The Mandalorian season 2: Everything we know before episode 4 hits Disney Plus on Friday – CNET [CNET]

The Mandalorian, the live-action Star Wars series that brought us Baby Yoda, kicked off season 2 last month, and its fourth episode hits Disney Plus this Friday, Nov. 20, with subsequent episodes landing each Friday until Dec. 18.

Here are details about the season, which takes place a few years after Return of the Jedi.

What we know about season 2

“The Mandalorian and the Child continue their journey, facing enemies and rallying allies as they make their way through a dangerous galaxy in the tumultuous era after the collapse of the Galactic Empire,” reads the synopsis that dropped with the first trailer for the second season. 

Season 2 also continues the “chapter” naming convention from the first season, so it doesn’t start from chapter 1:

• Chapter 9: Available now
• Chapter 10: Available now
• Chapter 11: Available now
• Chapter 12: Friday, Nov. 20
• Chapter 13: Friday, Nov. 27
• Chapter 14: Friday, Dec. 4
• Chapter 15: Friday, Dec. 11
• Chapter 16: Friday, Dec. 18

There’s also a tweet you can like to receive a reminder when each episode drops on Disney Plus.

Directors for the new season include creator Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed (the man behind Ant-Man and its sequel) and Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn and Alita: Battle Angel), the release noted.

Read more: GameSpot remembers Baby Yoda’s best season 1 moments

Season 3?

Favreau is hoping to start production on the show’s third season “before the end of the year,” he told Variety on Oct. 15. He’s been writing it “for a while,” according to a Variety report from April, and Lucasfilm’s art department has been working on concept designs. Production design reportedly kicked off on April 20.

From here on, we’ll highlight returning characters for the second season, and reports about others. If you’d rather not know, beware of POSSIBLE SPOILERS from here on out.  

Was that Boba Fett?

The closing shot of season 2’s first episode revealed a mysterious man (Temuera Morrison) watching Mando from afar. He appears to be wearing Tusken Raider gear, and then he turns around, revealing the face of Boba Fett — the bounty hunter who fell into the sarlacc pit in Return of the Jedi. We don’t actually know it’s Boba, but that’s the most likely conclusion.

The Mandalorian armor that Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) was wearing in the episode was that of Boba Fett.

Morrison played bounty hunter Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones and also portrayed the clone troopers in that movie and Revenge of the Sith. Jango was recruited by Count Dooku to serve as the genetic template for the clone army used by the Galactic Republic, as part of Darth Sidious’ superconvoluted plot to wipe out the Jedi. Part of Jango’s payment was an unaltered clone that he could raise as his son — Boba — but the elder Fett was killed during the Battle of Geonosis.

The younger Fett was played by Daniel Logan in Attack of the Clones and The Clone Wars CGI animated series, but The Mandalorian takes place decades later, and a grown-up Boba would look identical to Jango.

However, Boba isn’t the only person with Jango’s face. Even though clone troopers were designed to age at an accelerated speed, some could still be alive. The Rebels series finale revealed that Commander Rex fought in Return of the Jedi’s Battle of Endor (a few years prior to the events of The Mandalorian), while Commander Wolffe survived until at least the end of Rebels (which took place years before A New Hope).

You might assume that Jango and Boba are Mandalorians, because they wear the armor, but Mandalorian Prime Minister Almec dismissed them as pretenders during the Clone Wars. However, Almec wasn’t the most trustworthy character, so all bets are off as to the Fetts’ heritage.

We saw a mysterious person approach assassin Fennec Shand’s body on Tatooine in the final moments of the fifth episode, with Fett’s trademark spur sound effect, but the show didn’t follow up on that tease in the first season.

Fans of the Legends material (developed in novels, comics and games prior to 2014) will recall that Boba escaped the sarlacc in that continuity and went on to become the leader of Mandalore in a very different (and noncanon) post-Return of the Jedi galaxy. 

Other characters 

On March 20, Slashfilm reported that season 2 will see Ahsoka Tano, former Padawan of the late Anakin Skywalker, make her live action debut. She’ll apparently be played by Rosario Dawson, whom you might remember playing Claire Temple in Netflix’s Marvel shows, and finding her became Mando’s objective in the season’s third episode. 

“That’s not confirmed yet but when that happens, I will be very happy. I’m very excited for that to be confirmed at some point,” Dawson told Variety in April.

Read more: ET’s guide to The Mandalorian season 2

Michael Biehn, who played Kyle Reese in The Terminator and Corporal Hicks in Aliens, will join the cast as a bounty hunter, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Bill Burr will apparently also reprise his role as gunslinger Mayfield, according to i09.

In a Feb. 4 earnings call, Disney boss Bob Iger also mentioned the possibility that some of the show’s characters could go “in their own directions in terms of series” — hinting that we might see some Mandalorian spinoffs down the line.

Read more: 10 Things GameSpot wants from The Mandalorian season 2 

What happened in season 1?

You’re in luck! I wrote detailed recaps of each episode that you can use to catch up:

Chapter 1: The Mandalorian

Chapter 2: The Child

Chapter 3: The Sin

Chapter 4: Sanctuary

Chapter 5: The Gunslinger

Chapter 6: The Prisoner

Chapter 7: The Reckoning

Chapter 8: Redemption

Read more: 30 best movies to watch on Disney Plus 

What’s up with Baby Yoda?

This little guy captured everyone’s hearts the moment he appeared in the season premiere, and we’ve got a whole separate guide for him. He’s officially known as The Child. We don’t know his real name, race or home planet, but he can use the Force pretty effectively, and the Imperial Remnant wants him.

Oh, and the most detailed version of the puppet apparently cost around $5 million.

Read more: GameSpot guide to the best Baby Yoda merch

Is there a bounty of Mandalorian merch?

Merchandise hunting is a complicated hobby, but you know you want it. Since the show’s debut last November, a mountain of toys and other collectibles have been released. Highlights include Hasbro’s six-inch Black Series and Vintage Collection. 

There’ll be a steady stream for season 2 as well, like Lego’s huge Baby Yoda set, Polaroid’s Mandalorian-themed instant camera and Hasbro’s crowd-funded Razor Crest. Lucasfilm will reveal new collectibles each Monday from Oct. 26 to Dec. 21 — a merchandising push known as “Mando Mondays” — capitalizing on the second season. 

For gamers, Xbox revealed a fancy Mandalorian-themed controller. It’s pricey at $170, but will be compatible with Microsoft’s new Xbox Series X and S consoles.

Is there any tie-in literature?

As is Star Wars tradition, readers will be able to dive in further. A bunch of books were revealed on the official Star Wars site in June. The major ones are:

• The Art of The Mandalorian Season One by Phil Szostak.
• The Mandalorian tie-in novel (telling a new story) by Adam Christopher.
• The Mandalorian: The Ultimate Visual Guide by Pablo Hidalgo.

The company noted the books will start coming out this fall. Preorder pages revealed that the art book will be released Dec. 15 (and cost $40), while the novel has been delayed until fall 2021 (for $29). Marvel and IDW will also bring out comics inspired by the show.

“At the moment, we’re keeping things under wraps — including the title, synopsis, and cover,” Christopher wrote in a blog post about his novel. “But that does mean I get one of those cool and mysterious Cover Not Final placeholders.”

What’s the deal with the documentary?

Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian is an eight-episode making-of series that includes interviews with The Mandalorian’s cast and crew, new footage from the show’s production and round-table conversations hosted by Favreau. Episodes began dropping on Disney Plus, starting May 4. Here’s what they cover:

1. Directing
2. Legacy
3. Cast
4. Technology
5. Practical
6. Visualization
7. Score
8. Connections

The titles are pretty self-explanatory, aside from the second one. It looks at George Lucas’ continuing impact on Star Wars and features a pretty amazing monologue from director Dave Filoni, who worked directly with Lucas on The Clone Wars. He’ll make you think about The Phantom Menace in a whole new way.

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What’s a Mandalorian?

Mandalorians are humans from the Outer Rim world of Mandalore, its moon Concordia and the planet Kalevala, whose story was largely told in The Clone Wars and Rebels.

Their world went through major political upheaval during the Clone Wars and early days of the Galactic Empire’s rule, but many of the clans united under the rule of Bo-Katan Kryze after she took control of the Darksaber. The black-bladed weapon was created more than 1,000 years earlier by Tarre Vizsla (the first Mandalorian to join the Jedi Order) and became a symbol of leadership. It also showed up in The Mandalorian’s season 1 finale.

Who’s in it?

Pedro Pascal (best known for playing Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones) is the bounty hunter behind the helmet: He’s a lone Mandalorian gunfighter operating in the outer reaches of the galaxy.

He’s joined by a star-studded cast, though a couple of these characters didn’t survive season 1:

• Gina Carano as ex-Rebel Alliance shock trooper Cara Dune
• Carl Weathers as bounty hunter boss Greef Carga
• Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon
• Emily Swallow as the Mandalorian Armorer
• Omid Abtahi as Dr. Pershing
• Bill Burr as sharpshooter Mayfield
• Natalia Tena as mercenary Xi’an
• Clancy Brown as mercenary Burg
• Julia Jones as villager Omera
• Nick Nolte as mechanic Kuiil (dead)
• Taika Waititi as assassin droid IG-11 (destroyed)
• Werner Herzog as the Imperial Client (dead)
• Richard Ayoade as droid Zero (destroyed)
• Ismael Cruz Cordova as criminal Qin (presumed dead)
• Mark Boone Jr. as Ranzar Malk (presumed dead)
• Ming-Na Wen as assassin Fennec Shand (dead)
• Jake Cannavale as rookie bounty hunter Toro Calican (dead)

Who else is involved?

Directors for the first season:

• Dave Filoni — The Clone Wars and Rebels creator helmed the first and fifth episodes, making the jump into live action for the first time.
• Rick Famuyiwa — The Dope director led the second and sixth episodes.
• Deborah Chow — Directed Jessica Jones and Better Call Saul. She handled episodes three and seven (and will direct the upcoming Obi-Wan show).
• Bryce Dallas Howard — Better known for her acting, but she’s directed shorts including Soulmates. She directed episode four.
• Taika Waititi — Directed Thor: Ragnarok, and helmed the eighth episode of The Mandalorian.

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Favreau, Filoni, Colin Wilson and Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy are the executive producers, with Karen Gilchrist as co-executive producer.

The Mandalorian is among the first projects for ILM TV, a division of Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic visual effects company. The show’s soundtrack is composed by Ludwig Göransson, who scored Black Panther, Venom and Creed II. Göransson’s Black Panther score won him a Grammy and an Oscar in 2019.