Giancarlo Esposito knows a little something about villainy. Not only did the veteran character actor portray Gus Fring, easily one of the most chilling villains in crime drama history, but he also took a turn as a premiere galactic level antagonist in the first two seasons of The Mandalorian. So we should trust him when he says Moff Gideon is redeemable, right?
Redemption is, after all, a pretty large theme of the Star Wars saga. Even The Mandalorian has redemptive qualities in its storylines, if only in turning a hard-boiled galactic bounty hunter into the franchise’s favorite surrogate dad. But Gideon may have a little too much baggage to get on the path to the light side of the Force anytime soon. The character is involved to some extent, not yet disclosed, with the destruction of the planet Mandalore aka the Empire’s “Great Purge.”
Of course, even slightly helping along a planetary genocide puts you pretty far down the list for a season three come from behind heroic story arc — and when you’re the main antagonist in a series called The Mandalorian, what are the chances that all you were doing during the conflict was a little war profiteering on the side? But Esposito recently revealed to ScreenRant that he thinks there’s something about the Moff that could be worth salvaging:
“I do think he’s redeemable. I think he’s good. If you have a hero, the hero is not going to be strong unless you have a very strong antihero. The antihero is a fallen hero. … Therefore, I take some good with me inside, even when I’m playing Moff Gideon because it’s important for me to give a full, well-rounded picture of a man whose dreams went south and he’s trying to recapture them. So, there is light in Moff, somewhere.”
– Giancarlo Esposito
Esposito didn’t offer any indication as to whether he was just describing his own approach to the character or if his theory was tied to the character’s season three arc, but in a galaxy where even blowing up your daughter’s home planet doesn’t write you off completely, we can’t say whether or not Gideon won’t end up one of the good guys by the series finale.
Season three of The Mandalorian will be released in Feb. 2023.
