After last week's episode dropped, there were a few Tweets doing the rounds that described The Mandalorian almost like it was an extended version of the Mos Eisley cantina scene from A New Hope, and that's fairly apt. That sequence was fun-natured and alien, but with an undercurrent of threat, with the goofier alien species being balanced out by a couple of truly creepy characters.
Chapter 10 arguably embodies that ethos best, and it's not just because it returns back to the cantina. The episode builds upon that sequence's vibe and has lots of fun with it, beginning with the introduction of Doctor Mandible (if that is their real name), a giant ant-alien in what I assume was meant to be a nod towards Reed's Ant-Man films.
There are a few other aliens that ooze character, but the main centrepiece from this episode are sure to be the White Knobby Spiders - alien arachnids modelled on designs legendary concept artist Ralph McQuarrie drew up for Episode V. They resemble those spiders seen in Star Wars Rebels too, but either way, they're absolutely terrifying to behold in live action.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
