Yeah, we should have seen that Ming-Na Wen casting news coming

Were you surprised by Ming-Na Wen’s Star Wars casting announcement? Maybe it’s been the plan all along.

Agents of SHIELD actress Ming-Na Wen was honored as a Disney Legend at the D23 Expo on Friday for her role as the original voice of Mulan. But that wasn’t even the best news with her name attached to it. Disney CEO Bob Iger also made the surprise announcement that the actress would be appearing in yet another Disney-owned IP — and we’ll likely see her on-screen before the end of the year.

Wen is playing an unspecified role in The Mandalorian, Star Wars’ first live-action TV series launching on Disney+ November 12. While squeals of excitement rippled across the web as the announcement circulated (oh wait, was that just me? Sorry), her casting actually isn’t all that surprising.

Wen is no stranger to Disney-owned projects. In addition to voicing Mulan, she played Melinda May on Agents of SHIELD, Marvel Television’s long-running live-action series, which will soon air its final season.

At this point, we’ve seen her in just about everything — from live-action medical dramas and superhero action sequences to animated movies and shows. Her role in SHIELD has showcased her flawless ability to portray a strong, complex female character who can and will fight to the death if she has to. Sounds like the perfect skill set to bring to a Jon Favreau-led space western. Bring it on. 

From princess to secret agent to … hopefully something involving hand-to-hand combat? It’s the perfect fit. It’s almost as if this was all part of her plan. (It could have been. Who knows?)

Not much is known about Wen’s character. What we can assume is that she’ll be some kind of Mandalorian warrior and/or bounty hunter — which is absolutely perfect for her because bringing a Melinda May-style ruthlessness to Star Wars and kicking it up a few notches is exactly what we didn’t know we needed.

Wen has called her casting “a Star Wars geek girl’s dream come true.” She’s right. She’s living the dream and we’re here to live it vicariously through her.

This also means she would probably be open to appearing in other Disney projects — especially Star Wars ones, if her character survives the upcoming series. We’ll keep you posted.

What did you think of Ming-Na Wen’s casting in The Mandalorian? Were you surprised by it?