Second series of 'Star Wars' TV spin-off already in the works

With the new version of The Lion King finally hitting cinemas next week, you’d think Jon Favreau, the film’s director, would be pretty busy. But as it turns out, he still has time to sit down and write the second season of new Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian.

He broke the news when chatting to Jimmy Kimmel this week, while promoting The Lion King. The chat show host asked Favreau if he was allowed to spill the beans about the new project, to which the Iron Man actor/director said, “it’s secret but I’ll tell you.”

“I’m writing part of the second season now. The empire’s gone and all hell’s breaking lose. It’s all about the scum and villainy, as chaos takes over. It’s kind of like when you meet Han Solo at the beginning of New Hope.”

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The TV series, which is destined to start on Disney+ in the US in the autumn, is set after the end of The Return of the Jedi and will star Pedro Pascal as a Mandalorian bounty hunter. Pascal is known to audiences for his turns in Game of Thrones and Narcos.

Favreau revealed a little more about the project to Collider magazine.

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“I wanted to do a Star Wars TV show like The Mandalorian and pitched it to them and they were very open to it. I even wrote four episodes before I even was hired to do it because I was excited as a fan to see what these stories might be and see if they were interested in doing what I was interested in, which they were. And I was actually writing Season 2 this morning before I came here.”