Fans had been wondering why Disney and Lucasfilm had revealed so little information about The Mandalorian, despite the second season of the hit Disney Plus exclusive always being scheduled for release in October. The debut trailer was widely expected to air for the first time last week before it was mysteriously withdrawn, leading to speculation that there could be some behind the scenes issues surrounding Mando and Baby Yoda’s latest adventure.
However, yesterday saw the Mouse House confirm that The Mandalorian would be back on our screens on the 30th of October, with the studio also revealing a new logo in the process. While fans were happy to finally get some confirmation about the return of the popular show, it also happened to arrive on a day where Disney and Lucasfilm found themselves the subjects of a lot of negative publicity.
Sequel Trilogy star John Boyega gave an explosive interview that didn’t hold back when it came to his criticisms of Star Wars. The actor clearly shares the opinion of many fans that Finn was heavily sidelined in The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, and even slammed his corporate overlords for a lack of diversity and representation.
A few online conspiracy theorists are convinced it wasn’t a coincidence that The Mandalorian hype train kicked off on exactly the same day the studio were coming under fire, and you can check out some of the reactions below.
HELP pic.twitter.com/GcmPNWXGrh
— Ethan 🦎 (@sheevthan) September 2, 2020
lmao @ Boyega rightfully voicing his frustration with Star Wars and the mouse immediately dropping “Uh, MANDALORIAN season 2 October 30th!”
— Diego Crespo (@thediegocrespo) September 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/directedbyrian/status/1301170012779098117
“i’m excited for the mandalorian” and “dropping the date was a strategic play to silence John Boyega’s Black experience and I wont forget it” are two things that can & should be said
— lu !!! (@millebiennium) September 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/TheLoreMasterYT/status/1301189521317470209
The Mandalorian news hitting today after John Boyega spoke out does not sit well with me. At all.
— Braddington (@bradwhipple) September 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/itsacreed/status/1301161674662174720
https://twitter.com/geekyhush/status/1301159689955278848
you’re allowed to be excited for the mandalorian season 2. lots of very talented people worked on it. be excited for it.
but don’t use it to sweep what john boyega said under the rug. recognize you can be excited for it while also calling disney out.
— mads 💫🍉 (@jimsrippedshirt) September 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/poyntermarcsman/status/1301222173990846467
I'm try to be wary of theories on why a company put out certain announcements but that mandalorian announcement is way too close to Boyega's statements for comfort
— Sarah 🖤❤ scaredbi.bsky.social (@ScaredBisexual) September 2, 2020
i heard that mandalorian news was released today so when u see a star wars trend it's about baby yoda instead of john boyega and that is gross gross gross pls read what john said about the franchise
— bb (@betsyblackBB) September 2, 2020
https://twitter.com/SuperSonsTalk/status/1301167367658123264
Also very dirty timing putting out the mandalorian release date right after the Boyega interview and get "baby yoda" trending instead of him
surely a coincidence
yeah
— vrynn (@valarynn) September 2, 2020
A staunchly family-friendly company like Disney will do anything they can to avoid bad press, especially when an actor that played a major role in one of their biggest franchises is accusing them of thinly-veiled racism, so whether it was a coincidence or not, they’ll nonetheless be hoping that the focus quickly shifts entirely onto The Mandalorian.