The Mandalorian: The Force Is Strong With This One
https://www.starwars.com/news/the-mandalorian-revealed
A Long Time Ago...
We have been waiting to hear about the Star Wars live-action series since it was announced in March of 2018. Heck, we've been waiting for this for longer than that. George Lucas had ideas for live-action TV long ago, but there wasn't a budget to support what he had in mind. Now that Disney has taken hold of the franchise, the financial strains are a lot less, and we are seeing these new projects come to life. Some have been great, while others have been controversial, but here's why I think the Force is strong with The Mandalorian.
A Warrior Race
Ever since we saw Boba Fett for the first time in The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 (technically we saw Boba Fett in the Holiday Special, but he didn't really come to life until he hit the silver screen), we have been obsessed with the Mandalorian armour. With just a few lines of dialogue, Boba Fett became a favourite due to his mysterious and, quite frankly, cool appearance.
With the prequels, we finally had some insight into where this Boba Fett character came from. However, some were disappointed by the blatant explanation of the character. We liked this mystery behind Boba and had developed concepts in our mind. Still, it was not clear who these Mandalorians were.
Then with the addition of the Clone Wars and Rebels animated shows, we got a deeper look into the Mandalorian history and culture. This "warrior race" became even more prevalent in the Star Wars universe. And just when we thought we had enough of Mandalore, we will soon be seeing The Mandalorian.
But, this is a good thing. Even though the main character is not Boba Fett. I believe that we will start to see the "re-masking" of the Mandalorian character. Perhaps it will be a grittier, more mysterious look at what one Mandalorian can do, and become.
Stars Aligning
Regardless of the premise or any preconceived ideas, I believe that this show will be great for one reason (other than it being Star Wars), and that is Dave Filoni. He became a prominent name in Star Wars with his directing skills in The Clone Wars TV series, and then continued to become successful with Rebels. Filoni has an excellent track record, but he also has a unique understanding of the Force, which can be easily missed in Star Wars.
Dave Filoni worked closely with George Lucas, and understands the original vision of Star Wars that we all grew up loving as children. Hint: Watch The Empire Strikes Back Blu-ray special features. In one of the documentaries, not only will you see Filoni doodling while in a meeting with George Lucas, but you will also hear one of the best descriptions of the Force right from the creator's mouth.
The Force may not play a crowd-facing role in a Mandalorian series; however, we know from films, such as Rogue One and Solo that the Force is always at work behind the scenes.
A New Dawn
A live-action series is something new for Star Wars, so there is going to be some friction with regards to our expectations; however, the team and premise have the potential to bring us back to a galaxy far, far away and get us excited about Mandalorians once again.