All eyes were on Disney tonight as Bob Iger, and the many wings of the Mouse House mega-corporation were on display hawking the various wares of Disney+, the company’s upcoming streaming platform launching on November 12. Pixar, Disney Animation and Marvel made a splash, as did news that “The Simpsons” would join the streaming platform exclusively. But also making major noise was Lucasfilm and its president Kathleen Kennedy, who showed off the first footage of the upcoming “Mandalorian” series and revealed more company secrets.
Wasting no time in her Disney investors presentation, Kennedy unveiled that beginning on day one of Disney+ in November, the first two “Star Wars” trilogies, ‘The Force Awakens’ and ‘Rogue One’, would be available for streaming. The Lucasfilm President said the remaining titles, ‘The Last Jedi’ and the still-untitled “Star Wars: Episode IX”, would eventually join the platform within the first year, presumably during the post-home-video window of ‘Episode IX.’
Speaking of that film, directed by J.J. Abrams and closing out the Skywalker saga that will have spanned forty years, nine movies and creator George Lucas’ main vision, no details were revealed, which may have disappointed some. But remember Star Wars Celebration kicks off tomorrow and the first ‘Episode IX’ trailer and title will likely be revealed by the end of that presentation which starts at noon ET.
Kennedy unmasked some more details about Lucasfilm’s first-ever live-action series, “The Mandalorian,” which completed principal photography earlier this year. Directed by Jon Favreau and originally announced as his show, Kennedy interestingly described it as a partnership between Favreau and Dave Filoni, the creator of the animated “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Star Wars Rebels” as well as the acting supervisor of all animated shows at Lucasfilm. Filoni directed episodes of “The Mandalorian” as well, but his participation in the show had never been stressed in the forefront before.
This may be in part because Mandalorians—the race of warriors thought to be the one Boba Fett is part of (though never quite settled on in canon)—and their mythos was greatly expanded and guided by Filoni on the aforementioned ‘Clone Wars,’ and ‘Rebels’ series. Filoni is an executive producer on the show, but Kennedy described it as a creative “partnership.”
“Jon Favreau, the director of ‘Iron Man,’ has created the show and partnered with our very own Dave Filoni,” Kennedy said. “Dave was the director of our animated series ‘Clone Wars’ and ‘Rebels.’ The combined talents of Jon and Dave have given us something truly special, and I’m excited to announce that ‘The Mandalorian’ will be available at launch on Disney+.”
READ MORE: ‘Star Wars’ Cassian Andor Live-Action Series, A ‘Rogue One’ Prequel, Announced By Disney
Kennedy also disclosed that the untitled Cassian Andor show, starring Diego Luna reprising his role from “Star Wars: Rogue One” has already started shooting. Luna is also an executive producer on the show. The series is a prequel set before the events of ‘Rogue One’ (spoiler: all those new characters die in the film), and Kennedy revealed that Alan Tudyk would reprise his motion-capture role as the Imperial-droid-reprogrammed-as-Rebel-spy K-2S0 on the show. Tudyk is scheduled to appear at Star Wars Celebration this weekend in Chicago, so perhaps more shall be revealed.
READ MORE: Star Wars & Disney+ Rumors Begin To Swirl: Obi-Wan Kenobi As Series?
Stephen Schiff, known for “The Americans,” is the showrunner and Kennedy described the untitled show as a “thrilling spy series set in the Star Wars universe.”
Fans should note, while she didn’t name names, Kennedy teased that “several more live-action series are in development” and she also promoted the upcoming new season of “fan favorite ‘Clone Wars’ and many more stories to come.” What that last “more stories to come” bit is referencing is unclear, but some fans could read that as a tease for a sequel to “Star Wars Rebels,” which ended with a question mark, and a tease for a continued next chapter story. As for those additional live-action series? An ‘Obi-Wan‘ series is rumored, as are many more tiles, and those details could be revealed during Celebration, but something tells me Lucasfilm will want to save further announcements for either Comic-Con or D23 and not spill all the tea right away.