Giancarlo Esposito hints his The Mandalorian villain may not be all that bad in season 2

(Image credit: Disney Plus)

Last week, The Mandalorian season 2 finally got a release date. Now, we're at last receiving new information about the Star Wars show.

Thanks to Entertainment Weekly, we have a batch of new images, plus some very interesting quotes from Giancarlo Esposito about his character in the upcoming season. Esposito only truly arrived in the latter part of season 1, playing the evil Moff Gideon, a remnant from the Galactic Empire who is trying to capture Baby Yoda.

“I’ll be going toe-to-toe with Mando,” Esposito says of his character in season 2. “It’s an iconic battle. I want to disarm him mentally as well. Who knows? Maybe there’s an opportunity to get him to fight some battles for me. You may think I’m a villain, but I’m trying to harness some energy and some powers for a path that could be best for all. You'll get to see him be somewhat diplomatic and more of a manipulator."

A "path that could be best for all" sounds like a villain who believes they have good intentions, they're just trying to achieve them the wrong way... Colour us excited! And what of Gideon's Darksaber, the black lightsaber-type blade he wields during the closing moments of season 1?

“It’s so exciting for me to be in a show where I can wear a cape and own it, and where I can have a lightsaber and really own it,” he said, staying relatively tight-lipped over plot details. He added that he gets to command “a larger vehicle, hint-hint” and will spend some one-on-one time with Baby Yoda.

Speaking of the lovable little guy, turns out he was a bit more of a diva this time around. "Last season, the Child was on set and we weren't sure with the puppet if we would even use much of it — and it turned out, we used a lot of it," Dave Filoni said. "But in season 2, he was the biggest thing on the set. There was a total shift around him. Everybody liked him before, but he wasn't quite the celebrity that he was in season 2. This time, he was quite a big deal."

The Mandalorian season 2 reaches Disney Plus on October 30. In the meantime, check out the best movies on Disney Plus.

Jack Shepherd
Freelance Journalist

Jack Shepherd is the former Senior Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar. Jack used to work at The Independent as a general culture writer before specializing in TV and film for the likes of GR+, Total Film, SFX, and others. You can now find Jack working as a freelance journalist and editor.