The Mandalorian season 2 photos and new details just revealed

Baby Yoda and his bounty hunter dad are back! The Mandalorian season 2 is blasting off next month with the continuing adventures of Mando and the Child. Now, there are juicy new details — plus a bunch of tantalizing photos — previewing what fans can expect from the second season of Disney Plus' Star Wars series.

Entertainment Weekly released a big cover story about The Mandalorian, featuring interviews with showrunner Jon Favreau, executive producer Dave Filoni and stars Pedro Pascal (Mandalorian/Din Djarin) and Gina Carano (Cara Dune).

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The Mandalorian team seems confident that the new season, which premieres October 30, will surpass galaxy-sized hopes. Carano told EW, “I have no question fans are going to like this season even more — everything’s in there. If you’re a Star Wars fan, you’re going to get to see things you’ve always wanted to see.”

And Filoni drew an analogy to the Star Wars original trilogy: "You want The Empire Strikes Back to be better than A New Hope.”

Considering how beloved Empire Strikes Back is among fans, that sets the bar very high.

Here's 4 things we learned about The Mandalorian season 2 from EW.

1. The galaxy far, far away takes a page from Game of Thrones

While the story will continue following Mando's quest to keep Baby Yoda safe and find his home world, Favreau told EW, "The new season is about introducing a larger story in the world."

He added, "As we introduce other characters, there are opportunities to follow different storylines. The world was really captivated by Game of Thrones and how that evolved as the characters followed different storylines — that's very appealing to me as an audience member."

2. Baby Yoda, you in danger child

Last we saw Mando and Baby Yoda, they'd narrowly escaped an attack by Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito). But the nefarious villain not only survived his TIE fighter crash — he revealed that he's wielding the Darksaber. And he's not done chasing after The Child.

That rouses Din Djarin's unlikely paternal instincts, Pascal said. "We start very directly after the first [season] and he's going into very dangerous territory. He is very much a passenger to the experience in unexpected ways — not knowing what’s to come, not knowing how much or how best to protect the Child. We don’t know how far he will go to do that, and they’re finding new ways to push the envelope.”

3. The Darksaber is badass (but not Moff Gideon's only weapon)

Star Wars fans went nuts at the reveal of the Darksaber in the season 1 finale of The Mandalorian. The legendary black-bladed lightsaber has been seen in the animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars and Rebels. Filoni himself added the idea that the Darksaber was originally from Mandalore. The story of how it ended up in the hands of Moff Gideon remains to be told.

The Darksaber will be a formidable tool in Gideon's arsenal against the Mandalorian, but his most dangerous weapon might be his brain. "I want to disarm him mentally as well," Esposito told EW. "Who knows? Maybe there’s an opportunity to get him to fight some battles for me. You may think I’m a villain, but I’m trying to harness some energy and some powers for a path that could be best for all. You'll get to see him be somewhat diplomatic and more of a manipulator."

4. New faces are coming, but old friends aren't forgotten

Both Carl Weathers and Gina Carano will return to season 2 as bounty hunter guild leader Greef Karga and former shock trooper Cara Dune, respectively. In the finale, Cara agreed to stay on Nevarro to team up with Greef, whom Weathers says is "on a quest to be more legitimate."

While it's a bit of an unlikely pairing, the two characters grow close enough to "almost finish each other’s sentences," he noted.

They'll get their own time in the spotlight in season 2, but they'll also have to share it with new characters. While nobody confirmed any new cast members in EW's story, rumors have been floating about Rosario Dawson joining as Jedi trainee Ahsoka Tano. There's also word that Temuera Morrison (Jango Fett in the prequels) will play the iconic Boba Fett or some other version of Jango's clone soldiers. Katee Sackoff is reportedly on board as a live-action Bo-Katan Kryze, a Mandalorian leader who wielded the Darksaber.

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Kelly is the managing editor of streaming for Tom’s Guide, so basically, she watches TV for a living. Previously, she was a freelance entertainment writer for Yahoo, Vulture, TV Guide and other outlets. When she’s not watching TV and movies for work, she’s watching them for fun, seeing live music, writing songs, knitting and gardening.