The Gospel according to Disney+’s “The Mandalorian”
van Wingerden,Ruben
van Wingerden,Ruben
Abstract
The Mandalorian is a very popular science-fiction show (two seasons, 2019–2020) set in the famous Star Wars Universe. Studies have shown that myth and religious thought played a crucial role in the creation of the Star Wars Universe. This article continues that tradition, albeit from a particular perspective that highlights religious language: by viewing The Mandalorian through a New Testament lens, it is argued that while many elements of popular culture reference Biblical or mythological sources, The Mandalorian’s use of these referents illustrates the way in which ancient religious and New Testament literature are still very much a shared phenomenon. Both The Mandalorian and the New Testament share certain timeless topoi: a mysterious character with extraordinary abilities, a connection to life-giving powers of the universe that give extraordinary abilities, choosing a certain way of life and the costs thereof, and also themes such as “debt”, “redemption”, and “beliefs” and how these are challenged. By using these themes, The Mandalorian presents itself as a modern myth.
Description
Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).
Date
2021-05
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Encyclopedia, Myth, New Testament, Religious themes, The Mandalorian
Citation
van Wingerden, R 2021, 'The Gospel according to Disney+’s “The Mandalorian”', Religions, vol. 12, no. 5, 350. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12050350