djarin faces the bounty hunter Lang (Michael Biehn) in a duel that’s quickly settled thanks to the Mandalorian’s quick draw. Meanwhile,Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson)facesMorgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto)in another duel, this time with lightsabers and a beskar spear.
This episode is particularly interesting because it shows how Westerns and Samurai movies often draw from one another, duels and standoffs being common tropes in both genres. Later, inThe Book of Boba Fettepisode “From the Desert Comes a Stranger,” Cobb Vanth gets his own Western-influenced duel against Cad Bane (Cory Burton), one that’s heavily influenced bySergio Leone’sDollar Trilogy.
