The Mandalorian: Black Panther Composer Ludwig Goransson To Score Series
Ludwig Göransson is making the journey from Wakanda to the galaxy far, far away.
Lucasfilm announced Wednesday that Göransson, who composed Marvel Studios' record-breaking superhero pic Black Panther, will score the impending Star Wars series The Mandalorian, written and executive-produced by Jon Favreau and starring Game of Thrones alum Pedro Pascal in the title role.
"Words fail to express how surreal and humbling it feels to be invited into the Star Wars universe," Göransson said in a statement accompanying the news. "I am deeply grateful to Jon Favreau and Disney for this opportunity and to John Williams for raising the bar so high with his iconic, intrepid scores — they will never be matched. In these next months I hope to honor the tradition of Star Wars' musical landscape while propelling The Mandalorian into new and unchartered territory. And I will try to remember that there is no try."
Göransson joins a host of supremely talented people for The Mandalorian. The series, set for release on the Disney+ streaming platform in 2019, touts episodic directors in Dave Filoni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels), Deborah Chow (Jessica Jones), Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), Rick Famuyiwa (Dope), Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World). Alongside Pascal, the cast also includes Gina Carano (Deadpool), Carl Weathers (Predator), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Emily Swallow (Supernatural), Nick Nolte (Warrior), Omid Abtahi (American Gods), and Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man).
Composing the score for the live-action series is just another exciting thing Göransson gets to do — and he's done a lot in the past. Göransson picked up Grammy and Golden Globe Award nominations for his work on the Black Panther score, and crafted the soundtracks for Fruitvale Station, Creed and Creed II, and Venom. He's no stranger to making music for television either, as he's offered his talents to series like Community and New Girl. It goes without saying that The Mandalorian will be far different from those quirky sitcoms, but Göransson's experience in both small-scale scoring and in handling big properties like Sony's slimy symbiote Venom and Marvel's bold, brave Black Panther will serve him well on the Star Wars series.
The fact that Göransson is also well-versed in record production — having worked with Haim, Chance the Rapper, and Childish Gambino, which earned him three Grammy nods — is an added bonus, and solidifies that Lucasfilm made the perfect choice in selecting him for The Mandalorian.
In tapping Göransson to score the series, Lucasfilm is continuing down the path it forged with Solo: A Star Wars Story in creating a new live-action Star Wars project that isn't scored by longtime franchise composer John Williams. Granted, plenty of composers have taken the reins for animated Star Wars series and specials, but Solo was the first live-action movie not to feature him. The Mandalorian will now be the first-ever live-action Star Wars show to go sans-Williams.
The Black Panther soundtrack was pretty damn incredible, so we're definitely looking forward to hearing what Göransson creates for The Mandalorian, even if it doesn't sound quite like the Star Wars rings and dings we've heard before.
Set "after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order" and centered on "a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic," The Mandalorian will premiere sometime in 2019.