The Mandalorian season 2 may include characters from the Skywalker saga

It’s official: The Mandalorian is a hit on Disney+. Demand is high, everybody is talking about Baby Yoda, and Disney is already going ahead with a second season, because they know we want more. Even better, we’re going to get that second season later this year, as creator Jon Favreau revealed on Twitter!

As for what that second season will entail, we’re not sure. At the end of season 1, the titular Mandalorian started on a new journey: look after Baby Yoda (or “the Child,” as the show would rather we call him) until he can find his people. Is there a planet of Yodas somewhere out there? It’s unexplored territory, which makes it an exciting place for the show to go.

That’s why this next bit is kind of concerning. Talking about the second season, Deadline had this to say:

"Insiders have hinted that several established characters from the Skywalker saga’s feature films mythology will make appearances during the show’s sophomore season."

First things first: while this is a rumor, it comes from Deadline, which is an extremely reliable industry publication. They don’t report things just to report them.

The reason this has me concerned is that The Mandalorian has been really successful so far in part because it hasn’t tied itself overmuch to the existing Star Wars mythology. Our lead character is someone we’ve never met before. His allies are people we’ve never met before. His enemies are people we’ve never met before. That’s gives the show an extra shock of tension, because we really don’t know what’s going to happen.

I’m afraid that will go away if the show starts incorporating “legacy characters.” The Mandalorian is set after Return of the Jedi but before The Force Awakens. While it’d be fun to see people like Chewbacca or Admiral Holdo or Supreme Leader Snoke or whoever, if they end up becoming an important part of the story, the tension could go away because we already know where they end up.

Actually, I don’t even like the idea of them showing up for cameos. The weakest episode of The Mandalorian season 1 was the fan service-heavy “The Gunslinger,” which took place on Tatooine because…well, pretty much because the producers wanted an episode on Tatooine, because it’s familiar. I’d like the second season to get away from that kind of episode, not embrace it.

By the way, commenter John W. noted that the statue Favreau included in his tweet looks a lot like the green pig guards at Jabba’s Palace, only more naked.

If by “established characters,” the “insiders” at Deadline mean members of some alien race we’ve only seen in passing, I guess I’d be fine with that.

I feel like Favreau and his team have a pretty good grip on what makes the show good and wouldn’t let it become a hokey fan service fest. Or at least, I hope they do. We won’t know for sure until new episodes drop later this year!

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