Star Wars: The Mandalorian Trailer Breakdown and Analysis
The Mandalorian trailer is here and we found tons of story hints and Star Wars easter eggs!
The Mandalorian, the new live-action Star Wars series, finally released its first trailer at D23 2019, and it’s an exciting new look at what fans should expect from this grimier corner of the galaxy far, far away. This isn’t the first time Lucasfilm has dropped footage from the show, having released a first look at SWCC, which I watched and documented back in April.
So what’s new in the D23 trailer? I’ve gone through the footage and picked it apart for all of its story hints and Star Wars references. I caught a whole bunch of interesting things but might have missed some, so let me know what you found in the comments below.
Haven’t watched the trailer yet? Give it a look before we get started:
Okay, here’s what I’ve noticed so far:
None of the locations in The Mandalorian have been named yet, so we can’t really call this place Tatooine, and knowing Disney, they’ll probably name this wretched hive of scum and villainy something completely different. The buildings do resemble the ones in Mos Eisley, though…
Anyway, there’s no love for the Empire here, as you can see from all the bloody stormtrooper helmets that welcome the Mandalorian to the neighborhood.
Seriously, why didn’t they just get this village to take on the whole Empire themselves? Anyway, this imagery is a lot gorier than we’re used to seeing in Star Wars. Judging from everything I’ve seen so far, Disney is definitely shooting for a more adult take on the franchise with this series.
Not only is this a beautiful shot — seriously, this trailer has so many great ones — but it’s also our first look at the Razorcrest, the Mando’s ship. I have no idea where he’s flying to here. This forest planet seems to be a new location not featured in the reveal back at SWCC.
A close up of the side of the Razorcrest. The ship was designed by longtime Star Wars art director Doug Chiang.
The Mando seems to be walking through an outpost on the forest planet. Our “hero” enjoys frequenting little outposts like these. Very big Outer Rim energy at all of the locations in this trailer.
Here’s our first look at Carl Weathers as Greef Carga, the head of the bounty hunter guild who sends the Mando on jobs. While he deals in a pretty dirty business, he seems like a nice enough guy!
This scene actually looks like one of the ones first shown at SWCC. The Mando visits Greef for a new bounty and Greef warns him that this specific bounty is very dangerous. Something like that, anyway.
Another amazing shot as the Razorcrest flies over some canyons. I’ll assume this is back on the desert planet.
Our first look at Gina Carano as Cara Dune, a former Rebel shock trooper who now works alongside Mando and Greef. She made a brief appearance in the SWCC footage and trailer, shooting bad guys and getting into a scuffle with the Mandalorian. The fight ends in a draw.
I don’t recognize the alien on the dewback, but I’m sure you guys do, so let me know in the comments. Anyway, it looks like someone killed that other dewback, a species that first appeared in A New Hope. Mando is briefly shown riding on one of these creatures in the SWCC trailer, so I’m going to assume that snippet relates to this scene. The dewback did not fare well.
I have no idea who this is, but this Twi’lek criminal (clearly!) is my favorite part of the trailer. She’s played by Natalia Tena (Game of Thrones). What is she up to with that knife?
This is just a great shot that beckons back to a lot of the Tatooine imagery in A New Hope. Yeesh, this show is going to look so good.
No idea what’s going on here except that this (I assume) mother and her daughter are in danger. There’s a short montage of violence across several of the locations in the trailer, but I’m pointing out this shot specifically because it seems like these characters might actually be somewhat important.
These look like the Imperial death troopers first introduced in Rogue One, but what are they doing in The Mandalorian? After all, the series takes place about five years after the events of Return of the Jedi. Judging from the rest of this trailer and the footage shown at SWCC, not all corners of the galaxy have been freed from the Empire just yet.
We know that an Imperial Remnant still existed in the outskirts of space several years after the Battle of Endor and that not all systems were freed right after the Rebellion’s victory. That took time, which means the outposts in question might still be under Imperial control, although they’re probably not messing with that one village where they behead stormtroopers for fun…
The Mandalorian isn’t playing around when it comes to its Western aesthetic. Here’s Mando about to duel a soon-to-be-dead dude.
Breaking Bad‘s Giancarlo Esposito will undoubtedly steal the show as this Imperial enforcer (?). In the SWCC trailer, he tells those death troopers to “Burn them out,” which doesn’t sound good for whoever is on the receiving end of that order.
Really digging the nod to Return of the Jedi with the speeder bike. This isn’t the exact same model from Episode VI, but still cool. No idea who’s riding the bike, though.
Mandatory AT-ST shooting people down in the middle of the night? Check. This one has seen better days as evidenced by the rusty armor.
IG-11, voiced by Taika Waititi, and the Mandalorian may become yet another legendary duo in the history of Star Wars after Han and Chewie, Poe and Finn, Lando and L3, and Cassian and K2. Here, the two bounty hunters are walking into what looks like a cantina. This is probably not going to end well for whoever is inside…
A good look at the front of the Razercrest. This shot is also confirmation that there will be at least one dogfight on the show. Can’t be Star Wars without a little action in space, after all.
I can’t tell what kind ship is chasing Mando. Might that be a New Republic fighter or something?
A better look at IG-11, as furious a killing machine as his famous sibling, IG-88. I can only assume Waititi will provide some very funny quips during this shootout.
This showdown is ripped straight from one of the scenes first shown at SWCC. Mando pays Werner Herzog’s character a visit. The crime lord is protected by some very worn-looking stormtroopers who surround Mando. When Herzog tells Mando that he’s outnumbered, the bounty hunter delivers his most badass line: “I like those odds.” Spoiler: they don’t end up shooting each other.
A quick scene at SWCC showed Mando walking into a cantina on a snow planet. This seems to correspond to that. Unsurprisingly, the bounty hunter gets into a fight at the local watering hole. That poor Quarren, the other native species of the ocean planet Mon Cala, never knew what hit him. Well, it was a bar table, actually.
Okay, I had to pull this image because of the alien watching the fight go down in the background. I can’t put my finger on what species this is, even though I KNOW I’ve seen it before in another Star Wars story. The dude kind of looks like a Muftak, which first appeared in the cantina scene in A New Hope, but it totally isn’t. If you know what species this is, let me know in the comments!
Like Jango and Boba Fett before him, Mando clearly has some tricks up his sleeves. In this case, it’s a grappling hook that sets up the target for a very gruesome death.
Here’s someone frozen in carbonite. In fact, it looks like there’s a whole lineup of prisoners subjected to the same cruel punishment. I wonder if this has anything to do with a Hutt?
Finally, a look at Werner Herzog’s character, a crime lord with Imperial sensibilities. The scene this is related to sees Herzog reminiscing about the golden age of the Empire and how things have gotten worse in the Outer Rim without the tyrannical government to keep it in check. Judging from the violence in this trailer, things could definitely be better in the farthest reaches of the galaxy…
The Mandalorian premieres on Nov. 12 on Disney+.
Written by
John Saavedra is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Den of Geek. He lives in New York City with his two cats.