Around the start of April, we tend to hear a lot of far-fetched news. It’s taken a solid decades’ worth of social media for most of us to start truly wising up to bogus headlines around April Fools season, but often genuine news gets lost in the fold.
If you’re the type of person who prefers binging an entire season of television in one go and you aren’t yet up to date on The Mandalorian, chances are you’ve heard some buzz about one School of Rock star Jack Black making a guest appearance in the Pedro Pascal-led Star Wars television series.
While it was already April 5 by the time the episode had aired, one can’t help but raise an eyebrow at the prospect. What’s Bowser from The Super Mario Bros. Movie doing in a galaxy far, far away? Is he singing and strumming a guitar as Din Djarin blasts his way through a mob of hostile space pirates? Most importantly, is this a social media bit? Here’s everything you need to know.
Jack Black in The Mandalorian, explained
Rest assured, April Fools season is well and truly over and done with, and Jack Black does in fact have a guest appearance in “Chapter 22: Guns for Hire,” a season three episode of The Mandalorian! Black plays the role of Captain Bombardier, a leader of a faraway planet known as Plazir-15. To make matters in “Guns for Hire” all the more wacky, Black’s character’s partner is The Duchess, played by none other than Lizzo!
The show’s titular Mandalorian, Din Djarin encounters Bombardier and The Duchess while out in a distant system searching for Bo Katan’s former crewmates. Another inhabitant of the planet is its security chief, played by Back to the Future star Christopher Lloyd. The Duchess, as anyone would, takes an immediate liking to Grogu, and everyone’s favorite Baby Yoda is knighted by her by the end of the episode. While many found this week’s cameos a welcome addition, not everyone is as thrilled, with some saying the show has now become a full-blown parody.