The Mandalorian's second episode showed how Disney+ can mine smaller stories from big franchises like Star Wars

The Atlantic

"Star Wars is an even bigger sandbox to play in (compared to Marvel), and Episode 2 of The Mandalorian had fun dredging up minutiae from (George Lucas') original trilogy," says David Sims. "Coming in at a slender 33 minutes, it embraced the humor of its protagonist’s anonymous persona rather than using it to build suspense. 'Chapter Two' saw the Mandalorian get battered by villainous rivals and huge desert fauna; it also reintroduced the impish Jawas (small, hooded scavengers who play a supporting role in the original Star Wars) as bugbears who torment our stoic hero." Sims adds: "Filling in the gaps of Star Wars’ wider universe, it seems, will be the purpose of the blockbuster original programming on Disney+. The other announced Star Wars shows include one that will feature Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, depicting his life in the years between the original and prequel trilogies. Another will follow Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), a character from the spin-off film Rogue One who worked as an operative in the heroic Rebel Alliance. The Marvel shows will similarly spotlight supporting characters from the cinematic universe such as Loki, Scarlet Witch, Vision, and the Falcon, before introducing new comic-book characters such as Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk."

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• The Mandalorian could paint the Star Wars films into a corner: Episode 2 "creates a strange narrative problem for The Mandalorian going forward that, if not addressed, threatens to become a problem for Star Wars as a whole," says Graeme McMillan, adding: "There are certain problems that come with any fictional shared universe, not least of which is the continual issue of making sure that every story stays in line with every other story being told; it’s one thing to dismantle S.H.I.E.L.D. at the end of one particular chapter, for example, but if there’s an ongoing spinoff that relies upon S.H.I.E.L.D. being a thing that exists, then you might run into trouble. With the second episode of Disney+’s The Mandalorian, it’s beginning to look as if Star Wars might be about to wade into these troublesome waters."
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