Morak? Why Mandalorian’s Planet Sounds like Guardians of the Galaxy’s Morag

The Mandalorian, season 2, episode 7, “The Believer” largely takes place on the planet Morak, a name remarkably similar to Morag of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. Is there any connection between these Disney-created intergalactic destinations?

Mando’s quest in reclaiming poor Baby Yoda (Grogu) necessitates infiltrating the newly created Star Wars planet, which serves as a secret mining base for an Empire slowly rebuilding itself in the shadowy corners of the sprawling galaxy. Morak, a human-inhabited world subjected to destruction brought on by decades of war and disorder, is nevertheless covered in lush green trees and forests. By contrast, the MCU’s Morag, which appears in the opening minutes of The Guardians of the Galaxy (as well as in Avengers: Endgame‘s “Time Heist” sequence), is a far more desolate oceanic planet that was once populated, but has since been rendered uninhabitable. Like Morak, Morag was an original creation for the movies that doesn’t appear in Marvel Comics.

So, Morak and Morag have little to nothing in common, at least in terms of their climate and geography. However, both serve an interestingly parallel narrative function in their respective stories: the two worlds must be bravely and stealthily infiltrated in order to obtain a McGuffin crucial to the heroes’ next step along their journey. For Din Djarin, an Empire terminal with the coordinates to a Moff Gideon’s Light Cruiser and the captured Baby Yoda is found in the heart of Morak’s well-protected base. Likewise, for Peter Quill, the all-important purple Power Infinity Stone is found in a mysterious temple that only emerges from the water every three hundred years or so.

Interestingly, “The Believer” taps into some themes prevalent in The Guardians of the Galaxy, lending credence to the idea that the similarity of the planets’ names may actually be an intentional Easter egg intended for segments of the fandom familiar with the MCU. The episode sees Mando, a man so often on his own, teaming up with some unlikely outcasts, a crew consisting of two mercenaries, a bounty-hunter-turned-hermit, and a convict. While Din Djarin’s team-up with Cara Dune, Fennec Shand, Boba Fett, and Migs Mayfeld may be considered somewhat rag-tag, they are at least following in a tradition the Guardians are very much a part of. Just as Peter Quill and the gang must put aside their differences and bend a bit in order to rise to the occasion, so too must Din and his newly-assembled crew.

Considering that Disney owns and operates both the MCU and the reawakened Star Wars franchise, it is hard to imagine that someone in The Mandalorian‘s writer’s room didn’t notice that their planet would likely be misheard as a location visited not once but twice in recent Marvel films. Therefore, the choice to lead Mando to a place called “Morak” was likely one made with some awareness, not only of the similarities in pronunciation and spelling, but also an awareness that sci-fi tends to borrow from what came before it. Guardians of the Galaxy itself, laden with bizarre technology, laser weaponry, and colorful characters who interact with each other indiscriminately as they go about their daily routines, borrows heavily from Star Wars tradition (and often spoofs it). As The Mandalorian and the wider Star Wars universe enter into new and exiting territory, why shouldn’t it reference other properties, especially when a franchise like Guardians of the Galaxy has Star Wars so obviously in its DNA?

With recent announcements detailing their impressive upcoming slate, Disney may well be entering into an period of expansion unprecedented in entertainment and pop culture. If The Mandalorian‘s Morak is indeed a reference to The Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Morag, this fun wink to their constantly growing audience is just another small indication of the company’s confidence and their assuredness that extraordinary things are coming.

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