The Mandalorian Trailer Review

We are just a couple of months away from the release of the Disney+ streaming service, and D23 finally gave the public a first look at The Mandalorian with a teaser trailer. Star Wars Celebration had a sizzle reel and footage, but this was only for those in the panel to see and was never released to the public – unless you count some bad quality videos from people’s phones.

As the first live-action Star Wars show since Disney took over, there is a lot riding on this show, but judging by the trailer we are in good hands. The visuals look stunning and at a level that would not look out of place on the big screen. The music is brilliant and really adds to the western vibes that are being thrown out by the visuals, with scenes like the standoff and the titular Mandalorian walking alone in the desert.

I also really like how the tone of this feels much darker than most of the Star Wars content, in a way very reminiscent to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is still my favourite of the Disney-era movies. The visuals themselves look dark and gritty, but the fight in the bar and especially what appears to be killing a mark by closing a door on him is fantastic! The initial shots of the bloodied stormtrooper helmets impaled on spears immediately shows that we’re watching something for a more mature audience.

As for the plot, it is hard to get much of an idea what is going on from this trailer, which I really like as I’m enjoying the mystery from this being a new set of characters and a largely unexplored time and place. Not having The Mandalorian speak in this trailer does a great job of keeping the mystery, but I am sure that he will speak in the show due to the fact they got an actor as accomplished as Pedro Pascal to play him, though I am less sure if we will see his face at any point.

It looks like we are seeing 2, maybe 3 different planets in this trailer, and the appearance of a Blurrg in one shot and a Twi’lek in another makes me wonder if one of these planets will be our first live-action look at Ryloth. The cantina/bar that we see in the trailer also looks very different from the ones we have seen in the movies and appears a much less hospitable venue, which matches what we have seen of the show.

“Bounty hunting is a complicated profession. Don’t you agree?”

I also really like the use of the Empire in this trailer. It looks like they may be one of the main antagonists within the season and from the footage we see and the appearance of death troopers, it suggests that these forces may actually prove somewhat of a challenge to the protagonists – again similar to Rogue One. It looks like we will get some great information on bounty hunters, the Guild and how they work too, judging by the shot of what looks to be 4 bounties frozen in carbonite.

IG-11 looks great in this trailer (if this is anything to go by I will need to update my Top 10 Droids list) and knowing that Taika Waititi is voicing him gets me very excited, while I also liked getting to see Cara Dune & Greef Carga, but again just in quick shots that give us limited context. Likewise, I’m very interested to find out who the woman and child in the water are – are they potential bounties? It’s also great to see some familiar races like Quarren and Twi’leks appearing in the show.

Personally, I am so so hyped for this show and can’t wait to watch it.

But therein lies the problem. While The Mandalorian may be releasing on Disney+ on November 12^th, there has so far been no news on when Disney+ will be available in the UK. Suggestions are that the UK will get the streaming service in Early 2020 and while this has not been confirmed, the fact that we have had no news makes a 2019 release highly unlikely. I don’t want to sound like an entitled fan, but for such a big release, I do not understand why there is not more clarity around this and how Disney expects us to wait months for the show while avoiding spoilers. Hopefully we hear something from Disney soon to make me feel more positive about this.

What do you think of the trailer?

Thanks for reading. May the Force be with you…