Star Wars: The Mandalorian trailer debuts at D23 2019
By Danny Pham
The team behind the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian revealed footage and details at D23 Expo.
The long-awaited trailer for Star Wars’ The Mandalorian is finally here.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni were onstage at D23 Expo on Friday to showcase the upcoming Disney+ series.
They were joined by actors Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, and director Taika Waititi. Ming-Na Wen, who was announced as part of the cast on Friday, was not present.
Set in the Star Wars universe, the series takes place five years after Return of the Jedi and follows a Mandlorian bounty hunter. It will premiere on Disney+, the upcoming streaming service by Disney. The preview was part of an hour-and-half showcase for the platform.
The trailer marks the first footage of The Mandalorian released to the public. A behind-the-scenes reel was screened exclusively for Star Wars Celebration attendees in April.
Favreau described the series’s gritty tone and lawless setting.
“[I] pitched Kathleen Kennedy a version of the show after Return of the Jedi, after the revolution, after everyone is done celebrating because the Empire is gone. Then chaos reigns, because there is no central government in the galaxy,” Favreau said.
When discussing who the series would appeal to, Favreau emphasized it was everyone, “whether you like the prequels, the sequels, the original trilogy, the Extended universe, or Clone Wars.”
Favreau and Filoni then introduced the cast. Some actors expressed their awe when asked by Filoni what it was like being part of the longtime, iconic franchise.
“It’s a dream come true,” Pascal said.
Weathers, an acting veteran, declared, “Once a part of the Star Wars family, always a part of the Star Wars family.”
Other cast members had a lighter approach to the question.
Carano, who plays former shocktrooper Cara Dune, said, “This is just a whole different galaxy” before giggling.
“It was also a dream come true for me to work with me,” joked Waititi, who voices droid IG-11 and directs in the series.
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Esposito took the opportunity to command the audience’s attention with his booming voice.
“My position with the Empire is indelible,” he said, confirming the Imperial nature of his role.
Apart from being a Disney+ launch title, The Mandlorian is the first live-action series in the franchise’s 42-year history. It is also the first Star Wars title filmed in the United States, with production set in Los Angeles.
Filoni directed the first episode of the eight-part season. Other directors include Waititi, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, and Deborah Chow.
A second season is currently in the works, the Hollywood Reporter confirmed. Disney+ will be the franchise’s main focus after the films take a foreseeable hiatus following the December release of The Rise of Skywalker.
The Mandlorian will be joined on Disney+ by a currently untitled Rogue One prequel series starring Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk, who will reprise their roles as Cassian Andor and K-2SO.
Ewan McGregor, who played Obi-Wan Kenobi in three films, confirmed his own series for the platform with an appearance at the showcase.
Disney+ will also be the home to the seventh season of animated series The Clone Wars, which has a release date of Feb. 2020.
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The Mandalorian is scheduled for release on Nov. 12.