Following the release of the first trailer for the highly-anticipated film, Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker on Friday, Disney released the first footage from their upcoming Star Wars live-action television series, The Mandalorian, on Sunday at the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, Ill.
The show will focus on a new warrior inspired by the uber-popular Star Wars character Boba Fett and be set shortly after Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.
The Mandalorian is the first major television series that will air on Disney Plus, the streaming service Disney plans to launch this fall. The series will be eight episodes long and cost a reported $100 million to make. Jon Favreau — the director of Iron Man, The Jungle Book and the upcoming Lion King — is executive producing and writing the Star Wars show.
Here’s everything we know so far about The Mandalorian.
What is the plot of The Mandalorian?
For those unfamiliar with the Mandalorians, they are a race of warriors who featured in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Boba Fett, a bounty hunter who first appeared in the original Star Wars trilogy, was not himself a Mandalore, but he wore their armor for intimidation purposes, as did his father, Jango Fett.
Jon Favreau announced on Instagram that the plot of The Mandalorian would focus on a “lone gunfighter” who operates in the far reaches of the galaxy, outside of the New Republic’s reach. The show will be set three years after Return of the Jedi, after the fall of the Empire but before the First Order emerges.
Though visitors to Chicago’s Star Wars Celebration saw brief footage of the show, LucasFilm has not yet posted it online. In the trailer, the gunslinger character, played by Pedro Pascal, follows a dot on a tracking beacon across an icy planet. He eventually arrives at a cantina (similar to Star Wars Episode IV‘s Mos Eisley). The aliens there don’t look happy to see him.
Favreau also revealed behind-the-scenes footage that included the titular Mandalorian riding a Dewback, a giant lizard from Tatooine.
Favreau has said in interviews that he plans to use the same motion-capture technology that he employed while filming The Jungle Book and The Lion King to create the aliens in The Mandalorian.
When is The Manadalorian being released on Disney Plus?
The Mandalorian will be released on Disney’s streaming service on Nov. 12, the same day Disney Plus launches. Disney hopes to take a bite out of Netflix’s market share with its service, which will also include Marvel shows, Pixar spinoffs and live-action remakes of classic Disney films. The studio recently announced that a subscription for the service will cost $6.99 a month.
What actors are starring in The Mandalorian?
Pedro Pascal, who played Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones, will star. He will probably play the titular Mandalorian.
Pascal will be joined by Nick Nolte (48 Hrs.), Carl Weathers (Rocky), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Emily Swallow (The Mentalist) and Gina Carano (Fast & Furious 6). Weathers has revealed that his character hires Pascal’s mercenary gunslinger to acquire a precious object for him. Carano revealed at Star Wars Celebration that she will play an ex-rebel shock trooper.
Who is directing The Mandalorian?
Favreau and Lucasfilm have lined up an impressive slate of directors for the series. Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), Rick Famuyiwa (Dope), Deborah Chow (Jessica Jones), Dave Giloni (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) and Bryce Dallas Howard (star of Jurassic World) will each direct an episode.
How does the TV show connect to the Star Wars movies?
The Mandalorian will take place in the same universe as the three Star Wars trilogies, but don’t expect any cameos from your favorite film characters.
So far, Disney’s ventures into prequels, sequels and spinoffs of the Star Wars films have all revolved around the original trilogy of films. Star Wars: Rogue One explained how the Rebels obtained the plans to blow up the first Death Star before A New Hope, and Solo told the origin story of Han Solo, one of the main characters of the original movies.
But Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy has suggested that future Star Wars films and shows will move past the Skywalker saga and explore other corners of the universe. The Mandalorian looks to be the first show that takes that mandate to heart: Favreau has emphasized that the main character will operate in parts of the galaxy not yet explored by the films.
What other Star Wars TV shows are in the works?
Diego Luna, who played Cassian Andor in Rogue One, has signed on to star in his own untitled series on Disney Plus about the character, set during the early years of the Rebellion.
