Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian is definitely the centerpiece of the Disney Plus launch. The series promises to shed some light on the time between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, boasts an impressive cast and had an absolutely kickass trailer. Expectations are high for its November 12th launch then and now, we have word that they’re likely to be met.
A lucky group of journalists were invited to watch the first 27 minutes of the show’s opening episode at the Disney Plus press day and they seem to have liked what they saw. Here’s just a selection of their responses:
Saw almost 30 minutes of #TheMandalorian footage this morning. It's truly incredible. It looks like the films, feels innately Star Wars, introduces new concepts, and adds layers that people have been waiting to see for a long time. pic.twitter.com/4JVB16pMAL
— Mansoor Mithaiwala (@MansoorAYM) October 19, 2019
Wow. #TheMandalorian is completely amazing. Saw nearly a half hour of footage from what I was told were the first three episodes. Whoever you think Nick Nolte is … the answer will surprise you. pic.twitter.com/jh3CpZnMW2
— Drew Taylor (@DrewTailored) October 19, 2019
Saw ~27 minutes of #TheMandalorian footage this morning. Always difficult to make sense of a bunch of disconnected scenes but it looks intense, surprisingly dark and very expensive.
— Lindsey Bahr (@ldbahr) October 19, 2019
Just watched 27 minutes of Mandalorian footage and legit cried. Can’t say much but — This is real and it’s happening and it feels SO FREAKING STAR WARS pic.twitter.com/A56KJBc1GH
— Ash Crossan (@AshCrossan) October 19, 2019
This is the Star Wars thing I've been waiting for! While I love the Skywalker saga, I've wanted to see new characters and places explored in depth which can only be done over multiple episodes in a series format. Cannot wait to see more of @themandalorian. pic.twitter.com/exRmsLTYzU
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) October 19, 2019
Saw 27 minutes of @themandalorian. It's as awesome as you want it to be. Can't say anything specific but one scene answered a question that I don't think has ever been explained/shown in any @starwars movie. Love that it opens up the Star Wars universe in a cool new way. pic.twitter.com/vTxC427sVi
— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) October 19, 2019
So, I’d go ahead and call that a positive reaction. In fact, everything we’ve heard about The Mandalorian sounds extremely promising. One of the aspects I’m most looking forward to (especially in advance of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) is learning about how the remnants of the Empire reformed into the First Order. This topic’s been explored in various spinoff novels like Star Wars: Aftermath and Star Wars: Bloodline, but now it seems that we’re going to see it happening on the small screen.
Director Dave Filoni and Favreau himself spoke about this to EW recently, with the former saying:
“This doesn’t turn into a good guy universe because you blew up two Death Stars. You get that the Rebels won and they’re trying to establish a Republic, but there’s no way that could have set in for everybody all at once. You have in a Western where you’re out on the frontier and there might be Washington and they might have some marshals, but sometimes good luck finding one.”
“Also, what could happen in the 30 years between celebrating the defeat of the Empire and then the First Order? You come in on Episode VII, [the First Order are] not just starting out. They’re pretty far along. So somehow, things weren’t necessarily managed as well as they could have been if [the galaxy] ended up in hot water again like that.”
Of course, The Mandalorian will just be the first Disney Plus Star Wars project. Already confirmed are an untitled series based around Rogue One’s Cassian Andor and (most excitingly) a show starring Ewan McGregor about Obi-Wan Kenobi. On top of that, we’ll also eventually get the entire Skywalker saga, a revival season of The Clone Wars and Rebels. If Disney are trying to build their subscription base for the streaming service on Star Wars fans, they’re certainly doing a good job.
