The next season of The Mandalorian is coming. We learned last week that the series would return on October 30th, and this week, Entertainment Weekly rolled out a first look at the upcoming season and what to expect when Din Djarin and his diminutive ward return to Disney + next month.
EW‘s feature profile is part of its upcoming Fall TV Preview, which hits newsstands on September 18th. It includes a number of pictures from the upcoming season of some familiar faces: Din Djarin, The Child, Cara Dune, and Greef Karga, signaling that they’ll all return for some more adventures.
The feature kicks off with creator Jon Favreau musing about why the series was so well received when it debuted last fall. He pointed to the differences in perception between big-budget films and episodic TV shows, and that The Mandalorian “benefited from the smallness of our world.” What also contributed was his collaboration with Dave Filoni, who worked on The Clone Wars and Rebels. Filoni, the article notes, was there to keep Favreau on track “as the arbiter of what works for Star Wars.”
Ultimately, Favreau says, what really helped was that “we didn’t overthink things,” when it came to the show. Given the show’s popularity, that formula—introduce a number of characters in the world, and the stakes that threaten them—seems to have worked.
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As far as what to expect for season 2, EW says that we can “expect the Outer Rim to get a lot more crowded.” We’ve already heard rumors that there’ll be a number of new-but-familiar characters popping up, such as Bo-Katan Kryze (played by Katie Sackoff), a female Mandalorian from The Clone Wars and Rebels. Ahsoka Tano (reportedly played by Rosario Dawson) will apparently be in the season as well some version of Jango Fett in the form of Boba Fett or Captain Rex, played by Temuera Morrison. The Terminator‘s Michael Biehn and Justified‘s Timothy Olyphant will apparently also make appearances. Gina Carano, who plays Cara Dune, notes that some of the rumors are true, but that the production was shrouded in secrecy.
According to Favreau, this season will be “about introducing a larger story in the world,” and says that we’ll go a bit beyond just Din Djarin’s viewpoint. “The stories become less isolated, yet each episode has its own flavor, and hopefully we’re bringing a lot more scope to the show.” That sounds as though it’ll address some of the chief complaints about last season: that it was a very episodic series, with each episode essentially telling its own adventure. Filoni notes that “everything gets bigger, the stakes get higher, but also the personal story between the Child and the Mandalorian develops in a way I think people will enjoy.”
EW notes that Din Djarin and The Child will face new challenges this season, which picks up directly after the events of season 1. Pedro Pascal notes that “he’s going into very dangerous territory,” and that “he is very much a passenger to the experience in unexpected ways — not knowing what’s to come, not knowing how much or how best to protect the Child.”
Hot on their heels is Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), who we last saw cutting his way out of a crashed TIE Fighter with the Darksaber, and that he’ll be “going toe-to-toe with Mando,” and teases an “iconic battle”—one that’ll showcase his skill with the weapon.
Esposito teases that their fight might not be quite as clear cut, and hints that he might end up pointing the Mandalorians’ energy in certain directions. “You’ll get to see him be somewhat diplomatic and more of a manipulator,” Esposito says. He’ll also apparently get some “one-on-one time” with The Child.
We’ll find out how that plays out when The Mandalorian returns to Disney + on October 30th.
