THE LEADER
The Mandalorian (2020-’23)
“AHHHH! MANDO!”
So went a typically cheerful and boisterous greeting from Weathers’ Greef Karga in The Mandalorian. In addition to helping coin the coolest nickname in the galaxy — one that the internet quickly adopted — Weathers brought innate swagger and quiet strength to the Bounty Hunters’ Guild leader turned High Magistrate of Nevarro. It made him immediately likeable, even when he and the titular hero were more frenemies than friends.
That alone would surely have been enough to secure Weathers’ Star Wars legacy. But perhaps even more impressive were his achievements behind the camera. He directed two demanding episodes — Season 2’s The Siege, and Season 3’s The Foundling — and both proved how skilled he was at balancing all the different elements that make Star Wars so special.
One of those ingredients is kick-ass action, and multiple sequences in Weathers’ episodes do the franchise proud. A climactic dogfight between Mando’s Razor Crest and the Empire’s TIE Fighters is thrilling, full of triumphant moments that are delivered with directorial flair — cutting Ludwig Göransson’s score only to have it return just as Mando fires a kill-shot was especially inspired. And another scene in which Ahmed Best’s lightsaber-wielding Kelleran Beq rescues Grogu from the Jedi Temple is a precisely calibrated, fast-paced chase that evokes the iconography of the prequels with style.
It makes sense that an action star with Weathers’ CV knew exactly how to make an action sequence tick. Because crucially, it was never just action for action’s sake. He always squeezed character and emotion out of even the smallest moments, subtly evolving the relationships between characters and helping to illuminate the bigger picture, never content to have his episodes simply be jaunty side-quests.
It helps that Weathers was a natural when it came to nailing The Mandalorian’s comedy beats. Not only was he frequently hilarious on screen, but his warm and winning comedic energy also comes through in his direction. Many of his funniest moments involve Grogu — one memorable scene has everyone’s favourite Baby Yoda use the Force to snare a macaron from an unsuspecting kid, while another has Mando trying to repair his ship with his adopted son to no avail. While other episodes have leaned on Grogu’s natural cuteness too much, Weathers’ comic beats don’t outstay their welcome, landing to maximum effect.
Of course, Weathers wasn’t shy about putting himself on camera either, making sure to get in his fair share of heroic moments. And even though time may have slowed him down, nothing could dull his charisma and action chops. Scenes where he’s running down corridors blasting away at Stormtroopers and quipping with Mando showcased that even in a galaxy far, far away, he was still right at home. Whether in front of or behind the camera, the universe is less fun without him in it.