After the massive success of its first season,The Mandalorianis stacking up a heck of a cast for Season 2. Last week brought the latest exciting new addition,DeadwoodandSanta Clarita DietstarTimothy Olyphant, whosigned on to play a mystery characterin the upcoming season of the Disney+ series. Well, mystery no more! The good folks over at/Filmhave delivered some new details about Olyphant’s character, and while you may be familiar with the name if you’re a fan of the Star Wars books, you’re definitely going to be familiar with his gear. So consider that fair warning if you want to maintain the surprise!
Per the report, Olyphant will be playing the character Cobb Vanth, a former slave who becomes the self-appointed sheriff of Tattooine after the fall of Jabba the Hut. And the word is, we’re gonna see him touting Boba Fett’s iconic armor. Why would Vanth have that armor whenTemura Morrisonhas already been cast as Boba Fett?
I’ll let /Film’s resident expert Peter Sciretta explain:
“Introduced in Chuck Wendig’sAftermathbook series, Vanth is the self-appointed sheriff of the Tatooine-based settlement Freetown. He wears a mysterious set of Mandalorian armor that was acquired from Jawas who scavenged the wreckage of Jabba the Hutt’s sail barge shortly after the events ofReturn of the Jedi. As you may recall, that was the site of a battle where Boba Fett was thrown into the Sarlacc Pit on Tatooine’s Dune Sea. It’s assumed that the Mandalorian armor purchased by Vanth is none other than the infamous green armor formerly worn by one of the galaxy’s most notorious bounty hunters, Boba Fett.”
There’s still plenty of mystery surrounding how Boba Fett will tie into the series (you’re able to get a breakdown ofhowThe Mandalorianfits into the Star Wars timeline hereif you want to ponder more on that) and what this all has to do with the mysterious gunslinger figure seen at the end of the first season. But honestly, my biggest hope is that Olyphant’s role will give him room to shine.The Mandalorianhad some great guest stars in the first season, but we didn’t get to see much of them and afterSanta Clarita Dietwas cancelled before its time, he deserves another role to show off his genre-fluid talents. If we’rereallylucky, they’ll let him be funny, because ifSanta Clarita Dietproved anything, it’s that Olyphant has some killer, underutilized comedic skills.
Season 2 will also starKatee Sackhoffas the live-action version of the Mandalorian warrior Bo-Katan Kryze, and the director roster will includeRobert RodriguezandPeyton Reed.
