The Mandalorian finally kicked off its third season on Disney Plus today. And while the episode might’ve been frustratingly short, the season opener still managed to pack a lot into its slim circa 30-minute runtime. That includes slotting in a sneaky tease at the upcoming Ahsoka spinoff and wowing us all with its epic rug-pull introductory scene. Not to mention planting a surprise crossover with a beloved DC character. And you thought we wouldn’t notice, Disney…
“Chapter 17: The Apostate” sees Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu fall foul of some space pirates after aiding Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) in defending the now-gentrified Nevarro from some visiting ne’er-do-wells. Later, while on their way to Kalevala, a planet in Mandalore’s system, the pair are attacked by the forces of pirate king Gorian Shard.
Far from being intimidated by the big bad, fans have flooded Twitter to remark on Shard’s uncanny resemblance to a certain plant-person who hails from the DC universe and was just given their own movie by James Gunn. Yes, Swamp Thing has officially entered Star Wars.
Presumably we’ll get to see much more of Swampโ er, we mean Shard in future episodes.
A reminder that Man-Thing is the Marvel character (as seen in Werewolf by Night) and Swamp Thing is the DC counterpart.
Co-showrunner Jon Favreau is obviously a big comic book guy himself, what with being the director of the first two Iron Man movies, so there’s no doubt Swamp Thing was a definite inspiration behind Shard’s character design. Watch out for more from the plant-based pirate king as The Mandalorian season three continues Wednesdays on Disney Plus.