How creative freedom led Ludwig Göransson to create The Mandalorian soundtrack

The Star Wars films have such a distinct sound that makes them instantly recognizable. That’s all thanks to John Williams, who has been with the movie franchise from the beginning and has left his mark on the soundtrack for a galaxy far, far away. But when it came to Star Wars’ first live-action television show, The Mandalorian, something changed.

No longer did we get the typical sweeping and epic orchestral scores that we were familiar with in the movies. With The Mandalorian, we got something a little more exotic, a little raw even, but definitely catchy — if not, even catchy than almost any song from the Star Wars movies.

The creative genius behind The Mandalorian’s soundtrack is Ludwig Göransson who, outside of this project, also worked on soundtracks like Black Panther and Tenet. And in a recent interview with The Backstory podcast (as found by Fantha Tracks), Göransson explained how he was able to come up with the dynamic soundtrack for the live-action Star Wars show.

How Ludwig Göransson scored The Mandalorian

Of course, Göransson revealed that he had always been a fan of John Williams’ score. And the iconic score even got him into listening to classical music. But at the same time, according to the interview, if he were meant to copy Williams’ score, the process may not have gone so great for him.

Here’s what Göransson had to say on the podcast in regard to creating the soundtrack for The Mandalorian:

"I think it was so exciting to enter that world and to have the support of the filmmaker being open to your input. Being able to take it to a new place. That meant everything. You know, if Jon Favreau or Dave Filoni would have been like “We want it to sound like Star Wars but a little different,” it would have been impossible. Like “We want to have the Empire theme here.” It would have been really difficult. But they gave me a, kind of, free form to write."

Luckily, the creators behind the show did give the artist the freedom to explore his own score. And what came out of that was some of the best music on television (or anywhere, for that fact). The Mandalorian theme itself never gets old. And it’s one of those songs that makes you want to watch the credits all the way through just so you can hear the entire song.

By season 2 of the series, Göransson even switched it up by adding more hip-hop elements into the series. (And who can forget the dubstep-inspired theme for the Dark Troopers?) Honestly, with such a game-changing score for the Star Wars universe, we can wait to see what he has in store for season 3.

For more, keep up with The Mandalorian category on Dork Side of the Force.