Lucasfilm Is Turning The Mandalorian Into A Superhero Story, Complete With Powers
The Mandalorian is the new Marvel.
This article is more than 2 years old
The Mandalorian, a superhero? Say it isn’t so. Well, it just may be so if insider Daniel Richtman is on point with his latest rumor. The oft-times dead-on accurate tipster has given us one that, if true, may not sit well with those fans of the Star Wars universe.
Daniel Richtman is claiming, per his Patreon page, that The Mandalorian is in for abig change. Richtman says that “Lucasfilm wants Mando-Verse to feel like a superhero universe so they’ll explore more about the force as a super power and Jedi as super heroes.” That groan you just heard came from a galaxy far, far away.
Marvel President Kevin Feige has never been shy about claiming that George Lucas’ Star Wars has been key in his inspiration for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “I read it from cover to cover and it was a wealth of new information,” Feige said via ComicBook of the Star Wars Sourcebook. “And one of the great things about Star Wars and one thing that I think is great about the Marvel characters from the comics and what we try to emulate in the movies is if you’re the kind of person that wants to go see it on opening weekend, our job is to make sure you have a great time.” Feige then went on to add, “If you want to see it a second time, our job is to make sure there’s more there. Third, fourth, fifth time, still more there. And even the deeper you go, there’ll be things to reward you. And I learned that directly from Star Wars and from those West End Sourcebooks.” So, does this mean that Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy, and company have to return the favor with The Mandalorian? Apparently so.
Upon first blush, the Jedi already are “superheroes.” The powers they possess from the Force are superhero quality. This includes but is not limited to: being able to bend people’s thoughts for their gain, to be able to train and fight blindfolded, to becoming an expert lightsaber wielder the very first time one picks up a lightsaber, to being able to fly through space without the assistance of a spaceship, a spacesuit, or any other piece of material and not only not die but come back to life. We could go on and on with the powers that the Force grants. Force Ghost, anyone? Just how would this come across in The Mandalorian?
Turning the Force into a known superpower and thusly the Jedi Order into a council of superheroes may be taking it just a bit too far, especially when filtered through The Mandalorian. This is why Star Wars fans may wanna go lightly on their expected outrage for it was Kathleen Kennedy herself that stated Lucasfilm had no intention of following in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s footsteps. “I think there is a larger expectation that Disney has,” Kennedy told Vanity Fair. “On the other hand, though, I think that Disney is very respectful of what this is, and right from the beginning, we talked about the fragility of this form of storytelling. Because it’s something that means so much to fans that you can’t turn this into some kind of factory approach. You can’t even do what Marvel does, necessarily, where you pick characters and build new franchises around those characters. This needs to evolve differently.”
The main question here becomes, why? As in why Jedi and their use of The Force would need to be broken down this way? The beauty of Star Wars, Jedi, and the Force are that we didn’t quite know. It was never one specific thing and besides General Organa’s Superman flight through space and Rey’s unwitting ability to pick up a lightsaber pretty much for the first time and be a master dueler, it was fun to watch the Force at play. The final trilogy has already left a bad taste in the mouths of Star Wars fans that even The Mandalorian hasn’t been able to quite rinse out, try as it may. So, giving the Star Wars universe a potential superhero formula to mirror Marvel’s may not be the best move for Lucasfilm. But then again, Kennedy is still in charge over at Lucasfilm and many of her choices lately have left little to be desired. Let’s hope Richtman is off on this one.
