Warning - This article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian Season 2.
The nice part about weekly streaming releases is that, unlike a full season dump, consumers have the opportunity to discuss what they saw and gear up for the following episode. It's a tactic that keeps shows relevant for a longer period of time, but in the case of Star Wars, it's about the fan experience.
The Mandalorian Season 2's debut episode, "Chapter 9 - The Marshal." has already taken the world by storm in just a few days. The season premiere was able to pack it all into an impressive 52 minutes - nods to previous projects, Easter eggs, epic action sequences, and the appearances of familiar characters from both page and screen. Concept art is a major element of bringing a Star Wars story to life, and Lucasfilm has shared some of the key designs behind "The Marshal's" biggest moments...
NEWS
Lucasfilm's Phil Szostak shared several pieces of concept art for The Mandalorian "Chapter 9 - The Marshal." The reveals in celebration of today's Mando Monday can be seen below.
Gor Koresh hangs around with his Mandalorian buddy:
A nice welcoming party at Mos Pelgo:
The Mining Collective has a blast with Cobb Vanth:
Mando speaks desert dog with the massiffs:
The Child continues his trend of meeting other small creatures:
Fortunately, Anakin isn't around anymore to crash this campfire:
Beautiful skyline, but very poor single file form - they won't be hiding their numbers:
That Krayt Dragon is screwed:
It's snack time for the desert-dwelling beast:
The hungry Krayt Dragon couldn't stomach Mando and his beskar:
Boba Fett looms over the sands of Tatooine as the suns set beyond:
WHAT THIS MEANS
As always, the concept art team has done phenomenal work. Star Wars concept pieces have had a high bar set by legend Ralph McQuarrie, and the designers who do work in this space ever since have all lived up to and exceeded expectations.
One of the really neat features of The Mandalorian is the concept art shown for each individual episode during the end credits, some of which are also seen here. "Chapter 9" was a major undertaking in terms of scale and relevance to the overall story, and the concept art team clearly set the tone early on with this work.
Tatooine is simultaneously an easy and difficult landscape to crack. While the planet itself is little more than a barren desert wasteland, the skylines are beautiful and require a great deal of effort to be accurately depicted. The battle with the Krayt Dragon was an epic sequence that wowed Pedro Pascal as much as it did fans, and it's clear by these concept pieces that the production team had a solid grasp on what they were doing very early on.
And then there's Boba Fett. Not only was it very cool to see Cobb Vanth donning the notorious armor, but the closing shots of "The Marshal" offered the promise of a much larger storyline going forward with the iconic character. The concept art of the bounty hunter's big moment looks just as good as the final product itself, and there are only a few days until we get to see what else the team for The Mandalorian has in store.
