Not much is known about The First Order, the primary antagonists of the current “Star Wars” trilogy that debuted in “The Force Awakens.” The upcoming Disney+ series, “The Mandalorian,” will help explain where the villainous dictatorship came from.
“What could happen in the 30 years between celebrating the defeat of the Empire and then the First Order?” showrunner Jon Favreau told Entertainment Weekly. “You come in on ‘Episode VII,’ [the First Order are] not just starting out. They’re pretty far along.”
The First Order grew from the ashes of the Galactic Empire — as explained in 2015’s “The Force Awakens” — led by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and his apprentice Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Following the events of 2017’s “The Last Jedi,” Kylo Ren is now Supreme Leader after murdering Snoke with Rey’s lightsaber.
“The Mandalorian” is set roughly five years after the events of “Return of the Jedi,” when the galaxy is still digging through the rubble of fallen Empire. Dave Filoni, who directed the pilot episode, teased that the fall of Empire had some unintended consequences.
“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.”
The first-ever live-action TV series set in the “Star Wars” universe stars Pedro Pascal as a Boba Fett-like bounty hunter in the outer reaches of the galaxy, far from the authority of the New Republic.
“The Mandalorian” is one of the debut series for Disney+, the company’s upcoming streaming service. The service will launch on Nov. 12 and costs $6.99 a month. Unlike Netflix, all Disney+ episodes will be rolled out weekly. The series stars Nick Nolte, Werner Herzog, Gina Carano, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Swallow, Carl Weathers and Omid Abtahi. Bryce Dallas Howard, Taika Waititi, Rick Famuyiwa and Deborah Chow directed episodes of the series.