Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 3 to Begin Filming Before End of Year

The second season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian is set to premiere on Disney+ at the end of the month, bringing Din Djarin and the Child — ahem, Baby Yoda — back to the streaming service a year after the series' debut. Fans are eager to see what new adventures the bounty hunter will embark on in the galaxy far, far away. But a season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian typically consists of eight episodes, so it will be a short two months and another long wait before we get new content. Thankfully, Lucasfilm and showrunner Jon Favreau are already planning for the future.

During an interview with Variety, Favreau confirmed Star Wars: The Mandalorian will begin production very soon. The filmmaker said they're moving forward to roll cameras "before the end of the year" despite the limitations of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We're operating under the assumption that we'll be able to go forward," said Favreau, pointing out that Industrial Light & Magic's StageCraft production technique allows for safer protocol for cast and crew.

"We're in very small situations and oftentimes we have a lot of characters in masks," Favreau added. "And we also have a lot of digital work that augments things. So we're a show that's probably well-equipped to be flexible based on the protocols that are emerging surrounding work restarting."

Asked if there are plans to expand Star Wars: The Mandalorian into its own franchise with spinoffs and side projects, Favreau was hopeful at the possibilities but remained committed to the flagship Disney+ series.

"I love the world of 'Star Wars' because, on the one hand, there's a familiarity with this sub-genre, but there's also a tremendous amount of flexibility of which way you can go and genres you could explore within that sub-genre," Favreau said. "As we're meeting new characters, and as we're starting to hit our stride, from a production standpoint with how this technology can be used, we are beginning to explore where we could go."

Favreau, who became a blockbuster filmmaker with his work on Iron Man and Iron Man 2 for Marvel Studios, has taken his experiences and applied them to the Star Wars galaxy.

"I learned a lot from my experience over at Marvel, where it was very organic, how it would evolve," he said. "You're paying attention to a larger story arcs and characters that could come together, but also smaller stories of individual characters that could go off [on their own thing]. The key here is keep maintaining the quality and never scaling to the point that we're losing sight of what's important to us and what people like about the show."

Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 2 premieres on Disney+ on October 30th.