Between one moment and the next a cold star cruiser had appeared traveling above the forest, glinting in the sunlight. Its pilot, cased in the metal armor of the extinct Mandalorian warrior race, hunts his bounty, even as he in turn is hunted by what remains of the crumbling yet vicious Empire.
At their D23 event, Disney stunned audiences with the first trailer for Star Wars: The Mandalorian, a ten-episode $100 million live-action series launching as a Disney+ exclusive on November 12. It is directed by Jon Favreau, the mastermind of Iron Man 1 & 2 and the earlier Avengers films, and produced with the help of The Clone Wars’ Dave Filoni and Thor: Ragnarok’s Taika Waititi, who’ll also be voicing the IG-11 droid.
“I just want to say that for droid representation, it was very important for me that those characters get enough screen time,” Waititi said. “They’re very misunderstood.”
#TheMandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars series, only on #DisneyPlus. Start streaming November 12. @TheMandalorian pic.twitter.com/Dxum2bZDCa
— Disney+ (@DisneyPlus) August 23, 2019
Joining Waititi on stage and playing the mandalorian himself is Pedro Pascal, perhaps best known for playing Oberyn Martell on Game of Thrones. He described his character saying, “he’s got a lot of Clint Eastwood in him,” adding that he watched many Sergio Leone and Akira Kurosawa films as preparation.
Disney+ will cost $6.99 per month or $69.99 per year when it also launches on November 12, and with the new Ewan McGregor Obi-Wan Kenobi series also finding its way there at a later date, might be just about an essential purchase for Star Wars fans, at least until its exclusives make their way to other platforms.
