Shand Speaks: Ming-Na Wen Returns To Star Wars
Firstly, Ming-Na Wen — Disney Princess turned Agent of SHIELD turned Star Wars bounty hunter — should have some sort of award named after her.
Wen’s career straddles the world of Disney Animation, Marvel, and Star Wars. Moreover, the veteran actor remains thrilled to bring her character, Fennec Shand, back to Disney+. Moreover, Wen actually sounds beyond excited to be able to return to a galaxy far, far away.
StarWars.com‘s Kristin Baver sat down with Wen, who provided a lot of background on her career and her character.
Baver posted:
Now, with an impressive resumé that includes her legendary vocal performance in Disney’s animated classic Mulan, Agent Melinda May on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and most recently Fennec Shand on The Mandalorian on Disney+, there’s no doubt that, like Luke, she’s accomplished her wildest dreams. She’ll even be reprising the role of the elite assassin in the upcoming animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch, which follows a special team of clone troopers at the dawn of the Galactic Empire.
And the return to Star Wars doesn’t stop there:
“Do you know how long I’ve had to keep silent about Fennec coming back?” she asks with a joyful laugh. “This is the first time I’ve been able to talk about it!” After the sizzle reel for the upcoming Star Wars animation project was revealed last week, Wen still had to stay mum for a few more days, Filoni told her. Her response? “Dave, if you wanted to keep it a secret you shouldn’t have put me in the trailer!” she laughs. “Everybody is saying they just want the confirmation. So, yes, it is Fennec! It’s a younger Fennec and she is voiced by me and I’m thrilled and beyond happy that Dave wanted to create more of a backstory for her.”
But for now, Shand is Boba Fett’s partner.
And that’s just fine with Ming-Na:
“There’s a dependency and a respect that they have for each other, for sure,” Wen says of the on-screen partnership with Temuera Morrison’s bounty hunter. Although Fennec is in Boba’s debt after he brought her back from the brink of death, they’re very much equals on the job.
“It’s more like teamwork. He’s sort of like the front guy, right? The one that everybody sees. But behind the curtain we’re more equal. Like in that scene in Chapter 14 where she’s like ‘You better go to your ship.’ He just goes!” she says, laughing. “I really, really liked that.”
Finally, here’s hoping that partnership continues into next season and we see much, much more Ming-Na Wen in Star Wars. And if you want more of Wen, head back over to StarWars.com for the full interview.