The Darksaber, which first appeared in The Clone Wars animated series' second season, was suggested by Star Wars creator George Lucas as a replacement for the vibroblade weapon originally brandished by Death Watch warrior Pre Vizsla. In Star Wars Rebels, the second Star Wars animated series, a backstory for the Darksaber was devised, in which the first Mandalorian Jedi, Tarre Viszla, crafted the unique black-bladed lightsaber.

An unused October 2013 Matt Allsopp design for an Erso homestead farm droid for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was one of the jumping-off points for concept supervisor Ryan Church’s final design for the gangly Nevarro ferry droid from Chapter 8.

Design supervisor Doug Chiang subtly designed Nevarro's lava river tunnel system to reflect the human respiratory system, with two tunnels leading deeper into the sewers, like lungs, and one tunnel leading out towards the light, akin to the mouth or eye.

Local Los Angeles-based members of the 501st Legion fan costuming group were recruited by The Mandalorian's production team to fill out the ranks of Moff Gideon's sizable squadron of stormtroopers, appearing in Chapters 7 and 8. It was the first on-screen appearance by members of the 501st, who were initially told that it was a Lucasfilm event but not that they would be appearing in the first live-action Star Wars TV series.