The anticipation for the second season of The Mandalorian is already sky-high as the premiere inches closer. Given that's the case, marketing for the Star Wars series has ramped up in recent weeks, providing fans with in-depth looks at the characters and storylines for the upcoming season.
It was heavily rumored that the sophomore run of The Mandalorian will feature a wide array of surprise characters such as Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett, and Sabine Wren. Despite that, these characters are largely absent from the previously-released trailers and TV spots for the show, potentially hinting that Disney and Lucasfilm are saving the big reveals when episodes eventually drop on Disney+.
This should explain the studio's decision to not move forward with press screeners for the second season. Still, due to the vast presence of social media, several leaks from the upcoming season of The Mandalorian have already popped up, ultimately revealing the potential runtime of the show's first episode. Along with the reveal, it seems that another clue has surfaced about the setting of the aforementioned episode.
NEWS
From the same Reddit post that shared the runtime of the first episode of The Mandalorian Season 2, a still image was shown, and it seemingly reveals that Tatooine will likely serve as the main setting of the season premiere.
The image features Din Djarin inside a cantina (potentially Mos Eisley), and he is seen talking to an unnamed bartender.
WHAT THIS MEANS
Tatooine is an iconic Star Wars location due to its heavy ties with the Skywalker lineage from the films, and it's good to know that The Mandalorian is going back once more to the place where it all started. Interestingly, the desert planet was previously featured during the fifth episode of the debut season of The Mandalorian, and there's a good chance that a notable character in the form of Fennec Shand (Ming Na-Wen) could potentially return.
During the final moments of the fifth episode entitled "Chapter 5: The Gunslinger," Shand was seemingly killed by another bounty hunter, Toro Calican, and her body was approached by a mysterious figure. Given that this is one story thread that wasn't addressed during the first season, it would make narrative sense for the show to dive deeper into this mystery during the first episode of the upcoming season.
While it's unclear how The Mandalorian will resolve this plot point, a previous casting report may shed some light on how it all ties together. It was reported that Timothy Olyphant had joined the cast of the second season, but details about his role were nearly non-existent.
However, Slash Film previously reported that Olyphant had filmed scenes wearing Boba Fett's armor, seemingly hinting that the actor will play Cobb Vanth, a self-appointed sheriff from Tatooine who wears a mysterious set of Mandalorian armor. By connecting the dots, it is likely that Vanth was the mysterious figure seen during the final moments of the fifth episode of the first season, and it seems that the sophomore run of the show will address this head-on, setting up a potential clash between Mando and Tatooine's sheriff.
It is also important to note that Boba Fett was last seen in the desert planet during the events of Return of the Jedi, and previous tie-in comics and rumors suggest that the character survived his encounter with the Sarlacc. While this is pure speculation at this point, it's safe to say that fans will witness an action-packed first episode of the latest season while also setting up the potential debut of both Boba Fett and Cobb Vanth from the get-go.
