#Does Pedro Pascal’s The Last of Us Casting Mean He’s Leaving The Mandalorian?

It’s true. Pedro Pascal’s casting as Joel in HBO’s The Last of Us series has a lot of fans excited, but at the same time, there’s some concern about what this all means for his role on The Mandalorian going forward. This week, it was announced that Bella Ramsey (Game of Thrones) had been cast to play Ellie on the show, one of the two main characters alongside Joel. Pascal’s casting was reported very soon after with the actor personally confirming the news on Twitter.

So, what does this mean for Pascal’s role as Din Djarin on The Mandalorian? Some readers might have noticed that in the original Deadline report, it was noted that while Pascal would remain on the Star Wars series, The Last of Us would be taking “first position” with the actor. In other words, the new HBO series will take precedence over The Mandalorian if there are any scheduling conflicts, potentially limiting Pascal’s involvement in the latter if both shows end up filming around the same time.
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The good news is that if The Last of Us does conflict with The Mandalorian‘s third season, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Din Djarin will have his role in the series reduced. In fact, the series has had to work around Pascal’s absence before. Since the first season, Pascal has been sharing the role of the masked character with stunt performers standing in. Bryce Dallas Howard previously revealed to Vulture that Pascal wasn’t present on set at all for an episode she directed in season 1 as he was busy starring on Broadway in King Lear.

Because The Mandalorian is an action-heavy show, there have also been many scenes where stunt performers donned the armor even with Pascal on set. The actor was more involved in the second season as Din Djarin spent more time on-screen unmasked, but the fact remains that a lot of the time we see the Mandalorian, it’s not really Pedro underneath the armor. If Pascal is unable to be physically present for some episodes of the Star Wars show, he could still rather easily play the part by providing voiceover work remotely.

Oddly enough, Pascal’s new character on The Last of Us has a lot in common with Din Djarin. While the Mandalorian looks after a pint-sized creature known to fans as Baby Yoda, Joel is a hardened smuggler who’s tasked with escorting a teenager across a dangerous, post-apocalyptic wasteland inhabited by deadly monsters and murderous raiders. The series is based on the video game of the same name and is being written by the original game’s writer, Neil Druckmann, alongside Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin.

It remains unclear when The Last of Us will actually start filming, so it’s just as possible that the two series will be produced at entirely separate times. Still, either way, it should be good for Star Wars fans to know that there are still ways to keep Pedro Pascal as the main character on The Mandalorian even if his time on set will be limited. The original report of Pascal’s casting on The Last of Us comes to us from Deadline.

Topics: The Last of Us, The Mandalorian, Star Wars, Disney Plus, HBO Max