‘The Mandalorian’ Star Giancarlo Esposito Hints at Moff Gideon’s Darksaber Battles in Season 2

Fans will be seeing a lot more of Giancarlo Esposito in Season 2 of  The Mandalorian. In the Season 1 finale, his character, Moff Gideon, emerged from a crashed ship with a black-bladed saber. And according to Esposito, fans will find Moff Gideon using a lot more of that Darksaber in the upcoming season.

Giancarlo Esposito is excited to be a part of ‘The Mandalorian’

Esposito is known for his roles in popular projects like Once Upon a Time and Breaking Bad. But in a recent interview with Collider, the actor revealed how honored he felt to join the Star Wars franchise with The Mandalorian.

“First I have to get beyond the excitement of being in such an iconic piece of material,” Esposito said.  “Star Wars is iconic. And would I have liked to have been in a Star Wars movie as opposed to The Mandalorian television show? I think I’ve made this a significantly correct choice.”

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He was drawn in by the Star Wars mythology

In his chat with Collider, Esposito revealed that it wasn’t just the grandeur of Star Wars that drew him into the role of Moff Gideon. He said that the mythology and storytelling aspect of the franchise, combined with the showrunners’ vision that appealed to him most. 

“John Favreau, in his great visionary way, has educated himself and partnered with David Filoni,” he said. “So that mythology,  that was so connected to what George Lucas loved — so for me, it was an empowering moment. Firstly to get beyond being a part of the franchise and then to realize, I was going to wield a lightsaber.”

Giancarlo Esposito did all of his stunts in ‘The Mandalorian’

The storyline for Season 2 of The Mandalorian is still a mystery, but it will likely focus on Moff Gideon’s quest to acquire The Child, aka Baby Yoda. Esposito will be involved in a lot more of the action this season, and the actor told Collider that he did all the stunts himself.

 “I don’t want to allow you to have any spoilers but I did all of my stunt work on my own without a lot of rehearsal,” he said. “Even though it’s a fairly big budget technological piece with the volume and all the things that are going on, sometimes that leaves less time to pay more attention to.”

Esposito also noted that The Mandalorian was nominated for a 2020 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Stunt Coordination. In total, the show was nominated for 15 Emmys, including Outstanding Drama Series.

Fans will see Moff Gideon wield Darksaber in Season 2 of ‘The Mandalorian’

After seeing Moff Gideon emerge from that crash with Darksaber, fans are anxious to see what he’ll do with it in Season 2. Esposito revealed a few details about his saber stunt work that hint hell be involved in some epic saber battles.

“So having a lightsaber, I have a couple of different ones because of the technology that’s involved,” he said in his chat with Collider. “They sometimes put the saber in and I have a handle only. But in working with that handle, I have to remember that there’s four and a half, five feet more of that saber. It’s the way you handle it, so I had to practice. And sometimes I have a full saber that lights up.”

“I hope I’m not giving too much away in regard to the technology of it,” he continued. “So yes, I had to practice my moves and it’s all in the wrist to allow us to see if that saber is not there — you want to keep your wrist a certain way,  so it was a bit complicated.”

The Mandalorian star also admitted that he didn’t hold back during his lightsaber stunt work, which he teases fans will see very soon. But he revealed that in his effort to make the fight scenes realistic, he may have destroyed a prop or two. 

“I remember the props guy coming to me and [he] said, “Um, okay so this is our last lightsaber,” recalled Esposito. “Because you’ve got to pull your hits. You don’t want to destroy the technology, but you want it to look real. Isn’t that ultimately what we want? So it was tricky and wonderful and I had to be very attentive.”