This is the way.
I didn't actually do a review of The Mandalorian's first season, I did make a few qualifying statements as to the quality of the final product - which I found to be pretty damn good. It is proof that Star Wars can still be good even after Rian Johnson had diarrhea all over it and JJ Abrams came by to wipe up the mess with a terrible retcon that made no sense. Also a terrible film that made no sense, but that's neither here nor there.
We're here to talk about something good. Namely a series that was good both because of and in spite of it's setting and is now rightfully getting a second season.
Namely, the trailer for Season 2 of The Mandalorian. If you're not caught up on the memetic power of the Baby Yoda, here's the rundown of Season 1 with minimal spoilers. Some time after the Empire gets it's ass handed to it by a bunch of teenagers, the titular Mandalorian - Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) - is hired to hunt down and retrieve a baby from the same race as a certain Jedi Master who is not a fan of anything resembling proper sentence structure. Rather than deliver it into the hands of Imperial Warlords who want this Child for nefarious purposes, the Mando goes solo (no, not that one) and takes it into his custody. For many episodes, it is now him versus other bounty hunters, the Empire, and just about anyone else who gets in his way to protect the Child and see that it either comes of age or gets returned to its people.
This is the way.
Indeed, from the beginning of Season 2, it looks like the Mando's job has not changed. He still travels with the Child (who has gotten a little more savvy about when a firefight is about to start) and is still trekking his way through the various slimes of the galaxy in order to complete his mission. Whereas Season 1 had a few locations - such as a desert planet, another desert planet, and a New Republic prison ship - the scope of Season 2 seems to encompass a bit more including a snowy planet that may or may not be Hoth and a world with a bunch of Quarren sailors at a sea port that could very easily be Mon Calamari.
In the latter of those two scenarios, there is a woman that certain people are assuming is Megan Markle in a blatant attempt to keep alive the Kathleen Kennedy mandate of "stronk femal wimin" when in actuality it's apparently wrestler Sasha Banks and I really couldn't give a toss either way if the story is good. So far, Jon Favreau hasn't given me any reason to doubt him, at least where The Mandalorian has been concerned.
Speaking of the strong female characters, we have Gina Carano back as Cara Dune, at least until the braying mobs on Twitter who did not receive nearly enough discipline as children accept that people don't actually have to do things just because you tell them to. Or they just go away and go be offended by someone else's inaction.
Seriously, can someone explain to me how STAR WARS fans are the bad guys?
No, really. How in the hell is this happening?
We also have the return of Carl Weathers aka Apollo Creed himself as Greef Karga. They both show up only briefly in the trailer, making me wonder if they will be in a reduced capacity for this Season. Honestly, this wouldn't be too much of a shock seeing as The Mandalorian is a show that treks across the stars. Some sort of...Star Tre-
Nope. Nope, caught myself that time.
Also, getting back to the woman formerly known as Megan Markle, she is wearing a black cloak and gives the Mandalorian a dark look from a distance before using her slasher film villain teleportation powers to disappear as soon as someone else walks in front of her. Vague, mysterious, and one of the only things that the trailer really focuses on for more than a few seconds. So, naturally, speculation abounds.
Is she one of Luke's students? The black cloak would seem to say no, but Luke himself was rocking the all-black look during Return of the Jedi, so that may not proof of otherwise.
Is she the member of another Force tradition? Perhaps Favreau is looking to recanonize some of the things that were thrown out with the EU or potentially even create new ones? Could be very interesting to go that route.
Perhaps she's an Emperor's Hand or some other Imperial agent out doing the will of her former Emperor or working for one of the many warring Imperial Warlords that existed in the downfall of the Empire.
Perhaps she's something different altogether. There's certainly a great deal of room for speculation and interpretation. Indeed, the rumor mills about Season 2 have been running for a while - with everything from Ashoka Tano being set to appear (which turned out to be true) to an appearance from Luke Skywalker himself either with Mark Hamill taking the role up again or another actor (or possibly CGI if this is at all true) being on the table, and more! Seriously, I don't have the time I'd need to hunt down every potential thing being postulated, but it's out there.
As for the quality of the trailer itself, it looks good. It doesn't tell us too much, but it has enough spectacle to get me interested. There are snapshots of interesting moments such as the Mando and the Child going through what looks like caves on Hoth to the Mando's ship being flanked by a pair of X-Wing Fighters to the frankly very interesting visual detail of the port city.
The actual episodes have to have enough substance to keep me interested, but I think Favreau has at least some idea of what he's doing with the series - which is more than I can say for Kathleen Kennedy and her "story group" plotting out the Sequel Trilogy. All the jokes and irritation you can make about Baby Yoda getting memetic, The Mandalorian seems to be about the only good thing Star Wars has going for it right now.
You have our attention, Favreau. Make it count.
This is the way.
The second season of The Mandalorian will air it's first episode on Disney Plus on October 30th.
For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, be sure to follow him on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin.
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