Time to re-up that Disney+ membership. Mando is back with The Child battling various enemies and trying to stay safe away from the remnants of the Empire. On October 30th, The Mandalorian will hit Disney+ for its second season, continuing the story of the rogue bounty hunter and his sidekick/ward. In the first season, this bounty hunter fought off other hunters, stormtroopers, and beasts to protect this child as he also dealt with his moral stance in the galaxy. A killer without hesitation now considering his actions and the impact they may have on various lives, worlds, and maybe even the galaxy. The first trailer for the second season released today and gives a small glimpse into what the story may unfold over the next eight episodes.
Season Two Trailer of ‘The Mandalorian’ Releases
It looks as if The Mandalorian is heading deeper and deeper into Star Wars lore with the trailer discussing the battles between the Jedi and the Mandalore. This of course is featured in Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series where a majority of secret canonical facts are shown. The show’s first explicit mention of Jedi comes as no surprise as it was announced earlier this year that Rosario Dawson would portray Ahsoka Tano, a young Jedi featured in the previously mentioned Clone Wars series as well as Star Wars: Rebels. Her involvement in the series brings a litany of questions with the timeline and how this information could play into future Star Wars projects.
Additionally, the series picked up Timothy Olyphant, Michael Biehn, and Temuera Morrison portraying the first on-screen bounty hunter, Boba Fett. Morrison is most notable for portraying Jango Fett, Boba’s ‘father’ in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
All of these big-name actors and established characters join an already giant cast with Pedro Pascal returning as Din Djarin/The Mandalorian, Gina Carano as Cara Dune, Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, and Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon. With a cast like this, only the highest of expectations from fans can be seen. The first season was nominated for 15 Emmys and created a wave of content with the introduction of ‘Baby Yoda’ or more accurately The Child.
What Is In Store For The Future of Star Wars?
After a disappointing final film in the Skywalker Saga, Star Wars is in need of a makeover. The Sequel trilogy and attempts at one-off films have largely underwhelmed fans and critics alike begging the question of how is Disney managing this gigantic property. It’s obvious that The Mandalorian was an attempt to show the world outside of the lenses of the main character of the film series, but this second season seems to be narrowing the gap from unknown characters to sidekicks to main plot points.
These not so subtle nods to the main story of the Skywalker Saga are triggering the fatigue and overwhelming sense of dread that many fans started feeling in the past few years. Within five years, the franchise premiered five films alongside a few television products either starting or continuing after the first Disney produced film released in 2015. Looking back at five years of content and the product feels more of a theme park rather than a film franchise. Is the future of these films and shows just to revolve around a story shown in 1977? Is Luke Skywalker just the most important man of all-time?
Falling Farther In The Toxicity
Easily one of the more disappointing aspects of Solo: A Star Wars Story and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the obvious and lazy connections to the numbered films. It is essential to tell those stories in a way that isn’t just referencing things fans have loved the entire time. The most egregious instance is in Solo when Han chooses his last name at the Empire recruiting station. It was as if the filmmakers came out of the screen and pointed at the line and asked if the viewer liked that.
Star Wars fans have proven to be smart enough to understand the subtle reference, but angry and toxic enough to hate when their preconceived ideas of the story are abandoned. In no way is this a defense of the fandom, it’s quite frankly one of the most toxic groups of people the internet has ever seen. If you need examples, here, here, and here.
Hope In The Shape of ‘The Mandalorian’?
Perhaps the early judgments of what this season could be are way too early, but it’s hard to have hope in the face of how insidious this franchise has been in the past three years. Hope is what the original Star Wars is centered on. The overwhelming feeling of being stuck in a situation, Luke’s inability to leave Tattooine, the Empire’s crushing control over the galaxy, Han’s reluctance to do good. All of those themes should have been present throughout the film series but were altered or abandoned in favor of something different. Hope is all fans have as of now. With a splitting fandom yelling angrily into the Twittersphere, how refreshing it would be if The Mandalorian could just be a story that didn’t need to intertwine with all the Skywalkers.
Check-in with LWOS.Life when the series drops for reactions, reviews, and more analysis.
Season Two of The Mandalorian is available to stream on Disney+ starting October 30th, 2020.
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