'The Mandalorian': Everything You Need to Know About the Disney Plus Star Wars Show
Disney+ is now live, with the first episode of Star Wars series The Mandalorian released alongside the new streaming service's large body of content. Pedro Pascal of Game of Thrones leads the cast as the eponymous Mandalorian, in a plot set a few years after the events of Return of the Jedi. Disney is keeping details of The Mandalorian fairly under wraps, but some details have emerged from the trailer.
When is The Mandalorian out on Disney+?
The first episode of the Star Wars show went live with Disney+ on the morning of Tuesday, November 12. However, the remaining eight episodes of The Mandalorian will be released weekly on the service on Fridays, with Episode 2 coming on Friday, November 15 and Season 1 running until late December.
The series has already been renewed for Season 2, with another set of episodes set to arrive on Disney+ in 2020.
Who is in the cast of The Mandalorian?
Leading the show is Oberyn Martell himself, Pedro Pascal, playing the role of the unnamed bounty hunter known as "The Mandalorian," who he described to Variety as "Clint Eastwood-esque."
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Jon Favreau said: "Our guy is operating in a much more unforgiving landscape [than in the Star Wars movies]...A place where survival is difficult enough, let alone flourishing in that atmosphere and the politics have dissolved. It's 'might is right.' And how does somebody earn a living when there's no structure to society anymore and everything is collapsing in on itself? How do you work your way through the world?"
Starring alongside him is Rocky star Carl Weathers as leader of the guild of bounty hunters Greef Carga, who the actor described to Variety as: "A combination of a used car salesman and a puppeteer," as well as Fast & Furious 6's Gina Carano as Cara Dune, described by Collider as "a former Rebel Shock Trooper."
The show also features actors like Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito, 48 Hrs' Nick Nolte and the legendary director Werner Herzog, while the talent behind the scenes includes Favreau alongside Jurassic World's Bryce Dallas Howard, who will direct an episode, and Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi, who will both direct an episode and voice a droid.
What will happen in The Mandalorian?
The official Disney+ plot synopsis reads: "The travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, far from the authority of the New Republic." Timeline-wise, the show is set act the end of the so-called "Age of Rebellion," five years after Return of the Jedi saw the destruction of the second Death Star, and 25 years before The Force Awakens.
In an interview with Collider, Favreau denied a fan theory that the Mandalorian would be revealed to be Boba Fett. He said: "Here's the thing, we're starting with new characters. There's all sorts of conjecture about whether this is gonna reveal that it was really Boba Fett, all along. Is it a character that we already know? We wanted to start fresh with a whole new set of characters that you've never met before."
The Mandalorian is streaming now on Disney+.
The below graph, provided by Statista, shows the major properties owned by Disney and how they could chip away at Netflix's customer base.
