Are we talking about the Mando or Clone Wars? If The Mando, I loved the first season. Like you, I hope they keep it simple. When a show's a success they usually increase the budget and cram more STUFF in it (see: The Matrix 2 & 3). Less is more with The Mando.
I was referring to The Mandalorian. Your Matrix example is exactly what concerns me about all the casting announcements, like the Matrix they might be going too big. Rosario Dawson (Ashoka Tano), Temuera Morrison (Boba Fett) Katee Sackhoff, Michael Biehn, and now Timothy Olyphant indicates the next season is going to have a lot of star power (no pun intended) I just hope it's not too much.
The Mandos wear helmets and there are lots of alien characters. I don't see the need for star power, I'm sure you agree. With today's entertainment, as a rule, it sucks. When by some fluke it doesn't suck, they go in and make it suck.
STAR WARS: Lucasfilm Reportedly Looking To Cast A Live-Action Ezra Bridger For Post-REBELS Series In recent weeks, we've heard a lot about Disney and Lucasfilm's plans to expand the world of Star Wars on Disney+ and, thus far, it appears the plan is to bring a number of animated fan-favourites to a live-action setting. In The Mandalorian season two, we'll be spending time with Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, and possibly even Sabine Wren, but what comes next for those characters? Well, it's already been reported that Ahsoka could end up with her own live-action spinoff, while there have been rumblings about some sort of animated follow-up to Star Wars Rebels. Now, though, it appears as if that could actually end up being a live-action series as The Illuminerdi is reporting that Lucasfilm is looking to cast Ezra Bridger. It's said that he might just end up being the new face of the Star Wars Universe moving forward, and he's obviously a character who could be used to fill the gap between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. The site says that Lucasfilm is looking for a male actor between the ages of 30 - 40. They're specifically looking for actors of Asian descent, but are open to Indian, Latino, or Middle Eastern performers too. This casting is for a Disney+ TV show, though reportedly not a future season of The Mandalorian.
This really should be exciting news...........but that little thing about filling in the gap means it suffers the same fatal flaw that all prequels do, it is pinned in by the events that we already know happen after it takes place. This show would only be truly interesting if Lucasfilm decided that it takes place in its own "pocket" galaxy that is in semi-separate continuity from the Skywalker films.
Based on the success & popularity of both the Clone Wars & Rebels animated series, I think they could pull it off. If they minimize any direct ties to the original & prequel live action movies as much as possible & focus on Ezra & his story, it should be fine. Biggest problem with the Star Wars franchise has always been the Skywalkers & anything connected to them being the primary & driving focus for everything. Now that the "Skywalker Saga" is over & done with they have free reign to focus on other characters & events in that universe not centered on that "Saga".
True, I think it could end up being a good series. In fact, even though it's technically a prequel I think The Mandalorian is the best live-action Star Wars since Rogue One. However, the issue I have is that no matter how awesome The Mandalorian or this new series turns out, we already know that nothing they do matters to the Jedi or to the rest of the galaxy because the Skywalker saga makes no mention of them. I personally don't particularly like stories where you already know what can and can't happen at the end. What I want from Star Wars from here onward are stories that take place so far in the past that it doesn't even remotely connect to "modern" continuity or stories that take place so far in the future that the new characters never even heard of Luke, Darth Vader or Rey.
They did a shit job on a lot of levels with various things in the movies. The Rebel Alliance, the New Republic & the Resistance were all portrayed IMO as weak & incompetent opposition/alternatives to the Galactic Empire. The fact that the movies made it seemed like all the Jedi with the exception of Obi-Wan & Yoda were entirely wiped out never held up to me. Then of course we find out in other media outside of the movies there were a few other Jedi or Padawans that had survived Order 66. And then don't get me started on how they totally fucked up/not mention the concept of other Force Sensitives outside of the Jedi/Sith Orders being around in the universe until Rebels came out. All those things could have been fleshed out more/built up or touch upon to give more depth to the Skywalker Saga.
STAR WARS: Disney Rumored To Be Casting Grand Admiral Thrawn For Live-Action Series It was probably only a matter of time before this rumor did the rounds, but it's now being reported that Disney is in the process of casting Grand Admiral Thrawn for one of the upcoming Disney+ shows. According to The DisInsider, Disney is currently searching for an actor to bring the fan-favorite villain to live-action life. Although there's said to be “no word on specific projects,” it sounds like the plan is for Thrawn to eventually lead his own spinoff series. First introduced in Timothy Zahn’s Expanded Universe Heir to the Empire novel, the cerebral Grand Admiral made his animated debut in Star Wars Rebels back in 2016. The character disappeared along with Ezra Bridger in the series finale, so if the rumors that the planned Ahsoka Tano spinoff is going to focus on the search for the young force-wielder are true, it only makes sense that Thrawn would also have a role to play. The Mandalorian Season 2 is also a slim possibility, but with filming already complete (work continues on post remotely), that seems highly unlikely. Plus, with so many other characters (Ahsoka, Boba Fett etc) set to be introduced, adding Thrawn to the proceedings might be overkill.
Star Wars: Squadrons a new space combat game coming October 2 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and playable via virtual reality (VR) on PlayStation 4 and PC.
Star Wars Announces The Mandalorian to Spin off Into Books and Comics Star Wars’ first live-action television show, The Mandalorian, is headed to comics and books. On Tuesday, Disney and Lucasfilm announced a publishing line that will expand the corner of the Star Wars universe introduced in the first season of The Mandalorian. The publishing program includes fiction and non-fiction books as well as comic book series from multiple publishers. The novels announced as part of the program will target a variety of different age ranges and reading levels. The cover to the art book The Art of the Mandalorian (Season One), created by Lucasfilm’s Doug Chiang, was revealed as part of the announcement. The Art of the Mandalorian (Season One) headlines a list of releases that also includes one of DK’s Ultimate Guides, an adult novel, and three books for younger readers. Here’s the list of titles and authors: The Art of The Mandalorian (Season One) by Phil Szostak; cover by Doug Chiang The Mandalorian: Original Novel (adult novel, Del Rey) by Adam Christopher The Mandalorian: The Ultimate Visual Guide (DK) by Pablo Hidalgo The Mandalorian: Allies & Enemies – Level Two Reader (DLP) by Brooke Vitale The Mandalorian: 8×8 Storybook (title to be revealed later) by Brooke Vitale The Mandalorian: Junior Novelization by Joe Schreiber Marvel Comics (owned by Disney) and IDW Publishing will publish The Mandalorian comics. The announcement offered no details on the new comics. https://rb.gy/k6t66j
Sony has revealed the release date for the PSVR version of Star Wars: Vader Immortal The former Oculus-exclusive Star Wars game will be coming to Playstation VR on August 25, 2020. Originally released for the Oculus Quest, Vader Immortal is an canon Star Wars adventure written by David S Goyer, screenwriter on Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.
The Mandalorian Season 2 Set for Oct 2020 Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company announced today that the second season of The Mandalorian will debut October 30th on Disney+. https://bit.ly/2Z0ZcjE
