Some select members of the press got to see over 27 minutes of footage from Disney and Lucasfilm’sThe Mandalorian, the first ever live-actionStar WarsTV show. And the overwhelming consensus is that this truly ‘feels likeStar Wars’. It has been called a throwback to the original trilogy, with a story that takes place just after the events seen inReturn of the Jedi. While an episode was not screened in its entirety, it appears that enough was shown to win over some very critical minds.
The Mandalorianhas been described as an American space Western. The first episode will hitDisney+when it launches on August 22, 2025. The entirety of the first season will take place just a short while after the destruction of the second Death Star, five years after the events ofReturn of the Jedi. It follows a Mandalorian bounty hunter beyond the reaches of the New Republic.
Perhaps one of the biggest take aways from the first press reactions is thatJon Favreau, who is overseeing the show, is utilizing some of the same technology he used to create his animals inThe Jungle Bookand Disney’sThe Lion Kingto recreate some classicStar Warsaliens and cantina dwellers. A surprised Peter Sciretta notes this about the show.
“There is some up close interactions withStar Wars creaturesfully realized in a photo real way (I’m guessing using some of the same technology that @Jon_Favreau used on Jungle Book and Lion King) that can only be described as INTENSE. Apparently the footage we saw went beyond the pilot episode. Unclear on how many episodes it spanned. It was selected scenes.”
One thing echoed by pretty much all those who saw the footage is how much it looks and feels like the originalStar Warsmovies, an element some believe is missing from the new trilogy kicked off by J.J. Abrams withThe Force Awakens. Sciretta goes onto say this about watching this first look footage.
“It feels like a thrilling return to theoriginal trilogy era of Star Wars. It feels like a big scale movie, not a tv series. They are still keeping a lot of mystery with deliberate cuts in the footage. The score is awesome. Seeing @dave_filoni do live action Star Wars is everything I’ve wanted. I can’t wait to see more. November 12 is my birthday and Disney+’s launch of this show will be my celebration.”
The next four episodes will debut on subsequent Fridays. The 7th episode will get a Wednesday debut on December 18, avoiding a clash withThe Rise of Skywalker, which will be in theaters that Friday. The season finale will then drop 9 days later on December 27. At that time, the entire first season will have been released, and those that want to watch all in one go have a pretty fun New Years Day awaiting them. You can check out some of the first reactions forThe MandalorianincludingPeter Sciretta from /film.
