The Season 2 finale for The Mandalorian was one of the best bits of Star Wars that Disney has ever created. Luke’s surprise cameo resonated with fans so much that Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian made an entire episode on the magic that happened behind his appearance. So, here are eight reveals that came out when the curtains were pulled back.
Plo Koon Was a Placeholder for Luke
In order for Luke’s appearance to work, it needed to be a complete surprise, but keeping something that big under wraps is not an easy thing to do. So, Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau went all out on the secrecy. Just like when George Lucas did the classic The Empire Strikes Back reveal, they didn’t tell the rest of the cast or crew about Luke’s appearance. In fact, they created fake scripts saying that Plo Koon was going to return to take Grogu with him. The trickery went so far as to create Plo Koon concept and CGI art.
Young Luke Was Created With Deepfake De-Aging
During the documentary, Jon Favreau explained how they de-aged Luke’s face. He started by briefly explaining three methods that they explored for doing so. The first was a complete CGI face, and that’s what was used for Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One. A second technique is like an airbrush artist painting over wrinkles. The third technique, which they ended up using, is called Deepfake. With that technique, thousands of images are fed into an algorithm, and it picks a younger image to match what the actual actor is doing.
A Secret Day Of Filming
Luke Skywalker’s appearance was a secret, and since the cast and crew didn’t even know about it, that meant that Mark Hamill couldn’t be around for an extended amount of time filming. So, while most of the cast and filming crew were working on-location on a separate episode, Mark Hamill came in and worked with a skeleton crew to film all of his scenes in one day. It was a very long day, but the less people who knew the big secret, the better.
Luke’s Fighting Prowess
Luke becomes one of the most powerful Jedi in all of Star Wars, but the truth is at this point, he’s not the best technical fighter in the galaxy, especially with a lightsaber. They even make it clear that Ahsoka is much more talented than him, which people can forget since Luke’s character has been around longer. It’s the simple fact that Luke had no one training him and no one to spar with. So, his fighting choreography was designed with that in mind. It needed to resemble his sword-fighting style from Return of the Jedi while being a little improved due to his growing experience.
Luke’s Return Of The Jedi Cloak Isn't Black
Although it looks black in the film, Luke’s Return Of The Jedi cloak was apparently brown, and the stark lighting in Jabba’s palace just made it look darker than it actually was. The original concept showed that his clothes were black and his cloak was brown so both the Dark Side and the Light Side were reflected in his outward appearance.
The Music Behind the Big Reveal
Ludwig Göransson's score for The Mandalorian is pretty good, but John Williams' original Star Wars score is impossible to beat. In order to build up to Luke revealing his identity, the whole episode had original music. However, as Luke takes his hood off, Williams' "Binary Sunset" plays in the background, marking the first use of the original score and adding to the magic of the moment.
Luke’s Voice Was Fake
Mark Hamill is quite the voice actor, but to make sure that he sounded young enough, all of Luke’s dialogue was completely synthesized. They used a program called Respeecher, which analyzes old audio footage and makes a template for how things should sound. Then it spits out a voice that sounds like the original input is speaking.
Jon Favreau’s Favorite Star Wars Character
Near the end of the documentary, Jon Favreau reveals that his favorite Star Wars character is R2-D2, and there was animation from Return of the Jedi put directly onto the little droid. Favreau also mentions that other people broke down on set when they saw Luke but that he broke down when he saw R2. It was just a reminder of his childhood and how Star Wars can and should bring people together.
To discover all the secrets of The Mandalorian Season 2 finale, watch “Making of the Season 2 Finale,” streaming now on Disney+ as part of Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian.