Ming Na-Wen Celebrates Her Star Wars Debut in The Mandalorian

Ever since Agents of SHIELD star Ming-Na Wen was announced to be appearing in the Disney+ series Star Wars: The Mandalorian at D23 Expo earlier this year, fans have been clamoring to find out how the actress would factor into the series. This week sees the debut of her character Fennec Shand, a highly skilled assassin who is only concerned with survival after being targeted by the bounty hunter's guild. This role makes gives her a Triple Crown in Disney's properties, as she's now been a Disney Princess in Mulan, a Marvel superhero, and now made a trip to the Star Wars galaxy. To celebrate her big debut on Star Wars: The Mandalorian, Wen posted on social media in commemoration of the occasion.

The latest episode shows Fennec come face to face with the Mandalorian and his new ally Taro Calican, played by Jake Cannavale, during the bounty hunter's brief stint on Tatooine. Unfortunately, things don't turn out well for Fennec, but Wen had a great time making the episode. During a previous interview with Vanity Fair, Wen revealed some of the inspirations for her intrepid assassin in the Star Wars galaxy. “We got our inspiration really from the name. The idea of a fennec fox came to mind,” Wen explained. “She’s tricky, and yet she’s able to maneuver and survive, and be stealthy -- so very graceful and agile. I just love that whole image with the name.” She added that her loyalties were only to herself, which we see in the episode, and that she would do or say anything to survive. "Thinking that she's a mercenary, it can go either way," Wen said. "She is definitely someone who's loyal to herself."

Star Wars Director J.J. Abrams Reveals What Surprised Him Most in The Last Jedi

The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker writer-director J.J. Abrams says the “biggest surprise” in the Rian Johnson-directed middle chapter of the sequel trilogy, The Last Jedi, was the death of chromium-plated Stormtrooper leader Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie). The high-ranking First Order officer was defeated in a scuffle with ex-Stormtrooper turned Resistance hero Finn (John Boyega), and after Vice Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) piloted a Resistance ship into the First Order's Supremacy, Phasma fell to a fiery death. In a new interview, Abrams says he was surprised by Phasma's death because he felt there was more to mine with the character: “Obviously, I had read the script.

It wasn’t like I just went to go see Last Jedi, but I saw what Rian was doing,” Abrams told FOX 5 DC. “What I loved about his approach was that he was just subverting expectations, everywhere you looked. And I think that maybe the biggest surprise … you think Luke dying maybe was the biggest surprise or — I guess spoiler alert — [Kylo] Ren killing Snoke, there were certain things that felt like they were… weirdly, for me, the thing that was the most surprising was Phasma dying.” The death caught Abrams off-guard because Phasma, introduced in The Force Awakens as a foil for Finn, was “one of those characters that I felt there was something else [for her to do].” For Abrams, who had the corrupted Ben Solo (Adam Driver) murder father Han (Harrison Ford), the key was having Han's death serve a purpose for both his son and budding Jedi Rey (Daisy Ridley).