Robert Downey Jr. Reportedly Up For Significant Role In The Mandalorian

The Mandalorian may be about to land its biggest star yet. We recently heard that Robert Downey Jr. could be reuniting with former Iron Man director Jon Favreau for the hit Disney Plus TV series and now, another report has emerged that offers some additional details on how the actor could fit into the Star Wars universe.

WDW Pro of Pirates and Princesses claims that Downey Jr. and Favreau are working on something set in the “Favreau-Filoni Star Wars cinematic universe.” In other words, The Mandalorian or one of its spinoffs. The actor’s part would apparently be a significant recurring role and not “of a cameo nature.” In fact, it “may involve a long-term contract.”

As for the type of character he could be portraying, the scooper writes that “the potential role may be very different than the Iron Man/ Tony Stark role that RDJ played for so long.” What’s more, “it might involve a serious change in appearance.” So, it sounds like Downey Jr. may be playing some kind of alien villain. And an alien villain in the context of The Mandalorian brings only one name to mind: Grand Admiral Thrawn. As WDW Pro writes: “It would not shock us at this point if RDJ takes a role like Grand Admiral Thrawn or some other major piece.”

Thrawn, originally from the EU and previously voiced by Lars Mikkelsen in Star Wars Rebels, was mentioned in season 2, with Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano revealed to be on his tail. So, if he was to debut in live-action soon, it would no doubt happen in the upcoming Ahsoka TV series. And apparently that part could be filled by none other than Robert Downey Jr. There’s still a long time to go before this is anywhere near official, of course, but it’s certainly an exciting prospect.

The Book of Boba Fett is shooting now, with The Mandalorian season 3 due to start production after that. Ahsoka, meanwhile, has yet to be given a release window, but may be headed for a 2022 debut.