Jon Favreau's Star Wars: The Mandalorian, arriving next year on the Disney+ streaming service, contains a surprising link to 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
The first Star Wars anthology movie is set before the Battle of Yavin, and recounts how the Rebellion stole the plans to the first Death Star from the Galactic Empire. Gareth Edward's film introduced a whole host of new characters and creatures, including the Imperial Death Troopers.
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Making Star Wars revealed the return of Death Troopers in The Mandalorian with a behind-the-scenes shot of an actor wearing their signature armor. The picture shows the actor without his helmet, and doesn't appear to be one of the show's main cast.
The appearance of the Death Troopers follows a recent leak that showed Stormtroopers on the set of Favreau's upcoming series. The Death Troopers were depicted in Rogue One as an elite squadron who served the Empire. They subsequently appeared on the animated Star Wars Rebels.
It's unclear how or why the Death Trooper armor fits into The Mandalorian, given the show's setting, years after the events of Rogue One and the fall of the Empire in Return of the Jedi. The Death Troopers could've gone into hiding, or the character in question could be a bounty hunter using the black armor to complete his own mission. Either way, the inclusion of Stormtroopers and Death Troopers could shed some light on what happened to the Imperial military and how it evolved into what became the First Order.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian will arrive on Disney's premium streaming service, Disney+, sometime in 2019.
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