Today (Nov. 12) Disney premieres the first ever live-action "Star Wars" show on its new streaming service Disney+, and fans got another tantalizing glimpse of what's to come in the latest and last trailer for "The Mandalorian."
The show is set after the fall of the Empire in "Return of the Jedi" and before the emergence of the First Order. It follows the exploits of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, far from any influence from the New Republic. He struggles to make a living in some of the most crime-infested and corrupt parts of a post-Palpatine galaxy. However, remnants of the Empire and its devotees still linger.
The trailer begins with the same footage seen in the first trailer of old, aged imperial stormtrooper helmets lying on some dusty planet, and some are even impaled on spikes, but then a new voiceover (Werner Herzog) begins and continues throughout the new trailer.
"Is the world more peaceful since the revolution?" he asks.
Related: 'The Mandalorian': What We Know So Far About the 'Star Wars' Live Action Show
In our first glimpse of the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal), we see him anticipating an ambush while standing in a canyon. What looks like a couple of Ugnaughts — one of them might be Kuiil (voiced by Nick Nolte) — riding blurrgs are atop of the canyon.
(Burrgs are two-legged creatures that are used for transportation or labor. They first appeared in the 1985 television film "Ewoks: The Battle of Endor," which is not canon, but director Dave Filoni made them canon when he incorporated them into "The Clone Wars" animated series. They've also appeared on "Star Wars Rebels" and in a few video games.)
"It is a shame that your people suffered," the narration continues.
Then the Mandalorian does indeed get ambushed, by a pair of Trandoshans, one of which at least appears to be his sought after bounty and as we see, ultimately ends up frozen and encased in carbonite. That raises an interesting question: After "The Empire Strikes Back" does the process of incapacitating and transporting captured bounties by freezing and encasing them in carbonite become standard?
While at Cloud City, pseudo-Mandalorian Boba Fett expressed his concern to Darth Vader over testing the proposed idea on Han Solo. "What if he doesn't survive? He's worth a lot to me," he says.
Was this already a commonly used practice — or did it become so after Darth Vader used it on Han Solo? Are Tibanna gas mines, like Cloud City, the only facilities with this apparatus?
In the original and prequel "Star Wars" movies, both Jango Fett and his clone/son Boba Fett wore Mandalorian armor, despite the fact that they were not from that planet. Consequently, the government of Mandalore disavowed any connection to Jango, claiming he was simply "a common bounty hunter" who somehow acquired the armor through unofficial and illegal channels.
Bossk was a prominent Trandoshan bounty hunter, who was among those tasked by Darth Vader to find the Millennium Falcon in "The Empire Strikes Back," which is why they might look familiar. He got an expanded story in the animated series and the comics, so it's possible he might pop up in "The Mandalorian" as well.
"But bounty hunting is a complicated profession," the narration continues.
Next we see the Mandalorian's ship, called the Razorback, as he seems to be offloading quite a few captured bounties, all encased in carbonite, in some alien backwater settlement. One door opens to reveal a whole bunch of equally shady-looking characters, and another door opens to reveal at least four armed Imperial Stormtroopers.
Who are the Stormtroopers loyal to, and why? It would be great to see some former Imperial Stormtroopers that have become mercenaries following the demise of the Galactic Empire.
"They said you were coming," the narration continues. "They said you were the best in the parsec. Would you agree?"
Yes, the narration by Herzog uses the term "parsec" incorrectly, once again. The parsec is famously used in the wrong context in "A New Hope" as a unit of time instead of distance. A half-decent explanation was then formulated to explain this in "Solo," so quite why this has been deliberately done here is bizarre.
A series of super-quick scenes flash by, and the Mandalorian takes out a Stormtrooper. We see Herzog himself as he's talking — perhaps he's the one who's double-crossed the Mandalorian and summoned the Imperial Stormtroopers? We also see some people running from B2 super battle droids looking very scared and a young child, in what must be a flashback.
A Clone Wars-era HMP droid gunship passes by overhead, the same ones from the Battle of Kashyyk during "Revenge of the Sith" suggesting this could indeed be a flashback. Mandalore was more or less neutral during the Clone Wars, however, various factions allied themselves with both the Sith and the Separatists at different times. This is more likely a reference to one of those alliances.
The Mandalorian uses his wrist-mounted harpoon to ensnare a Quarren, a squid-faced aquatic aliens that lived with the Mon Calamari on the planet Mon Calamar. The Quarren were much more aggressive and generally unpleasant than the Mon Calamari, so perhaps this one worked with the Empire to enslave or wipe out the Mon Calamari, who were in league with the Rebel Alliance. This could mean that all the bounties that the Mandalorian is going after are connected to the Empire.
Next we see what looks almost like a Reek — a horned, rhino-like quadruped seen in the Petranaki arena on Geonosis in "Revenge of the Sith" — dragging the Mandalorian through a sea of mud. And then we get our first good look at Kuiil, plus a glimpse of a mysterious character known as Greef Carga (Carl Weathers). He's probably a bounty hunter himself and Weathers has said that not only will Carga also feature in season 2, which is currently in principal photography, but that Weathers himself will direct at least one episode.
Once again we see Cara Dune (Gina Carano), a former Rebel Shock Trooper who now works as a mercenary and fought for the Rebel Alliance in the civil war and she seems to have some relationship with the Mandalorian.
And we get a good look at Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito). He appears to be still wearing an Imperial uniform, plus he's flanked by Stormtroopers and Death troopers (seen in "Rogue One"), so it's safe to assume that the Imperial troops we saw earlier have some connection with him.
Then we get our first view of IG-11, the Holowan Laboratories IG-series assassin droid voiced by Taika Waititi. You'd be correct in thinking it looks the same as IG-88 — the same model of droid that was also a bounty hunter and, like Bossk was also hired by Darth Vader to find the Millennium Falcon in "The Empire Strikes Back," — but it is in fact a completely different IG-series assassin droid.
"Mandalorian ... look outside ... they're waiting for you." Herzog's voiceover says.
And following a quick-fire montage of action clips, we finally — and for the very first time — hear the voice of the man himself, the Mandalorian.
"Yeah? Good," he replies with a quiet confidence.
The first episode of "The Mandalorian" will air on Disney+ when it launches in the U.S. on Nov. 12 at 6 a.m. EST/9 a.m. PDT. The second episode will land on Nov. 15, followed by weekly installments on Nov. 22, Nov. 29, Dec. 6, Dec. 13, Dec 18 and Dec. 27. A monthly subscription will be available for $6.99; annual subscriptions will cost $69.99. You can sign up for Disney+ here.
Amazon has announced that the Disney+ app will available on devices including Fire TV, Fire TV Edition smart TVs, and Fire Tablets (compatible ones).
Disney+ won't be available in the UK, Germany, France, Italy or Spain until March 31, 2020.
In addition, the next season of "The Clone Wars" will premiere in February 2020 on the new streaming channel. Ewan McGregor will reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in an untitled series for Disney+, which will begin shooting next year.
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