In one of the biggest surprises, that remained one till the arrival of The Mandalorian season 2 finale, Luke Skywalker made an appearance causing an internet meltdown. At that moment it was not clear if Mark Hamill stood-in for his beloved character or it was all digital faceplant. However small an inkling fans had was later confirmed and now explained by Jon Favreau in Disney Gallery documentary. From the secret filming to a stand in Jedi to throw off everyone from leaking a mind-blowing development.
The Mandalorian followed the exploits of a bounty hunter who comes across a package with galactic implications. Finding a child during a hunt, Mando forms a bond and starts protecting the kid, even from the people who employed him. Spread out over a 2-season arc, the first one dealt with Mando protecting the child while the second showed them on a quest to find a safe home, away from the clutches of the galactic empire remnants.
The Disney Plus show was the first ever live-action Star Wars show. It was also the first of multiple continuation as well as adaptation of stories based on various beloved characters. We will soon get a Boba Fett show and it was all thanks to The Mandalorian, even more so the ending of season 2. But it took a lot to get everything right for the finale, something Jon laid out in the mini-docu series.
Disney Gallery Shows Mark Hamill as Luke in The Mandalorian Season 2 Finale
Despite many naysayers and doom forecasters, The Mandalorian was an unmitigated success on Disney Plus. From the first season on people were tuning in to watch the series based within the Star Wars world. From critics to fans, everyone was soon onboard as Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau showed they knew what they were doing behind the scenes.
By the end of the first season the hype was unreal and then stories started to filter in that Rosario Dawson was coming in to play Ahsoka Tano in the second season. Boba Fett was also said to be making a prominent appearance in the sophomore season, but the biggest reveal was kept a surprise. After the finale aired, it was a miracle in this day an age that involvement of Mark Hamill was hidden from the world.
Disney Plus has been releasing these documentaries on their platform called Disney Gallery where various new shows’ creations are detailed by the cast and the crew. Marvel shows did the same thing and recently the making of The Mandalorian season finale was at the center stage. While seeing the documentary, to most people surprise, Mark Hamill was literally on the set of The Mandalorian.
He was wearing the robe, holding a prop lightsaber and interacting with R2D2 and Baby Yoda. It was all done on camera while his younger stand-in watched on from the side. Mark said in the behind-the-scenes footage, all it would have taken was for one person from color correction to go out and say, “you won’t believe who I saw today.”
Also Read: Katee Sackhoff Thought Plo Koon Saved Them at the End of The Mandalorian Season 2
That was the same fear Jon Favreau had after Ashoka and Boba Fett revelations were given away by leaks. He wanted to make sure the coupe-de-gras moment of the whole show was not spoiled by prying eyes and over eager fans. So, Dave Filoni and Jon started on an elaborate plan to fake out almost the entirety of the cast and crew in order to film Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, for real.
In their bid to keep everything a secret, the body double for Hamill was hired under false-pretenses. The crew was slashed to a barebone, based on necessity, and the filming was done while most of the cast and crew were off on location with Robert Rodriguez for that awesome fight scene that everyone was raving about.
Even Hamill was approached at his home by Filoni and Favreau. The filming was done in secret, Mark’s face was mapped and then deepfake was used to overlay the motion on the stand-in’s face. The filming process was done in a small time but the rendering took a while as some members of the ILM crew were clued into the inclusion of Luke Skywalker.
As for the cast and rest of the crew of the series, while filming the finale, fake scripts were provided to everyone who needed to see it. The Jedi who was supposed to come to the rescue of everyone in the finale was Plo Koon according to the fake script. This is something Katee Sackhoff spoke about regarding the finale as even the cast and crew were surprised watching the finale.
Dave Filoni’s love for the Clone Wars character did not raise suspicion as Katee’s character herself was only present in animated series till the live-action casting in season 2. It made sense to all but even then, those who knew checked the web every day if anything had leaked, it had not. The Mandalorian season 2 proceeded to blow people’s minds with badassery turned up all the way to a 100 for Luke Skywalker.
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Disney Plus Mark Hamill Plo Koon The Mandalorian
Last modified: August 31, 2021
