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The Mandalorian: Why IG-88 Isn't in the Show... Yet


A lot of people were excited when it was revealed that an IG droid was in The Mandalorian, and everyone thought it was the infamous IG-88 from Empire Strikes Back. As it turns out, this one is another droid named IG-11, and director Dave Filoni explains why they didn't just bring back the fan favorite droid.

Talking to IGN Filoni explained that they decided to use a different droid to offer some more freedom for the character. He explained:

"… A droid like IG-88, if you know the Expanded Universe and the Star Wars history, there are a lot of stories around him or what might've happened to that particular droid. So out of respect for people that have been with this franchise a long time, it's like, 'well if we do something with this space, would that be contradicting those stories?... So it's better just to say, 'Well, there's other droids,' it's not like it was a unique assassin droid. And then we have a little more free-range. I mean, people forget in Empire, you never even see him walk or take a step - the prop was actually bolted to the floor. So just giving him feet was something new and original. But yeah, I just gravitate to the open field that you get with new characters, and then when you do bring up something, if you choose to, like when we brought Obi-Wan finally into Star Wars Rebels, I think it becomes significant and special."

While the explanation makes sense for getting IG-11, the last sentence does offer some hope for fans about IG-88 eventually appearing. Though 11 is different, it's said that his character is constantly irked in the series because he's always being mistaken for 88. How hilarious would it be if 11 did run into 88 at some point in the show, and the two end up completely different?

This is just wishful thinking on my part, but I hope Lucasfilm hires Waititi's frequent collaborator Jemaine Clement to voice IG-88. He already did a robot voice for Legion, and he has that Disney credit with Moana. Who else would be perfect to voice the infamous droid assassin?

Catch The Mandalorian when it comes out on Disney+ which launches on Nov. 12.

Read Also: Lucasfilm and Disney+ Release Star Wars: The Mandalorian TV Spot

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