Jon Favreau teases The Mandalorian will explore origins of the First Order

As the first live-action Star Wars series in history, The Mandalorian (set to debut on Disney+) has a lot riding on it. Taking place less than 10 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, the series is in a unique place to fill in certain gaps fans have only been able to guess at since the release of The Force Awakens in 2015. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, creator Jon Favreau teased that we may very well get an explanation of one very big question: how the heck did the First Order come to rise out of the ashes of the Empire?

"What could happen in the 30 years between celebrating the defeat of the Empire and then the First Order?” said Favreau who also serves as writer and executive producer on the project. “You come in on Episode VII, [the First Order are] not just starting out. They’re pretty far along ... "So somehow, things weren’t necessarily managed as well as they could have been if [the galaxy] ended up in hot water again like that."

“This doesn’t turn into a good guy universe because you blew up two Death Stars,” added Dave Filoni, a producer and director on The Mandalorian. “You get that the Rebels won and they’re trying to establish a Republic, but there’s no way that could have set in for everybody all at once. You have in a Western where you’re out on the frontier and there might be Washington and they might have some marshals, but sometimes good luck finding one.”

Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney

EW's prevailing theory at the moment centers on the character of Moff Gideon, played by Giancarlo Esposito. They postulate that the once-powerful Imperial governor may try to rally a new movement by unifying "the scattered, broken factions." An interesting theory, but we'll just have to wait until November to get a full answer.

Set in the lawless planets of the Outer Rim, the show follows a lone gunslinger (played by Pedro Pascal) trying to do the right thing in a galaxy that is still licking its wounds from the bloody conflict between the Empire and Rebel Alliance. Gina Carano, Nick Nolte, Emily Swallow, Carl Weathers, Omid Abtahi, Werner Herzog, and Taika Waititi all co-star.

Season 1 of The Mandalorian premieres Tuesday, Nov. 12 — the same day that Disney+ goes live.