The Mandalorian season 2 release date – Disney+ series' cast, plot, trailer and latest news

If fans thought Christmas had come early with the live action debut for Ahsoka Tano and the epic return of Boba Fett, this year we can only imagine the reaction that awaits The Mandalorian series finale.

After The Mandalorian release schedule stuck rigidly to only one episode per week, all eight are now available to feast on.

If you haven't been watching already, you'll need a subscription to Disney+ which costs £5.99 a month or £59.99 for a year. Sign up to Disney+ now.

Alternatively, if you just need a recap of The Mandalorian season one or you're wondering when The Mandalorian is set, we've got the answers for you in that department also.

You can read our The Mandalorian review for season two, episode eight (beware spoilers!) – and here's all your other essential information about the latest episodes.

The Mandalorian season 2 release date

The Mandalorian season two premiered on Disney+ on Friday 30th October.

Unlike with season one, fans in the UK didn't have to wait longer for the second season than our friends across the pond, meaning it was much easier to avoid spoilers.

The Mandalorian once again followed a weekly release schedule, with new episodes released on Fridays at 8:00am GMT across two-month stretch – the finale episode arrived on Disney+ on Friday 18th December.

Fortunately, production on these episodes wasn't severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, as filming had wrapped by the time COVID-19 began rapidly spreading.

"We were lucky enough to have finished photography before the lockdown," said showrunner Jon Favreau during a virtual panel for the ATX Television Festival.

"Thanks to how technology-forward Lucasfilm and ILM are, we have been able to do all of our visual effects and editing and postproduction remotely through systems that had been set up by those companies for us."

Favreau originally confirmed the start of shooting with an Instagram post on 13th November 2019, barely a day after the series premiered in the United States.

Furthermore, it's been reported that a third season of The Mandalorian is already in the works at Disney+, with Jon Favreau busy working on new scripts during lockdown.

The Mandalorian season 2 cast

The Mandalorian cast is led by Pedro Pascal as the eponymous character, also known as Din Djarin, who famously never takes off his helmet in front of another living soul.

Returning actors from the first season include Carl Weathers as bounty hunter boss Greef Karga, Gina Carano as ex-soldier Cara Dune and Giancarlo Esposito as the formidable Moff Gideon.

“It’s so exciting for me to be in a show where I can wear a cape and own it, and where I can have a lightsaber and really own it,” Esposito said of his villainous role, which will see him battle with legendary Star Wars weapon the Darksaber.

And Pedro Pascal hinted in an interview with Variety that he spent a lot more time on set in season two than in season one, in which he provided a lot of voiceover work while stuntmen were in the suit.

In the same interview, Pascal was asked how he felt essentially being the face of the Star Wars franchise, to which he replied, “I mean, come on, there isn’t a face! If you want to say, ‘You’re the silhouette’ — which is also a team effort — then, yeah.”

Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) also appears as Mandalorian warrior Bo-Katan Kryze, a role she previously played on animated shows The Clone Wars and Rebels.

She was joined by WWE star Sasha Banks (credited as Mercedes Varnado) and Simon Kassianides (Agents of SHIELD) as her warrior associates.

Justified star Timothy Olyphant pops up in the first episode as Tatooine marshal Cobb Vanth, first introduced in a series of Star Wars novels - and wearing some very recognisable armour.

Indeed, to the delight of fans, Attack of the Clones star Temuera Morrison has returned to Star Wars as original trilogy bounty hunter Boba Fett, and he wants his Mandalorian gear back.

Sin City's Rosario Dawson is bringing another fan-favourite character to live-action – Jedi knight Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker's former apprentice and another key figure in the Clone Wars and Rebels TV shows.

Horatio Sanz also returns as Mythrol in season two, AKA the blue guy from the very first episode, while John Leguizamo is unrecognisable as the voice of Gor Koresh in Chapter 9: The Marshal. Oh, and comedian Bill Burr also made a comeback as sharpshooter Migs Mayfeld in another heist episode.

Finally, Aliens and Terminator actor Michael Biehn joined the cast for the excellent fifth episode as a bounty hunter who stands in opposition to Mando and his Jedi friend.

The Mandalorian season 2 trailer

Teasing a hunt for Jedi across the stars the new footage showed us Mando and The Child taking on new challenges, fighting their way through the worst scum and villainy the galaxy has to offer and enjoying a lot of scenic spaceship rides.

Plus, Baby Yoda knows how to use buttons now! They grow up so fast.

And in October, a second trailer arrived – with a 60-second teaser showing the Razor Crest crashing on an ice planet, after being chased by X-Wing fighters.

It also saw Mando reunited with Gina Carano’s Cara Dune and Carl Weathers’ Greef Karga, whom he informs, "I’m here on business, I need your help – I’ve been quested to bring this one back to its kind.”

And the bounty hunter is as loyal as ever to good old Baby Yoda – informing an antagonising alien creature that “Wherever I go, he goes.”

The Mandalorian season 2 plot

The Mandalorian season two has now wrapped up and saw lots of exciting new developments.

Mando was scouring the galaxy looking for clues as to where The Child comes from, a journey that saw him cross paths with Cobb Vanth, Bo-Katan Kryze, Ahsoka Tano and Boba Fett.

This being The Mandalorian, there were also some entertaining detours, including one scary encounter with a nest of giant alien spiders (arachnophobes may wish to skip that episode) and an extra heist or two.

Generally, the series has maintained its format of relatively self-contained episodes, but we are saw continuing themes and plot threads emerge – just as showrunner Jon Favreau had promised prior to the premiere.

He told EW: “The new season is about introducing a larger story in the world. The stories become less isolated, yet each episode has its own flavour, and hopefully we’re bringing a lot more scope to the show.”

We also built up to a big confrontation with Giancarlo Esposito's villain Moff Gideon, an ex-Imperial officer who has finally captured The Child for his own nefarious purposes.

Esposito had previously hinted at the match-up prior to the finale airing.

“I’ll be going toe-to-toe with Mando,” he said. “It’s an iconic battle. I want to disarm him mentally as well.

"Who knows? Maybe there’s an opportunity to get him to fight some battles for me. You may think I’m a villain, but I’m trying to harness some energy and some powers for a path that could be best for all. You'll get to see him be somewhat diplomatic and more of a manipulator."

How did coronavirus affect The Mandalorian?

Not too badly, actually – as noted above, season two had already completed filming before the pandemic-induced lockdown, and postproduction continued remotely meaning the series returned more or less one year on from its original US airdate.

And looking ahead to the next season, the future's also looking bright. Showrunner Jon Favreau revealed that the show's "virtual sets", which are explained in behind-the-scenes documentary Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, are a major advantage in today's difficult landscape.

Favreau told The Hollywood Reporter: "The fact that the set is much more contained is a benefit, because you can limit the number of people... The amount of people near the camera could be much smaller than [usual].

"We also shoot a lot outside, which is helpful, too. We build to a moment in filming more like an animated production, where we have a lot of storyboards, a lot of discussions and scouting in virtual reality."

Apparently, the only difficulty from the lockdown was recording the orchestral soundtrack, which instead had to be put together using considerable ingenuity.

“We had to have people either recording remotely, or in much smaller groups, distanced very far apart,” Favreau said. “I’m hearing the music now as we’re mixing episodes, and it’s remarkable what they were able to achieve under the circumstances."

So, it's quite possible that any delays on The Mandalorian's future production may not be quite as drastic as some other television shows have suffered, a relief for fans excited to see what's in store.

The Mandalorian season 2 news

Ahsoka in The Mandalorian season 2

Season two of The Mandalorian sees Rosario Dawson (Daredevil) take on the role of Ahsoka Tano, a central character from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.

The Jedi Knight finally made her first appearance in season two's fifth episode, written and directed by Clone Wars mastermind Dave Filoni.

And Dawson will be returning to play the character in another new spin-off series titled Ashoka – one of many new Star Wars series announced at Disney's 2020 invested meeting in December.

Is Boba Fett in The Mandalorian season 2?

Temuera Morrison, who played Jango Fett in the Star Wars prequels, returned for The Mandalorian's season two premiere in an extremely brief cameo as his cloned son, Boba.

The last time we saw Boba he was plummeting into the mouth of the deadly Sarlacc in Return of the Jedi, but it appears that he found his way out of that agonising death trap.

The enduring cult fanbase behind Boba Fett was essentially the inspiration for The Mandalorian, so it was no surprise to see the character return at length for the final three episodes of season two.

And in future news, it's been confirmed that The Mandalorian season three is now on its way – so the adventures seem to just be beginning.

• For the latest news and expert tips on getting the best deals this year, take a look at our Black Friday 2021 and Cyber Monday 2021 guides.

The Mandalorian character posters

Disney Plus revealed a slate of brand new The Mandalorian character posters featuring four of the main characters.

First up, Pedro Pascal's title character, whose armour is looking particularly suave here, if we do say so ourselves.

Next, we have his pint-sized companion, The Child - better known by the nickname Baby Yoda.

Carl Weathers returns as Greef Karga in the next poster, who allied himself with Mando in a daring confrontation on Tatooine in the first season.

Last but not least, Gina Carano's ex-soldier Cara Dune is also back in the fray for season two, looking just as formidable as ever.

How to watch The Mandalorian in the UK

As with season one, The Mandalorian is available on Disney's new streaming service Disney+.

The service launched in the UK back in March, with both seasons of the Star Wars spin-off available to binge there now, alongside all nine movies and acclaimed animated offering The Clone Wars.

The Mandalorian season 2 directors

After mostly writing and producing the previous season, Jon Favreau himself has taken on a directing role this season.

"We’re working on season two, writing, prepping with the directors and getting ready to direct myself, actually," Jon Favreau told Entertainment Weekly in September 2019. "I didn’t get a chance the last time around because I was doing Lion King. So I’ll step in for one of them."

Check out the directors below.

• Jon Favreau: The Lion King, The Jungle Book, Iron Man
• Carl Weathers: Hawaii Five-O, A Burger and a Bullet and The Mandalorian's Greef Carga actor
• Robert Rodriguez: From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids, Sin City, Alita: Battle Angel
• Peyton Reed: The Break Up, Yes Man, Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp
• Bryce Dallas Howard: The Mandalorian season one, Jurassic World actor

Jojo Rabbit director Taika Waititi did not return to helm any season two episodes, instead taking on a new Star Wars movie project.

Will there be spin-offs from The Mandalorian?

Yes!

Disney has revealed that two direct spin-offs – an Ahsoka series starring Rosario Dawson and a drama following the New Republic Rangers (AKA the X-Wing pilots) who have appeared in a handful of episodes, titled Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic – will be coming to Disney+, alongside series set in other Star Wars time periods like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor and another new series based on Boba Fett.

Meanwhile, Disney+ has also launched a companion series, Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, which offers fans a behind-the-scenes look at the hit series, with Jon Favreau telling stories about the making of the show.
The Mandalorian is streaming now on Disney+ – check out our list of the best shows on Disney+ or see what else is on with our TV Guide.