Not a lot was known about The Mandalorian before it premiered on Nov. 12 with the Disney+ launch. It was going to explore the Mandalorians, of course, a group of people that haven’t had their turn in the spotlight yet in Star Wars lore. The Beskar armor that Mando sports is the same as Boba and Jengo Fett’s, but again, Disney didn’t reveal much else about Mando or the story the show would focus on. Then Baby Yoda came along.
Now, after four episodes, of course, viewers have a bit more of an idea. After requesting a higher-paid bounty, Mando is set to extract an alien who turns out to be Baby Yoda. Not actually Yoda, since he’s 50 years old and Yoda died five years before The Mandalorian in Return of the Jedi. Just like the whole internet, Mando is sucked into the cuteness and purity of Baby Yoda and saves him from The Client and whatever the Empire wants to do with him.
So now, they’re outrunning the Empire and any bounty hunters who come after the little green alien. There are four episodes left in the first season, but a spoiler from Rian Johnson reveals how long Baby Yoda will be on the Disney+ show.
Some spoilers for The Mandalorian ahead!
Rian Johnson confirmed he saw Baby Yoda on set a month ago
According to the Independent, Johnson told The Wrap that he was on the set of the show and saw the Baby Yoda animatronic, saying he was amazed by it. “I visited the set of The Mandalorian a month ago, and I spotted Baby Yoda in the corner, and the producer shot me a look as if to say, ‘You can’t say a word!’” he said. “I’ve been holding that secret in my heart for forever now. And the memes are amazing. I’m very pro-Baby Yoda.”
Obviously, he’s as in love with the alien as the rest of us, but this tiny anecdote is a pretty significant spoiler. As both publications point out, a month ago, filming for The Mandalorian Season 2 had already started. Basically, Johnson confirmed Baby Yoda would be back for more cuteness and memes.
Puppet vs. CGI Baby Yoda
The show uses a mix of animated puppetry and CGI to make the baby alien and show lifelike movement and facial emotions. That’s how Johnson was able even to see Baby Yoda in the “flesh.” But initially, Jon Favreau revealed they were going to go back and forth between a puppet and CGI, possibly even just doing CGI.
Vanity Fair reported that Favreau and co-creator Dave Filoni wanted to see both versions on film, “in case they decided during postproduction that the puppet wasn’t convincing enough and a digital version had to be substituted.”
But Werner Herzog, who played The Client, was not having any of that. “You are cowards. Leave it,” he told them.
Werner Herzog is smitten with Baby Yoda
It makes sense that Herzog was the one to champion for a puppet Baby Yoda. He’s been smitten with the character for a while now, telling Variety that the alien was “heartbreakingly beautiful.”
Also, director Deborah Chow told Vanity Fair that Herzog forgot the puppet wasn’t a real actor for a second. “I had a day with one of the weirdest moments I’ve ever had directing. I was directing Werner with the puppet, and Werner had just fallen in love with the baby,” she said. “Werner, I think, had forgotten it wasn’t actually a live creature, and started sort of… directing the baby. Werner is talking to the baby as if it was a real thing. And I’m trying to direct Werner. And I’m just like, How did I get here? How did my life end up like this?”
If you’re like Herzog, you’re probably celebrating this Baby Yoda news while re-watching all the episodes on Disney+.