Pedro Pascal Joins Star Wars TV Universe as ‘The Mandalorian’ Lead Star

It’s still a bit far away, but Disney+’s Star Wars TV show from Jon Favreau has found its lead star. Joining The Mandalorian is Narcos and Game of Thrones actor Pedro Pascal as the lead.

Deadline reports that Pascal is in final negotiations to join the series, which is the flagship program that Disney+ will launch in 2019. The Mandalorian follows the story of “a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic” and is set between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.

In the vast Star Wars universe (both canon and expanded universe), Mandalorians were the ones who made the iconic armor of mercenary Jango Fett and his bounty hunter son Boba Fett. Jango was cloned in Star Wars – Episode II: Attack of the Clones, in an effort to create an army for the Galactic Republic. The Jango clones went on to fight during the Clone Wars (Battle of Geonosis), with Jango himself dying at the hands of Jedi Master Mace Windu. Boba, who witnessed his father’s death first hand, continued Jango’s legacy and became the bounty hunter famous for bringing Han Solo’s carbonite body to Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi. Sadly, Boba mett an uncharacteristic end by falling into the Sarlacc Pit during the Barge rescue fight against Luke Skywalker and Lando Calrissian.

Pascal famously gave life to Prince Oberyn of House Martell on HBO’s Game of Thrones. He then went on to play DEA agent Javier Peña in Netflix’s Narcos, opposite Boyd Holbrook as agent Steve Murphy. Last year, Pascal also played another agent, this time in Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Golden Circle. But perhaps one of the most anticipated and mysterious roles for the actor is his upcoming outing in Wonder Woman 1984, alongside Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, and Kristen Wiig.

The Mandalorian is the brainchild of actor-director Jon Favreau, who was tapped by Disney in March to write and executive produce the first Star Wars TV show for the then-unnamed Disney streaming platform. It was also announced earlier this month that Diego Luna will reprise his role of Cassian Andor from Rogue One for another Star Wars TV show focusing on his adventures before meeting Jyn Erso.

The Mandalorian’s release date remains to be seen, but it will likely air sometime in 2019—enough to hype us up for the final Star Wars trilogy movie from J.J. Abrams.