Star Wars The Mandalorian: Everything We Know About Season 2 Of The Disney+ Original Series

The Star Wars franchise is without a doubt one of the biggest entertainment phenomena of the last 40 years, but it took until late 2019 for the first live-action Star Wars TV show to arrive. The Mandalorian was one of the biggest selling points for the launch of Disney+, and the first episode was available from the service's launch day in November of 2019. While there was much excitement for the platform in general, with its wealth of classic Disney movies and shows, there is little doubt that The Mandalorian helped create many of its 28 million subscriptions.

Of course, as the release of recent movies has shown, Star Wars fans are very vocal about what they want--and don't want--from the franchise. Thankfully, The Mandalorian seems to have made most fans happy. Showrunner Jon Favreau, who previously kickstarted the MCU by directing the first two Iron Man films, struck a great balance between the new and the familiar. While the look and feel was 100% Star Wars, Favreau wisely stayed away from overly-obvious fan service. By presenting us with new characters and stories within a recognizable world, The Mandalorian proved that there is life beyond Skywalkers and Death Stars. And, of course, Baby Yoda gave us one of the year's cutest pop culture icons.

Season 1 of The Mandalorian comprised eight 30-minute episodes, making it a concise and perfectly-paced experience. But, of course, it left viewers wanting to see more adventures of the mysterious bounty hunter. There's a lot of uncertainty around Star Wars right now--there are no concrete new movies on the horizon, and while there are other shows in various stages of development, none are likely to arrive for some time. Thankfully, The Mandalorian Season 2 was announced before Season 1 even premiered, and finished production before the COVID-19 pandemic closed down filming on a large number of TV shows and movies.. The season is set to arrive very soon, so here's everything we know about it at this point.

The Mandalorian Season 2 premieres on Disney+ on Friday, October 30. The season will once again consist of eight episodes, released weekly. Take a look at our full release schedule for everything you need to know.

Actually, there's more than one! The first trailer arrived back in September, giving us our first taste of what to expect--and some of the new faces we'll meet. The second trailer, released in October, hints at the plot for Season 2.

Once again, Jon Favreau serves as showrunner on the new season.

Several actors from Season 1 are returning for Season 2. Pedro Pascal is back in the title role, and Gina Carano (Cara Dune), Carl Weathers (Greef), and Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon) have all stated that they will reappear in the next season. Beyond those primary characters, chances are some other familiar faces from the first season will pop up along the way. Of course, there will also be plenty of Baby Yoda.

While most of the characters you grew to love and hate in Season 1 are returning, some didn't make it out of those episodes alive. Among those you shouldn't be expecting to return are Kuiil (Nick Nolte), IG-11 (Taika Waititi), and The Client (Werner Herzog).

Terminator and Aliens star Michael Biehn was the first new actor to be announced--specific details about who he will play are still unknown, although The Hollywood Reporter states it will be a "bounty hunter." Another potential new addition to the Star Wars universe is Rosario Dawson. It's been reported that the actress could be playing fan-favorite character Ahsoka Tano, who first appeared in the animated movie and show The Clone Wars. In addition, WWE superstar Sasha Banks will appear--she can be seen wearing a black robe in the season's trailer.

The Mandalorian Season 1 assembled an impressive roster of directors, including Taika Waititi, Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Rick Famuyiwa. Season 2's directors will include Famuyiwa and Filoni once more, plus Favreau himself. Actor Carl Weathers, who plays Greef in the show, is another director, and Robert Rodriguez (Alita: Battle Angel, Sin City) has also revealed he helmed an episode.

Although many plot details are currently underwraps, we do know a few details from interviews with the cast and crew, plus the trailers. Season 1 ended with Mando setting off to find others with the same powers as Baby Yoda/The Child, and darksaber-wielding Moff Gideon is likely to be looking for revenge. Esposito recently revealed that Gideon gets plenty of action, and he had broken several darksabers during production. In the trailer, we see that Mandalorian has been told to return Baby Yoda to "enemy sorcerers"--aka the Jedi--and it looks like he'll be stopping off on a variety of strange worlds along the way. We also know he'll once again by working with Cara Dune and Greef Karga on this journey.

The Mandalorian Season 3 is definitely happening. It was first reported to be in the works back in April and according to those reports, writing and pre-production design work has already started. Should the series stick to the release pattern it's followed so far, those episodes could debut in late 2021.