"The Mandalorian 2" is already coming this October

Just one day after the first episode of "The Mandalorian" aired on 12 November 2019 on Disney+ on 12 November 2019, producer and author Jon Favreau announced the start of filming for the second season. Accordingly, "autumn 2020" was considered the probable start date for the next season.

Now Robert A. Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, has become a little more concrete via the financial report for the first quarter of 2020: The second season is coming to Disney+ in October 2020. That's even less than a year after the premiere of the first season.

There could soon be "The Mandalorian" spin-offs

To say that Bob Iger would rather launch a second Mandalorian season on the streaming service today than tomorrow is by no means too far out of the window. After all, "The Mandalorian" is a huge success: the series is so popular with critics and fans that it has contributed significantly to Disney+'s plan boom.

At the beginning of November 2019, shortly before the launch of the streaming service, Iger confirmed that he expected 60 to 90 million subscribers in the first five years. With a linear increase over five years, this would equate to growth of 18 million subscribers per year at best.

Disney+ currently has 28.6 million subscribers - barely three months after its launch.

This gives Disney a new cow to milk extensively - especially in the Western European markets. They will not be able to enjoy Disney+ until the end of March, which will further boost subscriber numbers.

In keeping with this, Iger is holding out the prospect of further "The Mandalorian" spin-offs centred around characters who appeared in the series. And: "The Mandalorian" is far from over after the second season.

What we do know for sure is that Disney is currently working on three "Star Wars"-based series at the same time.

1. "The Mandalorian"
2. "Cassian Andor" - a "Rogue One" spin-off series
3. "Obi-Wan Kenobi" - with Ewan McGregor once again playing the Jedi Master

Despite rumours of production difficulties, the Obi-Wan series is set to start in January 2021 - shortly after the series premiere of the second Mandalorian season. The Cassian Andro series, on the other hand, is not expected to start until the second half of 2021.

What else the Disney boss said

Bob Iger's financial report wasn't just about the future of the Mandalorian living the bounty hunter's creed in a post-"Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi" era

The most interesting statements were:

• On the obligatory coronavirus participation: "Our hearts go out to the people affected by the virus. We have temporarily closed our Disneyland park in Shanghai and are monitoring the situation."
• On Disney's success at the box office: "Disney has broken the global revenue record: we made 11 billion dollars in 2019. The previous record was 7 billion dollars. Who held it? Us too."
• On the upcoming Marvel series "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" and "WandaVision": "'Falcon' will be released on Disney+ in August 2020. 'Wanda', on the other hand, in December 2020."
• On the amount of content on Disney+: "We are very satisfied at the moment. The smaller selection is also reflected in the price, which is significantly lower than that of the competition."
• On the pricing of Disney+: "We are not planning any price increases in the near future."
• On Hulu, Disney's streaming service for content that doesn't fit the company's family-friendly image: "We plan to roll out the service internationally in 2021."

Note: To date, Hulu content has been delivered to international markets via Netflix, Sky and Amazon Prime.

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