There Are Rumors of Behind-the-Scenes Trouble on 'The Mandalorian' Season 2

Disney+ is getting ready to debut a new season of The Mandalorian, and fans are already excited about what Season 2 of the show might have in store. The show's first season was an overwhelming success, driving plenty of conversation about everything from Pedro Pascal's title character to Baby Yoda, America's most adorable puppet. As discussion around Season 2 heats up, though, there are also rumors plaguing the show. 

Rumors have been circulating in recent weeks suggesting that things were tense behind-the-scenes on The Mandalorian this year. According to YouTuber Grace Randolph, who claims to have sources from the set, the tension came from Pedro's desire to film some scenes without his helmet for this season of the show. Ultimately, Grace suggests that that may have influenced the course of the season. 

Although Pedro's desire to act without his mask is understandable, it goes against much of what was established in the show's first season. The Mandalorian always keeps his mask on. It's one of the core elements of his character. He removes it at the end of Season 1, but only because he's been badly injured and isn't sure he'll survive. It seems like the actor may not have had many additional opportunities to remove his mask in Season 2. 

Although these rumors of conflict have dogged the show, there has been no indication that Pedro has plans to leave the series. He's still actively involved in promoting the show's second season, and hasn't made any displeasure he might have with the show's creators public knowledge. For now, it's all just rumors that largely come from a single source. 

Part of Grace's claim that Pedro was unhappy on The Mandalorian stems from the news that the show will have a broader focus in its second season. The first season told isolated stories that featured The Mandalorian and a variety of other characters. This season, the show will apparently introduce a new lineup of characters, and the story will follow each of them separately. 

“The new season is about introducing a larger story in the world,” showrunner Jon Favreau told Entertainment Weekly. “The stories become less isolated, yet each episode has its own flavor, and hopefully we’re bringing a lot more scope to the show.” He compared the new season to the way Game of Thrones would follow characters. 

"As we introduce other characters, there are opportunities to follow different storylines,” he continued. “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.”  

Grace claims that the decreased focus on the Mandalorian was directly related to Pedro's insistence on doing scenes without the helmet on. Whether that's true or not is still up in the air. For now, though, fans of the show remain focused on dissecting every clip of footage they got in the Season 2 trailer. The season will debut on Disney+ on Oct. 30.