The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars television series, is almost here. On November 12, the first episode of The Mandalorian will debut alongside Disney+, but you don’t need to wait until then to see more of the show. A new trailer just arrived, offering a better look at the seedier side of a galaxy far, far away. And it looks like carbonite has become the de facto method of transporting prisoners for the galaxy’s seedy underbelly.
The Mandalorian stars Game of Thrones‘ Pablo Pascal as the titular gunslinger, Gina Carano as a former Rebel Shock Trooper named Cara Dune, Carl Weathers as bounty hunter Greef Carga, and Taika Waititi as the voice of assassin droid IG-11. Other cast members include three-time Oscar nominee Nick Nolte, award-winning director Werner Herzog, and Giancarlo Esposito, who’s best known for playing the villainous Gus Fring on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
The Mandalorian takes place a few years after Return of the Jedi, when the Galactic Empire is on the run and the Rebel Alliance has transformed into the New Republic. The Mandalorian is less concerned with politics, however, and more how the end of the Galactic Civil War affects citizens on the fringes of the galaxy.
Series creator Jon Favreau says that The Mandalorian will have a spaghetti western vibe, and that it was specifically inspired by the beginning of Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope, particularly the infamous cantina scene.
Currently, Disney is developing three live-action Star Wars series for Disney+, it’s upcoming streaming service. In addition to The Mandalorian, a six-part miniseries starring Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi is expected to start shooting in 2020, while a Rogue One prequel featuring Diego Luna will bring a spy-thriller story to the Star Wars Universe. Season two of The Mandalorian is currently in production.
Disney+ will also host a seventh season of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and will eventually be home to all canonical Star Wars films and TV shows (Solo and The Last Jedi won’t be on Disney+ at launch, but are expected to arrive on the service soon).
Monday night trailer drops are quickly becoming a Star Wars tradition. Just last week, Disney released the final trailer for Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker during the Monday Night Football between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.