The most common fan reaction to The Mandalorian and Grogu trailer: Hey, isn’t that Martin Scorsese?
The Lucasfilm trailer for the first Star Wars film in seven years features the bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu a.k.a. Baby Yoda encountering many aliens and foes.
If you watch the trailer (below), there is a moment about 20 seconds in where an alien is unmistakably voiced by the iconic director.
Scorsese is playing an Ardennian (a four-armed, fur-covered species) who is running a store of some kind and tries to shut down a conversation with Mando, who is seeking information about one of the Hutts.
The Goodfellas director’s most memorable previous voice work was playing an anxious pufferfish in 2004’s Shark Tale.
The general consensus is the trailer is giving fans some relief after an underwhelming teaser trailer and a rather divisive Super Bowl spoof. “Give the person who edited this trailer a raise because they just saved this movie,” wrote one fan on X. “Honestly this trailer actually did get me pretty hyped to see it,” wrote another on Reddit. “Seems like it’s going to be a really fun Star Wars movie and I think that’s really what Star Wars needs right now.”
The Mandalorian and Grogu is aiming for a clear family-friendly vibe, which is generating some resistance among older Star Wars fans, but could very well be a savvy move to try and reset big-screen Star Wars for a younger generation. “This is the first new SW theatrical release my kids are old enough to see in cinemas, so I’m excited for it,” wrote another fan. “I think worst case scenario, this will feel like a long episode of the TV show, which means it will still likely be a good time. I’m anticipating a fun popcorn flick, and if it’s more than that, that’s a bonus.”
The film is directed by Jon Favreau, who has quite the track record for reviving franchises (launching the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2008’s Iron Man and Star Wars on the small screen with 2019’s The Mandalorian). The film will be released May 22.