Last week, we were able to support information that Robert Rodriguez (Alita: Battle Angel, Desperado, Sin City, Planet Terror) would indeed be directing on The Mandaorian after a previous rumor had linked him to the Disney+ series. However, in that same rumor James Mangold (Indiana Jones 5, Logan, Ford v Ferrari) was mentioned, who took to Twitter to debunk his involvement which needed some extra vetting, which we did.

HN Entertainment has now confirmed that cinematographer David Klein (Homeland, True Blood) worked with director Robert Rodriguez on the Star Wars streaming series, it remains to be seen how many episodes Rodriguez worked on.

Klein recently worked on HBO’s Deadwood movie and has a long history working with director Kevin Smith on films such as Clerks, Chasing Amy, Mallrats, Clerks II, and Red State.

Klein’s connection to Kevin Smith is interesting given that Kevin is a super-fan and even had a small cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker as a local on the snowy planet of Kijimi and also voices a Stormtrooper in Star Wars: The Force Awakens during scenes at Maz Kanata’s Castle.

It is no secret that Kevin Smith and Jon Favreau are longtime friends similar to Jon and Robert. If I had to take a hypothetical shot in the dark about potential guest directors to eventually work on the show, Kevin would certainly be on that list.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfSCHgAyMlM

New cast members reportedly joining the series include Rosario Dawson (Death Proof, Luke Cage, Daredevil) as the live-action version of Ahsoka Tano and Michael Biehn (Aliens, Terminator, The Rock) playing a bounty hunter, both have worked with Robert Rodriguez on Sin City and Planet Terror respectively.

It’s worth noting that Rosario Dawson has also worked with Kevin Smith on Clerks II as the female lead and appeared in Jay & Silent Bob Reboot. Kevin has tackled television in the past with The Goldbergs, The Flash, and Supergirl.

Baz Idoine is the series’ regular cinematographer on The Mandalorian and we know for certain he returned for Season 2, but it looks like Robert wanted to use Klein, who is said to be attached to work on his upcoming thriller Hypnotic starring Ben Affleck.

Idoine revealed earlier in the month that filming on Season 2 had wrapped, but it remains to be seen if The Mandalorian will begin airing on Disney+ starting sometime in October as planned as the coronavirus pandemic could impact post-production schedules.

We’ll have to wait for official word from Disney and Lucasfilm.

Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2020 is still seemingly planning on moving forward in late August and has to be announced as delayed, attendees would likely get their first look at Season 2 footage.