Between Jon Favreau, Peyton Reed, and Bryce Dallas Howard, the opening run of The Mandalorian Season 2 has featured some major talent in the director’s chair. And for the show’s latest instalment, Chapter 12: The Siege, none other than Carl Weathers stepped behind the camera for his first Star Wars directing experience, while also returning in front of it as Greef Karga – one of Din Djarin and Baby Yoda’s most precious allies. Weathers’ episode was one of the most action-packed to date, featuring thrilling speeder chases and adorable exploits from everyone’s favourite Child, while also dropping major plot revelations which look to impact the entire series – and shed significant light on the wider tapestry of the Star Wars universe.
All of which made it a joy to have him on the latest episode of the Empire Spoiler Special Podcast, in an exclusive interview which saw the director open up on all sorts of juicy things – working alongside Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, his continuing adoration for The Child, the terrifying intentions of Moff Gideon, and much more.
You can listen to the full episode by subscribing to the Spoiler Special podcast here (and check out a sneak peek on the regular podcast feed, available here) – and read on for three things we learned from the big man himself.
1) He asked for more Baby Yoda
The internet at large has gone wild for The Child – or, as everyone calls him, Baby Yoda. And Weathers is no different. Having fallen for ‘The Baby’ (as he calls it, or sometimes ‘The Kid’ instead) back in Season 1, he had one major note when Jon Favreau sent him the Chapter 12 script: more Baby. “I know what the show is about – it's called The Mandalorian, so that sort of takes care of that,” Weathers laughs. “But his sidekick, his ward, his little being that accompanies him on his journey, has this sweetness, this obviously childlike quality that we all love in little ones, before they can say 'no!' and throw things and have tantrums. When I read the script, one of my comments was to ask John to put more of the Baby in there.”
For Weathers, upping the Baby quotient was all part of the balancing act of the episode. “The journey that we're on is fraught with danger and is very action-oriented, and there's a lot of weapons-fire and bad guys going down and chases and all that good stuff, explosions – it's like a panoply of all the good stuff in action movies,” he says. “But there's also the Baby – this gentler, softer, sweeter side that comes out of everyone who interacts with him. And that to me was just a wonderful balance. Jon crafted these scenes so beautifully. I'm a fan of the Kid, I'm a real fan. I'd love to see more of him.”
Eventually, later in the creation of the episode, came the Twitter-frenzy-inducing Baby Yoda puking moment. “That was practical,” says Weathers of the gooey blue vomit. “The thing that made it work was the combinations of the colour, and that you never expect that that’s where it’s going to go. But, ’twirl, twirl, twirl!’ – eventually, we’d all go ‘bleurgh!’”
2) He loved dropping that mid-episode bombshell
For the first 20 minutes or so, The Siege is another supremely enjoyable Mandalorian episode that feels like an adventure-of-the-week. Until, in the Imperial facility, our gang stumbles on a major secret that blows the season opening – revealing more about what Moff Gideon wants from The Child, and showing something rather familiar floating in a tank. “I loved it, because there was almost no track laid to tell you what this was going to be about,” says Weathers. “And so as you followed it, the challenge for me as a director – and I'm certain the challenge for Jon as a writer-producer – was keeping people engaged, wanting to know what's going to happen next. And when you find out what’s really involved here, you finally get to, 'Oh man, this thing is much bigger than we thought.’”
He won’t be drawn on exactly what Gideon’s plan is, or what’s floating in that tank (could it actually be a Snoke prototype?), but the scene is certainly worth rewatching for more information. “When you listen to the dialogue, it's pretty much explained, without saying, 'OK, now let us tell you what this means!’” Weathers says. “We all find out almost simultaneously, which means the audience finds out. Then the character in the hologram comes in and underscores what it's all about and who is really responsible for it all. So we understand now that this episode really is calling back to all of the stuff that's been going on out there, and what the Mandalorian is up against, and what we're all up against with that guy called Moff Gideon.”
Speaking of which…
3) Those new baddies are going to bring the pain
…the episode ends on a major cliffhanger: Moff Gideon has an army of mega-stormtroopers (possibly Dark Troopers, as featured in 1994 video game Star Wars: Dark Forces) at his disposal. “They’re not just souped-up,” warns Weathers. “Man, they are on uber-steroids, let’s put it that way.”
Simply put, it sounds like Mando and pals will really have their work cut out for them going forwards. “I remember Muhammad Ali said, '...and I'm a baaaad man!' Well guess what? Moff Gideon is a baaaad man, you know? He has plans, and I gotta tell you, I think anyone in the path is going to find trouble,” says Weathers. “You look at that scene, and particularly the very last shot when I pull back and you reveal, ‘Oh my goodness, man!’. It's like walking into the hall of mirrors at an amusement park. It just goes on and on forever.”
Listen to Empire’s full extended exclusive interview with Carl Weathers on the Empire Spoiler Special Podcast now – with new episodes dropping every Monday. The Mandalorian debuts new chapters every Friday on Disney+.