Disney’s Bob Iger updates on The Mandalorian S2, says the future of Star Wars is on TV

As we heard yesterday, Disney+ is doing well at the moment with over 28 million subscribers already signed up to the House of Mouse’s streaming service. A whopping 10 million of that came from day one signups alone! And based on the tone of Disney CEO Bob Iger’s update during an investor’s conference call on Tuesday, it would seem that “a certain child” breakout star definitely helped with those numbers. That child being the tiny, green, and unbelievably cute “Baby Yoda” from The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars TV series that was the premium flagship title on Disney+’s launch.

The Jon Favreau created series following Pedro Pascal’s titular armoured bounty hunter and the mysterious young alien child he has to first find and then protect has been a huge hit with fans across its eight-episode first season. Before being dethroned by Netflix’s The Witcher, The Mandalorian was the most “in-demand” TV series in the world (which stood in contrast to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which had a lukewarm reception during the same period). That first season wrapped up on 27 December though and fans have been wondering when they can get their next fix (especially after that big surprise in the end – no spoilers here!), and now we have an answer: According to Iger, The Mandalorian season two will debut on Disney+ in October of this year!

That’s actually a way shorter turnaround than normal for a show of this scale, but not surprising seeing as how Favreau and co already started production back in October 2019 already. While story specifics for The Mandalorian are still being kept under wraps, Iger teased an interesting development though. Explaining during the call that the immediate future of Star Wars is on TV rather than big theatrical releases, Iger indicated that this could all start with The Mandalorian.

[There’s the] possibility of infusing [The Mandalorian] with more characters and taking those characters in their own direction in terms of series.

These characters could be existing ones from the larger Star Wars universe or new ones that may prove popular. Either way, Disney wants to capitalize on The Mandalorian’s buzz. Of course, we already have some other Star Wars series on the way, with the long-gestating (and possibly troubled?) Obi-Wan series starring Ewan McGregor, and the Rogue One prequel spinoff focusing on Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor.

While Rogue One was a very successful start to Disney’s plans for standalone Star Wars feature films, Solo promptly derailed those plans. With that, Iger feels that there isn’t much demand for these. However, some of those planned feature film ideas could be retooled into prestige TV series a la The Mandalorian. There are currently still plans for Star Wars feature films though with a new trilogy (possibly set in the newly revealed High Republic Era) pencilled to kick-off in 2022, another trilogy possibly coming later from The Last Jedi’s Rian Johnson, and Marvel’s Kevin Feige producing his own film. Up until then though, we may be feeling the Force in our living rooms.

Last Updated: February 6, 2020