UPDATED 10/18, 2:15 p.m. ET: The Disney+ episode schedule for The Mandalorian has been revealed. After its Tuesday, Nov. 12 premiere—the day Disney's vaunted streaming service launches—the first-ever Star Wars live-action series will drop a second episode Friday, Nov. 15, then commence weekly installments.
See the full Mandalorian schedule below; the penultimate ep hits a couple days early, to precede Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker's Dec. 20 release.
- Episode 1 – Nov. 12
- Episode 2 – Nov. 15
- Episode 3 – Nov. 22
- Episode 4 – Nov. 29
- Episode 5 – Dec. 6
- Episode 6 – Dec. 13
- Episode 7 – Dec. 18
- Episode 8 – Dec. 27
Catch the magnificent Mandalorian trailer here.
See original story below.
The Mandalorian is arguably the biggest original title launching on Disney+ when it arrives in November, but details are still relatively scarce. As the drip of information about the show continues, Entertainment Weekly has revealed what, exactly, fans can expect to see from the first-ever Star Wars TV series.
It's already been detailed that the show will take place five years after the original trilogy and sometime before the current trilogy, and now we know some of what that shadowy time period will entail. Since the collapse of the Empire at the end of 1983's Return of the Jedi, Stormtroopers have become mercenaries for hire. The creators behind the show have indicated that major characters from other films will not show up—"at least, not in the first season," EW teases—and instead Pedro Pascal's titular lead character will be joined by an entirely new cast.
Giancarlo Esposito, the actor behind the memorable Gustavo Fring on AMC's Breaking Bad, plays Moff Gideon, a former Empire governor who owns his own sector of the galaxy. The series will indeed explore the “formative roots” of the Supreme Leader Snoke/Kylo Ren-fronted First Order. Showrunner Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man and The Lion King, says, “It’s like after the Roman Empire falls, or when you don’t have a centralized shogun in Japan—and, of course, the Old West, when there wasn’t any government in the areas that had not yet been settled,”
The story has been described as "boots on the ground," following "Mando" across different systems in the galaxy. He'll also be joined by Gina Carano, who plays Cara Dune, a "Rebel Shock Trooper." Thor: Ragnarok helmer Taika Waititi was previously announced to be directing at least one episodes, but now it's been revealed that he handled the finale—and that he also serves as the voice of droid IG-11.
The mag says the show’s “clearest inspiration is the first act of A New Hope, which played like a Western set in space.” But it’s also “perhaps the furthest from the Star Wars prequels and the aristocratic poshness of their Jedi council meetings on Coruscant.”
Check out EW's chat with the cast and crew below.
