After a seven year wait Star Wars has returned to the big screen with The Mandalorian and Grogu. The film sees the titular pair take on both the Imperial Remnant and the Hutts and is jam-packed with action and humour. The film was written as a jumping-on point for fans who haven’t watched all three seasons of The Mandalorian, but nonetheless it was full of nods and references to the series and to Star Wars in general.
Going through the movie in (roughly) chronological order, here are the Easter Eggs and fun details we found. Needless to say… Spoilers Ahead.
The film opens with Commander Barro shaking down the citizens of his sector for Imperial protection. Barro, played by Hemky Madera, was last seen in Chapter 23 of The Mandalorian ‘The Spies” as a member of the Shadow Council, the remaining leaders of the Empire who conspire to weaken and undermine the New Republic. Barro meets with a group of local leaders, demanding a bigger payout for his protection.
When Prefect Nobah, played by Cullen Douglas, protests, Barro shoots him dead. Of course, Mando isn’t far behind and Barro soon meets a similar fate. With his and the loss of Gideon in Season 3, the Shadow Council has lost nearly a third of its ranks. Although, thanks to the events of Ahsoka, it has gained Grand Admiral Thrawn.
Barro is seen leading a convoy of AT-ATs. These are the older model walkers as seen in Rebels, which fits an Imperial Remnant scrounging whatever hardware they can get their hands on. I also have a theory that this model was used as it also appeared in Jedi: Fallen Order, which showed the interior layout that they could use as a reference when building sets for the action scenes.
Barro attempts to flee from Din in an INT-4 Interceptor – this small craft is based on a 1982 vintage Kenner toy set. This isn’t the first time a Kenner set has been recreated for The Mandalorian. The finale of Season 1 saw Stormtrooper reinforcements dropped off by an Imperial Troop Transport, also based on a Kenner design.
He’s hardly an Easter Egg at this stage, but let’s acknowledge the return of Zeb, who picks up Mando in his trusty U-Wing (first seen in Rogue One). Zeb first appeared in Rebels, alongside Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla, Chopper, and Kanan Jarrus. Zeb made a brief appearance in The Mandalorian, but has an expanded role in this movie where we see him acting as Mando’s handler and taking down Stormtroopers with his trusty bo-staff, also from Rebels. Kanan is now the only Rebels character to not appear in live action.
Zeb takes Mando back to Adelphi Base, the New Republic outpost introduced in the third season. The base features classic X-Wing and Y-Wing starfighters, and also has a B-Wing seen briefly. We also get to see maintenance being done on the starfighters with one of the X-Wing’s nose cones lifted up for repair. The base is packed with Imperial helmets and droids, but these all appeared in Season 3, so I won’t go into detail.
BDX droids, these droids are seen waddling in line in the background of the base. While created for the movie, these practical droids first debuted at Galaxy’s Edge in Disney Parks last year, and have since returned as the parks have been updated to tie in with the movie’s release.
There are many cool pilots in the bar on Adelphi, including some familiar faces. One such face is Lucasfilm Senior Vice President and Executive Design Director Doug Chiang, who worked with George Lucas on the prequel trilogy and has been influential in the design of pretty much every modern Star Wars project, including The Mandalorian. Fellow art department member Michelle Thieme also appears alongside returning cameos from Lucasfilm President Dave Filoni and directors Rick Famuyiwa, Lee Isaac Chung, and Deborah Chow.
Sigourney Weaver’s Colonel Ward hands Din a target on a card dubbed the “ace of staves.” This is a reference to Sabacc, the infamous card game best seen in Solo: A Star Wars Story as the game which won Han Solo the Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian. Ward’s deck of cards are also a reference to the Aftermath books and Dr. Chris Kempshall’s The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, where it was established the New Republic created a deck of Sabacc cards with wanted Imperial fugitives. Some others included Rae Sloane, Brendol Hux, and Enric Pryde.
Ward sends Din to Nal Hutta, the homeworld of the Hutts. The planet was created in the Legends continuity, but first appeared in canon in The Clone Wars. The swampy planet and the Hutt citadel matches its appearance in the animated series. Dragonsnakes, the fearsome creature which almost made a meal of Din, were shown to be native to the planet in The Clone Wars. As the Razor Crest approaches the planet, we briefly see it’s moon, Nar Shaddaa. I’d theorised wrongly that Shakari was Nar Shadda, so I’m glad the smuggler’s moon at least made a brief appearance!
On approach, the air traffic control operator is voiced by Anthony Daniels, best known as C-3PO, continuing his streak as the only actor to appear in every Star Wars movie.
As they make planetfall Zeb observes that the Hutts have hired the Droid Gotra for protection. This is a criminal syndicate formed by droids who operate independently of any organic masters. The Droid Gotra have been built up as a major faction in the Marvel comics and were indirectly name-dropped by Gor Koresh in Season 2 of The Mandalorian. The Gotra’s forces is mostly made up of B1 and B2 battle droids, as seen in the prequel trilogy, but also included KX security droids, KH-87 assassin droids, N5 sentry droids and a new saucer-headed model.
The two massive sentry droids guarding the Hutt throne room were built and animated in stop-motion by Tippett Studios. Phil Tippett worked on the original trilogy, animating AT-ATs and creatures for George Lucas’ films. Tippett Studios have worked on numerous Star Wars projects, including recently bringing a giant trash crab to life for Skeleton Crew.
Jabba and Rotta, “Stinky” the Hutt in The Clone Wars
The main villains of this movie are the Twins, who declared themselves heirs to Jabba’s throne in The Book of Boba Fett. Also returning is Rotta the Hutt, who first appeared as baby Stinky in The Clone Wars movie. The Twins use the word “punky” (little) when threatening him, a possible reference to Jabba’s ‘punky muffin’ pet name for his son.
Arriving on Shakari, Din tries to get information from Ardennian chef Hugo Durant, voiced by Martin Scorcese, in a scene packed with references. The name Hugo is a reference to Scorcese’s 2011 film of the same name and Durant refers to another Ardennian, Rio Durant (possibly a relative?) who was voiced by Jon Favreau in Solo: A Star Wars Story. The menu features a number of exotic items including a mudhorn egg (sooga!) from Season 1.
Ardennian Shopkeeper in The Mandalorian and Grogu
Lord Janu Coin (and let’s take a second to acknowledge Janu Coin played by Jonny Coyne!) owns the salt bar, which is full of exotic creatures in cages. One of these creatures is a fuzzball, which appeared at Port Borgo in Skeleton Crew – in fact, given that the Imperials are known to be bankrolling the pirate nation, they might even be from Borgo. Fuzzballs are a nod to Captain EO, a Disney Parks film written by George Lucas. Coin’s estate also features a number of taxidermic creature heads, including a barghest, reek, vexis and a nexu which matches the one on Dok Ondar’s wall at Galaxy’s Edge.
When Din faces off against Rotta, he gets one up on his much bigger opponent by circling around and stepping on his tail – much like Han does to Jabba in the special edition of A New Hope.
Rotta’s final match is a Dejarik match, where he is pitted against an array of deadly creatures. These creatures are the same as seen on the dejarik holochess table first seen on the Millennium Falcon in A New Hope. You can see the huge savrip pick up and throw the kintan strider in its signature move from the game and, if you listen closely, you can hear the creatures makes the same noises from the holochess version as they move.
A door outside the Shakari arena is marked “Weathers Apollo” in tribute to the late Carl Weathers, who played Greef Karga in the series, and his role as fighter Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise.
When Lord Janu is brought to Adelphi base he is said to he “ready to sign like a Yuzzum”. This is a reference to Yuzzum singer Joh Yowzah, the “Jedi Rocks” singer from the special edition of Return of the Jedi.
When the duo opt to help Rotta instead of bringing him home, the Twins send bounty hunter Embo to capture him. Embo, like Rotta, is another character to transition form animation to live-action in this movie and his weapons and fighting style match the series. In a recent talk with StarWars.com, Dave Filoni says Embo was always destined for live action. When Lucasfilm was making The Clone Wars, George Lucas was also developing the now-canceled Underworld live-action series. Embo would’ve eventually shown up there.
Like in the animated series, Embo is accompanied by an anooba hound, though this is a new hound called Keibu. Embo’s ship, the Guillotine, was designed for the sixth season of The Clone Wars, but was cut from the series. Embo’s original companion, Marrok, died sometime before the Battle of Jakku, which took place a year after the Battle of Endor. In that same StarWars.com interview, Filoni said he might have another story to tell about Marrok.
Concept art of Embo and Keibu for The Mandalorian and Grogu by Nick Gindraux
Two more Clone Wars ships appear in live action. The bulky Turtle Tanker which transports Rotta to Nal Hutta, and the Hutt HH-87 Starhopper starfighters both first appeared in the series.
When Din is dropped into the pit by the Hutts, the Amani who attack him first appeared in Return of the Jedi as a background character in Jabba’s Palace. Their rolling attack was described in Legends sourcebook “Galaxy Guide 12” and first appeared in comics.
And that’s every Easter Egg and reference we caught watching the movie. You can also check out the official guide on StarWars.com. What did you spot while watching the move? Let us know in the comments!
A teacher from Wales in the UK, Aled has loved Star Wars ever since that Star Destroyer flew over his head and blew his mind.