Pedro Pascal just joined a very small club of leading Star Wars actors.
Pedro Pascal wore a helmet, was the star of the show, protected the most powerful baby in the galaxy, and somehow managed to make the line "This is the Way" both cool and emotionally draining.
Now it appears he has joined the much smaller club of actors appearing in Star Wars films and landing leading roles.
Ahead of the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu, current promotional materials and cast listings show Pascal taking center stage as Din Djarin, alongside Grogu, Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White and the rest of the new film's cast. It may seem like a minor detail in the credits, but in the history of Star Wars, leading roles aren't handed out as easily as blue milk at a cantina.
A short list of famous names
The list of actors most often mentioned as starring in Star Wars films is small but very extensive: Mark Hamill, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Harrison Ford, Felicity Jones, Alden Ehrenreich, Carrie Fisher - and now it looks like Pedro Pascal has joined that list.
This is a strange and impressive episode in the history of the franchise.
Pascal didn't enter Star Wars through the usual movie star route. He appeared on Disney+, wearing a helmet, in a series that many initially perceived as a risky experiment on the streaming platform. Then The Mandalorianbecame the basis of the modern Star Wars games, Grogu became a global pop culture threat with ears, and Din Djarin quietly became one of Lucasfilm's most reliable characters.
Not bad for a guy who spent much of his early Star Wars work letting beskar do his facial expressions.
From the head of a streaming service to the head of a film project
This is why the information in the credits is important. The Mandalorian and Groguis not just another sequel to the series.Lucasfilm is taking a successful Disney+ project and asking it to bring Star Wars back to theaters for the first time since The Rise of Skywalker.
This puts Pascal in a completely different position than before. He's no longer just the main character of the series. He is presented as the main character of a Star Wars movie, and this carries a completely different weight within the franchise.
We've already written about how The Mandalorian and Grogu try not to feel like Star Wars homework, and this series follows that strategy. Pedro Pascal is a recognizable anchor. Grogu is a tiny engine of chaos. Together, they're an easy entry point for viewers who might not remember every clue from The Mandalorian.
The helmet made it even weirder.
There's another fun twist here: Pascal has become one of the most notable modern Star Wars protagonists, playing a character whose face, we know, was legally not supposed to be shown.
This makes his rise unusual even by Star Wars standards. Din Djarin became iconic due to his silhouette, voice, codex, armor, and relationship with Grogu. Pascal helped define the character, even when his role was performed in conjunction with the physical work of Brendan Wayne, Lateef Crowder and other actors inside the suit.
So when Pascal now takes first place in the credits of a feature-length Star Wars film in The Mandalorian and on Grogu, it's not just a career milestone. It's a reminder of how weird this franchise has become in the streaming age.
TV's mostly masked bounty hunter has become the face of Star Wars' return to cinema screens.
It's either completely ridiculous or perfectly in keeping with the spirit of Star Wars.
Probably both.