A recent episode ofThe Mandalorianon Disney Plus featured an unexpected cameo from aStar Warscharacter only seen previously in animated form. Technically, he was still animated in this instance, but the character’s appearance featured more than just his voice actor’s vocal performance.
The episode ofThe Mandalorianfeatured aStar Wars Rebelcameo, and he’s probably the last one viewers would have expected. Fans of the latterStar Warsseries will have already picked up on the appearance of Garazeb Orrelios (better known simply as “Zeb”) in a New Republic pilots' tavern. He can be seen speaking with Carson Teva (played byKim’s Conveniencestar Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) before Carson sets off to find Din Djarin. Those familiar with the character instantly recognized voice actor Steve Blum reprising his role as Zeb after playing the gruff Lasat for the entireRebelsrun. But he was more involved than that.
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While it was probably expected that Blum would return to voice Zeb, what did come as a welcome surprise was that he also performed the facial capture for the character. Blum’s son, Brandon Blum, posted a shout-out onhis Instagramstory to his dad, congratulating him for the cameo and seemingly pointing out that he also did the facial capture. “Also frickin huge shout-out to my dad who continues to kill it in V.O. and facial capture,” the caption said. “Proud of you every day.”
Blum has been a mainstay in the voice-acting world for decades, working in anime as far back as the early ’80s and never slowing down since. Nowadays, he’s arguably best known for playing Wolverine in severalX-Menprojects over the years, notably voicingWolverine in the well-regardedMarvel’s Midnight Sunsvideo game. He also gained notoriety as Spike Spiegel in the originalCowboy Bebopanime and TOM, the animated robot host of Cartoon Network’s Toonami block of late-night programming. However, he’s also one of the most prolific voice actors out there, and any given animated project has a pretty good chance of featuring him somewhere.
The Mandaloriancertainly loves its cameos. But funnily enough, the appearance of Zeb wasn’t Blum’s first trek into the series. He also briefly lent his voice to an unnamed spaceport operator in the 5th episode of season 1 titled “The Gunslinger.” So he’s no stranger to this particular world. The only unfortunate bit is that Zeb wasn’t on-screen for longer. He was Zeb, but there was nary a war cry or utterance of “karabast” that fans tend to expect from his typically prickly Lasat fighter.
Ifcertain rumors regarding the upcomingAhsokaseriesare to be believed, this won’t be the last time a newStar Warsshow brings back something fromRebels, so there’s always the chance that Zeb will get more screen time in the future. If so, it’ll be great to see what else Blum can bring to the booth.
