‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2 Taps ‘Extraction’ Director For More Intense Action

Fresh details reveal that the second season of The Mandalorian will be upping its action as it has brought in Extraction helmer Sam Hargrave as second unit director.

Those who have seen Netflix’s Extraction (starring Chris Hemsworth) can attest to the fact that one of its most distinguishing elements is its intense action scenes.

Obviously pleased with the well-choreographed and hard-hitting action in Extraction, the producers of The Mandalorian season 2 contacted Hargrave to help them the action to the next level.

Speaking in a recent interview, Hargrave said:

They actually came to me. It’s crazy. I was in the middle of post [-production on Extraction] and I’m editing my movie and I got a call from my buddy Colin Wilson, one of the line producers, who said, ‘Jon [Favreau] and the people over here are looking for someone to bring into the team or add to the family who has experience with action.

The team that was there did a great job in the first season and it was just all fun. But they wanted to build on that and bring a new perspective and take it to another level for the next season. So, I was like, ‘That sounds like a fun challenge.’

I like the people over there, Favreau’s great, so I went over and it was a really fascinating adventure. They have a crazy way of shooting. Some of the stuff is traditionally shot, with the live-action and blue screen on the backlot, but they’ve also got this technology called ‘The Volume’ where it’s just, like, the inside of a live game engine. It’s quite insane what technology nowadays is available to filmmakers. It was really eye-opening, the potential of this technology that Jon and the guys had been working on. It was a really fun learning experience.”

Speaking further, Hargrave said:

I am confident. The difference is, with Extraction, I’m in the editing room so I can be extremely confident [the action] is going to be what it’s going to be. I’m not editing these episodes. […] But I know the footage we delivered, as a second-unit, they seemed to be happy with. We worked closely with the stunt team there, with Bryan Watson and the team that had done the first season; they did a really great job. You know, it was just to bring a little extra perspective, add a few things, things I’ve learned while working on superhero movies, little tricks which make the performances easier and using visual effects to enhance certain things. Just bringing a little bit of experience and knowledge to where we could take it to another level and up the ante. The next season is really, really cool. The way the story arcs is really cool. So we tried to have the action represent that and take it to the next level. I think we did that.”

Expectations for the second season of The Mandalorian is off the charts given the lasting impression it left in the minds of fans after its debut season. We can only wait to be amazed again when it arrives on Disney + in October this year.