SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE MANDALORIAN EPISODES 1-2
While I think we can all see that Pedro Pascal’s Dyn Jarren is heavily influenced by the films of Sergio Leone with Clint Eastwood’s the man with no name and Akira Kurasawa’s Yojimbo. This was reinforced when Pascal recently mentioning that Jon Favreau had him watch a bunch of those movies.
There is also a string of Japanese films that I believe are influencing the relationship between Jarren and Baby Yoda in The Mandalorian, at least for Chapter 2 – The Child.
That would be Lone Wolf & Cub aka Shogun Assassin, a group of samurai films from the 1970s that inspired a lot of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill including the graphic violence and the special effects for the blood fountains/severed limbs.
It’s hard not to notice the parallels as a hardened bounty hunter/assassin is traveling with an innocent child, even the baby cart is present (futuristic or not).
The big difference is that Baby Yoda is clearly not Dyn’s child and the graphic violence is subdued because of being on Disney+.
We do see Baby Yoda get into the action with him using force powers to immobilize the beast to allow Dyn to kill it. This would also slightly mirror Ogami Ittō’s young son Daigorō, who helped his father fight his enemies even from his baby cart.
Originally, Lone Wolf & Cub was a manga from writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima that was first published in 1970 that was eventually adapted into six films starring Tomisaburō Wakayama as Ogami Ittō.
Lone Wolf and Cub chronicles the story of Ogami Ittō, the shōgun’s executioner who uses a dōtanuki battle sword. Disgraced by false accusations from the Yagyū clan, he is forced to take the path of the assassin.
The popularized Shogun Assassin is a combination of Sword of Vengeance and Baby Cart At The River Styx.
Lone Wolf & Cub: Sword of Vengeance
Lone Wolf & Cub: Baby Cart At The River Styx
Lone Wolf & Cub: Baby Cart To Hades
Lone Wolf & Cub: Baby Cart In Peril
Lone Wolf & Cub: Baby Cart In The Land of Demons
Lone Wolf & Cub: White Heaven In Hell
I’m slightly curious if this means Dyn Jarren will eventually turn on either the Guild or even The Client (played by Werner Herzog) and his Imperial forces. However, it’s really unknown how much we’ll actually be getting with Baby Yoda and if it’ll go beyond Chapter 3 until we watch the rest of the series.
I think Jon Favreau is certainly a student of television/film and clearly knew they’d have to tackle more than just the works of Akira Kurosawa.
Chapter 3 will be released on Disney+ on Friday, November 22nd and we’ll have to see if the relationship continues to grow beyond Chapter 2 – The Child.
