Under the Helmet: A ‘Mandalorian’ Character Close Up – Part 2

Written by Juanita ‘Obi-Juan’ Bonner

Paz Vizla

It’s been just over four months since Star Wars: The Mandalorian (Disney+) completely changed the direction of not only the Star Wars Universe, but the overall franchise, including merchandising and fan base devotion. Furthermore, now, particularly on blockbuster projects, where millions, even billions of dollars are involved, we have a “creative team.” And though this can breed excellent stories and sagas, it also puts the suits at the top of the chain and more importantly, gives them the final say on one writer’s or director’s creative vision. Look no further than the struggles of finishing The Rise of Skywalker, particularly post The Last Jedi, to understand what I mean. This can make telling a new Star Wars story, quite scrutinized on all fronts. Thankfully, for Mando AND us, Jon Favreau seems to be a cog in the many wheels of the Hollywood machine, and for our interests, the biggest wheel out there, Disney!
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Born in Flushing Queens, Favreau was always a movie fan. Way before his acting debut in the unexpectedly and wildly successful, Rudy (1993; TriStar Pictures), he and a friend, with nothing but a roll of duct tape, made their way onto the production set of the film Turk 182 (1984; 20th Century Fox), and posed as production assistants. And it worked! Awesome, right!! As if destiny reached out, a few years later, Favreau dropped out of college and moved to Chicago to pursue a comedy career, including stand up. Looking to his friend Vince Vaughn, whom he met on the set of Rudy, Favreau asked Vaughn to be his counterpart for his combination actor/screenwriter debut in the now cult classic, Swingers (1996; Miramax Films). From there, Favreau took on film and television with memorable roles for me like Gutter in PCU (1994; 20th Century Fox) and Pete Becker on Friends (1994; NBC). However, Favreau was just getting started. For his directorial debut, he brought Vince Vaughn back as a mutual producer for another self-penned screenplay, Made (2001; Artisan Entertainment). Writer, actor, producer, and now director, Favreau was poised to take over Hollywood on all fronts, but it wasn’t until directing a tiny (LOL!) project called Iron Man (2008; Paramount) that he became a fandom household name. Fast forward to today, we all know that Marvel and Star Wars are now under the Disney umbrella, 2009 and 2012 respectively. However, Favreau, a life-long Star Wars fan, found himself voicing a Mandalorian on Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008; multiple distributors) years before the full merger or putting our now beloved Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) on the small screen.

For me, coming late to The Clone Wars TV series, I focused mainly on its central characters. I mean. Just look at Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein), am I right?? However, when Pre Vizsla, the leader of the terrorist group Death Watch, made his debut, having recognized his voice, I was compelled to look him up. Finding out it was Favreau was one of those…”huh, NICE!!,” happy surprise moments. Even Favreau himself was pleasantly surprised he got to play a new Mandalorian character and now, looking back, I ponder on the seeds of our new series and smile. It’s this new series where we see Favreau’s multiple talents on display in full force. His creative vision is absolutely jaw droppingly wonderful!! Harking back to George Lucas’s original vision for Star Wars, Favreau explains the series as a “Deconstructed version of Clint Eastwood and The Man with No Name,” and, OMG, fans are soooo here for it! And, for Favreau, a little icing on The Mandalorian cake must be voicing another new Mandalorian character introduced in Chapter 3: The Sin  – Paz Vizla. Let’s take a closer look, shall we?

Like all of the characters of this new series, Paz Vizla is foreign to the Star Wars Universe. And similar to my reflection on The Armorer (Emily Swallow) in Part 1 of this series, there is little data to be had about Paz Vizla. I suspect, this is exactly how Favreau wants it! What we do know is that Vizla is part of “The Tribe” living in the underground enclave on Nevarro. He originally seems like a foe to Din Djarin as Vizla confronts him for doing business with Imperial gangsters and taking their pillaged and repurposed Beskar steel as payment. The conflict is short yet heated giving the viewer a small glimpse into a very complicated situation. It’s obvious the tension between these two is high, but later, in a surprising shift, Vizla, along with several other fellow Mandalorians, come to Djarin’s aid amounting to what is now one of my top favorite scenes of the whole season. Yours too, am I right?? Prior, in the enclave, a clash quickly quelled by The Tribe’s female leader (YES!!!); the viewer has no idea what background lies ahead. Not to mention we don’t see another interaction between Vizla and Djarin until the epic shoot out on the streets of Nevarro. Looking at the episode overall, in just a few short sequences, we find out Vizla is a devoted Tribe member standing up for his people’s past. Then later, proving when push comes to shove, regardless of inner conflicts, Vizla will protect his fellow Mandalorian to the death!! I mean. The power of these scenes is an overwhelmingly profound set of character development that shouldn’t be overlooked. Additionally, the interaction between Djarin and Vizla during the action sequence is minimal with few words which speaks volumes to the viewer. At the end, Vizla sees Djarin off planet and gives him a salute before flying away. Simply put, it’s epic!!

Paz Vizla has a stout and thick appearance. He is portrayed physically by Tait Fletcher who also plays the confrontational bar thug in Chapter 1. An amazing opener, this skirmish is, right!!? But back to Vizla... lol! His armor looks battle weary and appears strikingly more reinforced compared to Din Djarin. We also get to see him don heavy weaponry and a jet pack which seriously will make any Mandalorian fan cheer, right? All of this begs the question, just who is this guy anyways? Is he a born Mandalorian or an adopted foundling like Djarin? I can’t be the only one who wonders how he got the name Vizla. Is he a blood relative of Pre Vizsla? Though the spelling is slightly different, they are pronounced the same. And considering Favreau, as well as his Star Wars juggernaut writing counterpart, Dave Filoni (The Clone Wars; Rebels: 2014; Lucasfilm), don’t appear to do anything in this verse by accident, I am inclined to think there’s a connection there. You?

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My vision, whether we ever find out or not, is that Paz is an adopted foundling who learned Mandalorian history and identified with the anger for his people through the clan that adopted him. Additionally, said clan could possibly be direct descendants to Pre Vizsla having changed the name after The Great Purge. Originally, I considered that Paz may be a direct descendant himself, which could also be true. We really never learn if Pre Vizsla had a family other than Death Watch. A mate? Children? No one knows. Regardless, either backstory is plausible and quite fun to ponder over particularly since we don’t know by the end of the season if Paz perished when the enclave was attacked by Storm Troopers. But seeing the writers go out of their way to highlight the long running “Storm Troopers can’t hit their target,” joke (LOL – love it!!), I’m speculating he’s out there somewhere.
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Not to mention that though brief, Vizla’s time on screen is eclipsed by an emphasis on Mandalorian culture post-purge, as well as its rich history and pride as a people. To me, this begs for him to be on screen again. Possibly with expanded dialogue that gives us not only more Mandalorian history, but insight to Paz himself. Because seriously, we need this, am I right!?! And after a Dark Saber reveal in the season finale, which ties directly to Pre Vizsla AND Darth Maul, a Mandalorian history lesson, including the way of Mandalore is definitely in order! And let’s not forget the Mandalorian-Jedi war, which seems, that in telling Din Djarin’s story of helping a force sensitive “enemy”, is where The Mandalorian series may be headed overall. At least in the short-term. Plus, we know very little about this war, particularly Canon, which let’s face it, will be the bulk of any Disney/Star Wars stories going forward. However, in my research, I concluded that Favreau, with Filoni’s and other’s help, may very well incorporate fan fiction and Legends into Canon if they feel it works with the story. Support for this theory, particularly on the Jedi-Mandalorian war, is found as Dave states in reference to non-canon material, “So, when there are all these things in common and there's stuff that people know, I think 'Well, why don't we use that?’” One could certainly apply this same logic to virtually everything in The Mandalorian, leaving room to add even more lore, including on Paz Vizla, right?

Hopefully, Favreau as a huge cog in the Disney wheel, will be given freer rein than some others we’ve seen under the Disney umbrella. So far, things look good as Favreau shares writing credits and allows multiple fandom favorite, and Star Wars fans themselves, as directors. This brings us great storytelling and direction, all while giving us classic references on things like “Life Day” and using props like the fan famous “Camtono” safe to transport the Beskar steel. And speaking of Life Day, while researching this article, I discovered that it actually falls on my birthday – November 17th (NICE!). How I didn’t know this before is beyond me… seriously, how?? What I do know is this fan will be eagerly awaiting the return of this groundbreaking series and hopefully, Paz Vizla as well.

What about you? Are you just as interested in learning more about Paz Vizla as I am? Do you agree that he may be either a direct descendant of Pre Vizsla or at least an adopted foundling of Pre’s descendants? Tell me in the comments below or reach out to me @Obi_Juanita on Twitter. Also, keep an eye out for the final installment in my “Under the Helmet” three-part series, Mando himself!! Until then… I have spoken! *wink*

References:
1.https://www.biography.com/video/jon-favreau-biography-video
2.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs9XDUDP9VM
3.https://friends.fandom.com/wiki/Pete_Becker
4.https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Death_Watch
5.https://www.starwars.com/video/jon-favreau-on-voicing-an-all-new-character
6.https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/mandalorian-creator-jon-favreau-talks-shows-inspiration-personal/story?id=67023193
7.https://nerdsthatgeek.com/television/under-the-helmet-a-mandalorian-character-close-up-part-1
8.https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Darksaber
9.https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Mandalorian-Jedi_War
10.https://www.starwars.com/news/how-to-host-a-life-day-celebration
11.https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Camtono

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