9 Shows Like 'The Mandalorian' That Will Keep You Busy Until Season 2

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the longest-running Star Wars TV series to date. The show is set between Episode 2 Attack of the Clones and Episode 3, The Revenge of the Sith, much like the vignettes were. But this stars different characters, like Captain Rex and Ahsoka Tano, the first Jedi heroine to lead a Star Wars story. These characters are rumored to have live-action versions of themselves coming to The Mandalorian soon, so catching up on the show's seven seasons is a must.

Just be advised, the episodes aren't in chronological order. Instead, each season is organized by theme. So, if you're looking to watch events in the order they happen, follow this official guide.

Perhaps you're looking for more live-action series from Disney's other brands. If so, the top choice on Disney+ right now is Marvel's Agents Carter, starring Hayley Atwell as Peggy from the Captain America films. Unlike Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter only ran for two seasons. It also had much more extensive space between MCU movies to work, allowing it far more freedom. Bonus details include Dominic Cooper as young Howard Stark and James D'Arcy as the real Jarvis.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars originally ended in a rather abrupt fashion, first canceled by Cartoon Network, then revived for a shortened season and abruptly canceled again by Netflix. For fans who needed to know what happened to Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex, Dave Filoni created Star Wars: Rebels.

Set 14 years after Revenge of the Sith (or about six years before the events of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Star Wars: A New Hope), it ran on the Disney Channel for four seasons. This show fills in the big gap between the Empire's rise and fall. It also traces the path of the Darksaber, which was introduced in The Clone Wars, and will be a significant plot point in The Mandalorian Season 2.

Marvel likes to pretend Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was never meant to be a spinoff of the MCU. The movies certainly did their best to ignore it. But Marvel's first attempt at crossing from big screen to small wound up as the little show that could, surviving on ABC for seven seasons. During its run, it handled the Inhumans better than the heralded ABC show of that name, went into space, came back several times, plus had a bit of time travel to boot. Thanos' snap may have never happened here, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth watching in its own right.

The third and last of Filoni's animated Star Wars shows, Star Wars: Resistance, suffered from trying to fill in the events between the original trilogy and the final one before the final trilogy was completed. Instead, it wound up painting in the same events shown on the big screen, just from a different angle. However, it does have themes that Filoni carried over into The Mandalorian, which directly followed the cancelation of this one.

When Disney+ launched back in November of 2019, it didn't just have The Mandalorian. The service launched with half a dozen series, including High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Pixar's Spark Shorts. But the best show outside of The Mandalorian was, IMO, The Imagineering Story. This documentary gives behind-the-scenes insight into the making of one of the essential parts of the Disney mythos: the theme parks. It's a fascinating look at how the company engineers its Magic Kingdom for maximum joy and a reminder that of all the things it does best, Disney sure knows how to tell its own story.

Star Wars has pretty much always been about the merchandising. It was only a matter of time when the merch itself decided it wanted to tell Star Wars stories. Enter Lego Star Wars, which started as brick building sets that spawned video games and finally miniseries and cartoon shorts, all set in the Star Wars universe. None of the Lego Star Wars shorts are on the level of The Lego Movie franchise, mind you. But the refusal to take itself too seriously turns these block-based tales into comedies regardless.

Farscape makes the cut for being the closest thing to a Mandalorian series before Lucasfilm got around to making one. It's not set in the Star Wars universe, but it has that same scrappy, lived-in feel of a space world where everyone is struggling to get by. It's a place where the hives of scum and villainy are the best place to get work, and staying low-profile is the best way to survive. It also has muppet characters created by The Jim Henson Company, just like Baby Yoda. It's the only show on this list that's not on Disney+; you'll have to go to Amazon to watch all four seasons.

If The Imagineering Story is Disney's best documentary cementing the mythos of Disney, then the current first season of Disney Gallery is the best documentary cementing the mythos of Lucasfilm. Focused on the making of The Mandalorian, this look behind the scenes at the show's creation is a must-watch for every fan. Led by showrunner Jon Favreau, the episodes dive into everything from the design of Baby Yoda to the way episodes were directed, to the hidden easter eggs like Mark Hamill's cameo. One can only hope there's a Disney Gallery coming for The Mandalorian Season 2, too.

The Mandalorian Season 2 is expected to arrive on Disney+ in October 2020.