The Mandalorian has consistently maintained leading the pack in the Star Wars news cycle, with rumors, confirmations, and exciting tidbits about the second season coming from every which way. Each week since May the 4th, the fandom has received a peak behind the curtain to see the various processes of how the crew at Lucasfilm collaborated to create the spectacular first season a reality in Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian.
Yesterday, it was revealed in an exclusive interview from Collider that Extraction director Sam Hargrave boarded the ship as the show's second unit director to help "bring a new perspective" and elevate the action. Apparently that's not the only news Hargrave disclosed to them as a new report shares another interesting piece from the interview.
NEWS
In the second part of Collider's exclusive interview with Hargrave, the director divulged that he does in fact know the real name of The Child, better known to fans as Baby Yoda. With a "knowing smile," Hargrave had this to say:
“Yes, I know the name of The Child. I carry that secret. It’s a very heavy burden.”
He also revealed some more information on how using the show's technological structure called "The Volume" sometimes changed the design of shooting certain action sequences:
"Truthfully, it didn’t really impact us on the action side. It did limit what you could do in the space because The Volume is closed in and its got a ceiling cap...So, from a design standpoint, it’s a little constrictive.
He went on to mention how the filming process feels "extremely futuristic," but old school at the same time:
“But it’s interesting in that it’s almost returning to an older school of filmmaking where you have background prints up. Because you’re seeing and photographing it in real time — a lot of these locations are real or they’re built ahead of time — you have to know your shots...They have a really crazy way of doing virtual scouting where you can ‘scout’ the location before you shoot and see where you want to put the camera. It’s a really wild process. It’s extremely futuristic and kind of going back to an old school way of filmmaking where you have to do a lot more prep. You can’t just throw up a blue screen and wing it on the day.”
WHAT THIS MEANS
From the moment audiences saw The Child, they wanted to know everything. His reveal at the end of the first episode raised an endless amount of questions and completely shifted the fan's perspective on the show. All we know about Baby Yoda is that he has the ability to use the Force and is very important to the series' main antagonist, Moff Gideon.
With Dave Filoni involved in the show, in addition to the swell of rumored character appearances from other Star Wars properties, there's clearly a bigger story at play with The Child that is only hinted at in Season 1 with Doctor Pershing and other mysterious details. Since both Hargrave and Bob Iger are aware of Baby Yoda's actual name, one can speculate that Season 2 will shed some light on the subject for the Star Wars fandom.
The first season ended with Mando, or Din Djarin, heading off into the wider galaxy in search of The Child's home. Whether his home lies with his species or with other Force sensitive beings, fans will surely be on the edge of their seat when they finally obtain some knowledge on Baby Yoda's origins, and perhaps his real name.
