Star Wars: The Mandalorian Will Explain the Origin of the First Order

The original Star Wars trilogy ended with the destruction of the villainous Empire, but the evil of the galaxy didn’t take too much of a break. Just 30 years later, at the start of The Force Awakens, the First Order had already become an established force, striking fear in the hearts of people across multiple worlds. To this point, there hasn’t been much explanation in the Star Wars canon how the First Order was established, or rose to power, but that looks to change in the upcoming TV series, The Mandalorian.

Arriving on Disney+ launch day as a streaming exclusive, The Mandalorian comes from the creative minds of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni. The series is set after the events of The Empire Strikes Back and follows a group of bounty hunters. While the narrative of The Mandalorian isn’t directly about the Empire, the Rebellion, the Resistance, or the First Order, it will offer some insight into the changing of the guard throughout the galaxy.

Filoni and Favreau spoke with EW about the first live-action Star Wars series, which premieres in just a couple of months, and explained how the time period where The Mandalorian is set allows for some exploration of the First Order’s meteoric rise.

“This doesn’t turn into a good guy universe because you blew up two Death Stars,” Filoni said. “You get that the Rebels won and they’re trying to establish a Republic, but there’s no way that could have set in for everybody all at once. You have in a Western where you’re out on the frontier and there might be Washington and they might have some marshals, but sometimes good luck finding one.”

“Also, what could happen in the 30 years between celebrating the defeat of the Empire and then the First Order?” added Favreau. “You come in on Episode VII, [the First Order are] not just starting out. They’re pretty far along.”

The Mandalorian looks to be a much more grounded, smaller-scale venture than the Star Wars feature films, but it will still cover the vast range of political unrest exists within the greater franchise universe. In other words, it’ll be Star Wars through and through.

Are you looking forward to The Mandalorian? Let us know in the comments!

The Mandalorian will premiere on November 12th, the same day as the launch of the Disney+ streaming service.