Minor spoiler for Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy

Shortly after some leaks found their way online, director Jon Favreau pulled the curtain back on his upcoming, live-action Star Wars show. What followed could only be described as extreme excitement amongst the fandom. But now questions and theories begin to rise, chief among them being who is the mysterious new Mandalorian that we see in the first look image? Via his Instagram account, this is what Favreau had to say about the upcoming show, which will launch on Disney’s streaming service in 2019.

“After the stories of Jango and Boba Fett, another warrior emerges in the Star Wars universe. The Mandalorian is set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order. We follow the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.”

Personally, I love what I’m reading here. I’m picturing something like A Fistful of Dollars or The Outlaw Josey Wales but with a Star Wars twist. A lone gunslinger travelling the frontier that is the Outer Rim. Interestingly, Favreau confirmed that this story won’t be about Boba Fett. But as we’ve all seen, the armour used by the titular Mandalorian very much envokes that of Boba’s.

In Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath trilogy, set in the year after Return of the Jedi, we learn via interludes that someone has recovered Boba’s armour from the Sarlacc Pit. Since then, a mysterious being named Cobb Vanth has assumed the identity of a lawman of sorts using Fett’s iconic imagery to instill fear and order in Freetown on Tatooine. Vanth was once a slave, but that all changed when he purchased the armour from some Jawas in the desert, who had picked it up on their travels. It’s likely that Cobb Vanth ended up doing a really good job, travelling from town to town perhaps and operating as a sort of vigilante, bringing justice to small settlements but using methods and authority that’s outside of the law. With money being good, Vanth was able to modify the amour he purchased from the Jawas, which is likely Boba Fett’s old set, to his own liking. Fett’s insignias and magnifier are gone, but the overall aesthetic is strikingly similar, more so to some of the Mandalorian armour sets we’ve seen in Rebels and Clone Wars. Personally, I think the getup envokes more Jango Fett, but no matter what, this is a new design and it’s awesome.

I have a feeling that that storyline that Wendig set up is the foundation of the series. If so, that would mean two things: that the titular Mandalorian isn’t in fact, Mandalorian and that we’ll be seeing a modified Boba Fett on screen again. While it was never confirmed, it was reported that Logan director James Mangold would direct a Fett movie. That movie, along with the heavily rumoured Kenobi film has recently been put on hold, but this decision was likely made months ago.

But I find it rather interesting that a story thread goes through the hassle of setting up a character like that, only to never bring it up again. The Star Wars Story Group keep an intense look at the continuity of the Canon and make sure nothing is left unused. If that story was set up, it was for a reason. Having a set of Mandalorian armour being found in the Outer Rim and then have it be used makes perfect sense what Favreau has revealed thus far.

What do you think? Have Lucasfilm already teased this character in the Aftermath books or is this Mandalorian a whole new character? Let us know in the comments and check out why the Harry Potter video game leak has us excited and what we think are the top moments in the Star Wars animated series ahead of the premiere of Resistance!