Given that it takes place in the 30-year space between Return Of The Jedi and The Force Awakens, it's natural that Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian would poke into corners that have largely gone unexplored. One of those is how the First Order, the big bad of the current trilogy, rose to power.
The origins of the dangerous bunch of Imperial wannabes have been somewhat explored in the books Star Wars: Aftermath and Star Wars: Bloodline, but The Mandalorian promises to take on even more detail, looking at the largely lawless state of some galaxy corners after the fall of the Empire. It's in one of those backwaters that the titular character plys his trade as a bounty hunter.
"This doesn’t turn into a good guy universe because you blew up two Death Stars," Mandalorian director Dave Filoni tells Entertainment Weekly. "You get that the Rebels won and they’re trying to establish a Republic, but there’s no way that could have set in for everybody all at once. You have in a Western where you’re out on the frontier and there might be Washington and they might have some marshals, but sometimes good luck finding one."
"Also, what could happen in the 30 years between celebrating the defeat of the Empire and then the First Order?” adds showrunner Jon Favreau. “You come in on Episode VII, they're not just starting out. They’re pretty far along."
As EW points out, Giancarlo Esposito plays a former Imperial governor who finds himself adrift in the wake of the Empire's downfall. So perhaps he might be a player in setting up a new threat.
With Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Werner Herzog, Nick Nolte, Ming-Na Wen and Carl Weathers also in the cast, The Mandalorian arrives on Disney+ for its launch day in the US, 12 November. We still have no official date for the streaming service to arrive in the UK, though the company has said it'll be some time next year. You can find the latest trailer right here.