The first episode of The Mandalorian has one key difference from most modern TV shows.
The runtime of the first episode is confirmed to be just 37 minutes, far less than the standard for current streaming TV shows. By comparison, the first episode of HBO’s The Last of Us was 82 minutes, more than double the length of The Mandalorian’s return to screen.
Even The Bad Batch’s first episode of Season 2 was 75 minutes long and came in a two-episode special.
While 37 minutes might seem remarkably short for this form of show from Disney, it’s in line with The Mandalorian’s first-ever episode, which was 38 minutes long, The Book of Boba Fett‘s pilot, which was 37 minutes long, and Andor episode 1, which was 39 minutes long.
Star Wars fans might be complaining about the apparently short first episode for season 3, but it seems to be well within Star Wars’ wheelhouse when it comes to TV shows. Indeed, these live-action shows are well-known for their tight storytelling. Where other shows might need more time to lay out their plots, Star Wars has had great success already with shorter pilot runtimes, so we’re sure the same will be true here.
Featured image: Disney/Lucasfilm
