While Star Wars fans have a long wait for The Mandalorian‘s third season, there have been plenty of teasers coming from the cast and crew of what to expect, although none of them have actually given anything concrete away about the direction the characters will be taking. However, Giancarlo Esposito was happy to tease the return of his character, Moff Gideon, in the new season when he spoke to Variety ahead of the Creative Arts Emmys about his part in the series and the Guest Actor in a Drama Series nomination it earned him.
When asked by the publication if his character would be returning in the new season of The Mandalorian, Esposito said, “I have to imagine you would. I can’t speak for them, but I know I have desire. I think we need to see Moff to continue the story and to continue the pressure that – and the edge – that someone with the big brain that Moff has thinks about. So, I could almost guarantee it, but you know, there’s never a guarantee, but you know… you’ll see me, baby. Come on! I mean, the fact that I’m here tonight and in the position I am to be nominated for Moff Gideon. I just, I thank Jon Favreau and I thank Dave Filoni and thank Disney and Kathleen Kennedy for producing. This show, though, its’ taken people by storm, because there’s so much to love.”
In July, Esposito said that season 3 would start filming soon. It can be hard to let go of a great character, and the actor certainly doesn’t want to give up playing Moff Gideon just yet. He spoke last year to StarWars.com about wanting to continue playing the role in future.
“I’ve been a very big fan of the early Star Wars movies and the world in which they exist,” Esposito said. “I always was fascinated by Darth Vader. I thought that inside that very, very hard, coarse exterior could be a human being that had the ability to bring some light to our space odyssey in our galaxy.” He continued, “I was strongly affected by Peter Cushing who also played a Moff many, many years ago. And tried to do some research, because I knew the fans knew a whole lot more than I did about Star Wars.”
Recently stuntman Brendan Wayne teased that the third season will return in many ways to the feel of the first, now that the world of The Mandalorian has been expanded. “I think we’ve introduced the world in which Mando exists now. Not that there aren’t going to be new things, I’m sure… I think there will be a lot less introductions, and a lot more going back towards the first season of delving deeper into the character and things like that I think,” Wayne told the Star Wars Sessions podcast. “Have I read one script? No. Have I heard some things? Sure. So I’m guessing. But I can tell you this. If anyone’s going to be able to continue telling a story, it’s Jon [Favreau]. And raising the stakes? It’s Jon.”
Giancarlo Esposito is not the only actor stoked for the return of The Mandalorian. Katee Sackhoff has also teased some “unfinished business” for Bo-Katan in the next season. The first two seasons of The Mandalorian are currently streaming on Disney+, while spin-off The Book of Boba Fett will premiere on the streaming platform in December after wrapping up filming in the summer.