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Watch The Mandalorian’s second trailer before the show’s Disney+ debut

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The Mandalorian – Official Trailer 2 | Disney+ | Streaming Nov. 12

The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars television series, is almost here. On November 12, the first episode of The Mandalorian will debut alongside Disney+, but you don’t need to wait until then to see more of the show. A new trailer just arrived, offering a better look at the seedier side of a galaxy far, far away. And it looks like carbonite has become the de facto method of transporting prisoners for the galaxy’s seedy underbelly.

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The Mandalorian stars Game of Thrones‘ Pablo Pascal as the titular gunslinger, Gina Carano as a former Rebel Shock Trooper named Cara Dune, Carl Weathers as bounty hunter Greef Carga, and Taika Waititi as the voice of assassin droid IG-11. Other cast members include three-time Oscar nominee Nick Nolte, award-winning director Werner Herzog, and Giancarlo Esposito, who’s best known for playing the villainous Gus Fring on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.

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The Mandalorian takes place a few years after Return of the Jedi, when the Galactic Empire is on the run and the Rebel Alliance has transformed into the New Republic. The Mandalorian is less concerned with politics, however, and more how the end of the Galactic Civil War affects citizens on the fringes of the galaxy.

Series creator Jon Favreau says that The Mandalorian will have a spaghetti western vibe, and that it was specifically inspired by the beginning of Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, particularly the infamous cantina scene.

Currently, Disney is developing three live-action Star Wars series for Disney+, it’s upcoming streaming service. In addition to The Mandalorian, a six-part miniseries starring Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi is expected to start shooting in 2020, while a Rogue One prequel featuring Diego Luna will bring a spy-thriller story to the Star Wars Universe. Season two of The Mandalorian is currently in production.

Disney+ will also host a seventh season of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and will eventually be home to all canonical Star Wars films and TV shows (Solo and The Last Jedi won’t be on Disney+ at launch, but are expected to arrive on the service soon).

Monday night trailer drops are quickly becoming a Star Wars tradition. Just last week, Disney released the final trailer for Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker during the Monday Night Football between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets.

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Chris Gates
Chris Gates
Contributor
Christopher Gates lives in Los Angeles, CA and writes about movies, TV, video games, and other pop culture curiosities. In…
Want to enjoy the Star Wars TV shows more? Watch the cartoons, already!
Ahsoka Tano prepares for battle in an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I’m pretty nerdy about a lot of things: turntables, vinyl records, barbecue, Game of Thrones, and yes, Star Wars. To a fault, I can be hard to shut up once my string is pulled, and lately, much of my blathering has been focused around a couple of Star Wars TV series -- The Mandalorian and the upcoming Ahsoka, the latter of which I am super-excited for. But I’ve had a few conversations about these shows with friends recently that have been driving me nuts. The latest involved me gushing over a live-action cameo of the animated Star Wars: Rebels series character Zeb Orrelios in season 3, episode 5 of The Mandalorian. My friend exclaimed that he had no idea who Zeb was and that he'd never watched "that cartoon," and here we are.
But a couple of notes before I continue: First, I know that Star Wars: Rebels and its precursor, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, are “cartoons.” Second, I’m aware that I’m a grown man. The point is, I’m often amazed to learn that, for those and other reasons, many people have avoided these excellent animated Star Wars series -- and this is a mistake. Much of what happens in The Clone Wars and Rebels has direct ties to shows such as The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, and especially Ahsoka, as they introduce incredible characters and crucial backstories. Do you need to watch them to know what's going on? No. You don't even need to watch every episode to get a better understanding of the live-action shows: We have great essential episode guides for Clone Wars and Rebels to set you up. But time and again I’ve been rewarded with excitement, a better understanding of characters and plotlines, and a more satisfying cathartic payoff because of watching these "cartoons." Plus, they’re just really good.
And whether you’ve just started watching The Mandalorian or are, like me, waiting eagerly for Ahsoka in August, here are a few good reasons you should take the next few months and get caught up on some of the best cartoons you’ll ever see.
Note: There are Mandalorian spoilers ahead.
Ahsoka Tano gets her due

Making her live-action debut in season 2 of The Mandalorian, Ahsoka Tano began her journey as Anakin Skywalker's tenacious young Padawan, and her adventures throughout seven seasons of the animated Clone Wars made her one of the most exciting and loved Jedi characters in the Star Wars universe. Not only does she endure betrayal through Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader, but her arc connects her to the warrior Mandalorians when she helps Bo-Katan Kryze liberate the planet Mandalore from occupation. The series concludes when Darth Sidious issues Order 66, which triggered the betrayal and extermination of the Jedi, aligning the show with the film Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith.

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Why Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Cal Kestis needs his own Disney+ show
Cal wielding his blue lightsaber and walking with BD-1 in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor key art.

As Lucasfilm finally seems to be getting the ball rolling again for Star Wars on the theatrical front, the video game space has been showing the franchise's continued narrative strength. The latest example is Respawn Entertainment's Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The sequel to 2019's successful Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order fleshes out the journey of Cal Kestis (voiced by Gotham and Shameless actor Cameron Monaghan), with his story feeling every bit as worthy of a live-action series.

Shows like Dave Filoni's Ahsoka look promising given Rosario Dawson's pitch-perfect performance in season 2 of The Mandalorian and Filoni's passion for the franchise. Should Lucasfilm want more Jedi-centric storytelling on Disney+, the Star Wars Jedi games have rich characters (all hail Turgle!) and intriguing storylines that could be an ideal fit for the episodic format that made Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor so compelling.

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Every time we’ve seen Order 66 in Star Wars movies, video games, and TV shows
Anakin marches to the Jedi temple in Revenge of the Sith.

Twenty years ago, if you asked a Star Wars fan to name the most pivotal moment in the franchise’s fictional history, you could be confident that they’d answer with the Battle of Yavin, the climax of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. After all, this event serves as the starting point of the official Star Wars calendar; fans and producers alike measure time in Star Wars in terms of years BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin) or years ABY (After the Battle of Yavin), endowing the destruction of the Death Star with a historical importance within the fictional galaxy that's equivalent to the birth of Christ. Though the BBY/ABY calendar is still in service today, the ever-expanding Star Wars continuity now revolves around a different moment of historical import: Order 66, the flashpoint of the Jedi Purge and the rebranding of the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire.
First depicted in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith in 2005, Order 66 has become the most revisited moment in the current Star Wars canon, and explored from a multitude of perspectives. Then-Supreme Chancellor Palpatine’s directive to execute the entire Jedi Order, from the ruling council to the youngest student, is now the inciting incident for Star Wars as we know it. Every character active in galactic affairs in the year 19 BBY has their own Order 66 story, and several of them have been depicted in film, television, and video games. Let's takea look back at each substantive on-screen portrayal of the Jedi Purge to determine what (if anything) each of them adds to our understanding of the tragedy and its repercussions on the Star Wars galaxy.

Revenge of the Sith shows the broad strokes of the Jedi Purge

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