What is the most beautiful thing about film-making? In my opinion, it is captivating an audience of all ages and keeping them interested and excited for the next installment. Star Wars has managed to do just that, starting out as a single sci-fi movie in the 1970s and erupting into one of the biggest franchises to ever exist. The first movie became a part of a trilogy (1977-1983), followed by the prequel trilogy (1999-2005), and now by the sequel trilogy (2015-2019). Throughout the 40 year journey, fans have also been treated with comics, novelizations, Star Wars spin-off movies, and animated TV shows.

Ever since the production of Revenge of the Sith (2005), there have been rumors about the possibility of a live-action Star Wars television show. This plan was never fully thrown into effect until Disney purchased Lucasfilm for a whopping 4.06 billion dollars back in 2012. Now those rumors have been turned into reality with the announcement of The Mandalorian. The show is said to be debuted on Disney’s very own streaming service and is set to launch in the fall of 2019.

The director/producer of this new project is Jon Favreau; he is known for his work on Iron Man (2008), and Iron Man 2 (2010), as well as his work as an executive producer on The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015). Favreau will be sharing the director’s chair as episodes continue to be produced. While these names are new to the Star Wars universe, you may recognize them from their other projects. Some of the assistant directors will include Deborah Chow, Rick Famuyiwa, Bryce Dallas Howard, Taika Waititi, and Dave Filoni. Filoni is known for his work on the highly successful animated Star Wars TV series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. He is set to direct the first episode of The Mandalorian.

While much of the plot and cast are still under wraps, we do know tidbits of the plot thanks to Favreau’s Instagram post on October 3, 2018. He stated that the show would take place after the fall of the Empire, and before the rise of the First Order. Sources have reported that the show’s events will occur three years after the conclusion of Return of the Jedi (1983). Star Wars fans have theorized that the show will have a western feel, given how the Republic will be in the process of establishing itself after the fall of the Empire. The only photo that has been released has shown the unknown actor in the main character’s costume, which has a Boba Fett/Jango Fett vibe to it. Considering Favreau references these two bounty hunters in his post, this only further establishes the fact that we will be following a character similar to the father/son pair. Favreau also states that the plot of the movie will occur somewhere on the outskirts of the galaxy far far away, which means new characters and planets will not yet be introduced.

So far, ten episodes have been announced for the first season. According to reports, primary photography might have already begun during the first week of October. Regardless of the timeline, the excitement of in Star Wars community is growing. With the untitled Episode IX set to release in December of next year, and The Mandalorian now set for fall, fans will have a lot to look forward to come this time next year.