Visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic developed the StageCraft technology for the series, displaying digital backgrounds on a 360-degree video wall.

The series has received largely positive reviews from critics and several accolades, including Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award wins for all three seasons.

[2][7][8] Pascal compared Djarin, a lone bounty hunter with advanced combat skills and "questionable moral character", to Clint Eastwood.

[10] The first season features several recurring co-stars, including Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, leader of a bounty hunter guild;[11][9] Werner Herzog as "the Client", an enigmatic man;[11][12] Omid Abtahi as Dr. Penn Pershing, a scientist working for the Client;[11][13][14] Nick Nolte as the voice of Kuiil, an Ugnaught moisture farmer who helps the Mandalorian;[15][16] Taika Waititi as the voice of IG-11, a bounty hunter droid;[17][9] Gina Carano as Cara Dune, a former Rebel shock trooper turned mercenary;[18][9] Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon, a former Imperial officer;[11][19] and Emily Swallow as "the Armorer", a Mandalorian who forges armor and equipment from beskar steel.

[5][21] Several actors appear as characters from previous Star Wars media, including Timothy Olyphant as Cobb Vanth,[22][23] Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett,[24][25] Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan Kryze,[26][27] Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano,[28][4] and Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker.

[39] While working on The Lion King (2019), a photo-realistic remake of the 1994 animated film, in 2017, director Jon Favreau pitched an idea he had for a Star Wars television series featuring Mandalorians to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.

Kennedy added that the series was an opportunity for a diverse group of writers and directors to be hired to create Star Wars stories after the franchise's films had been criticized for being written and directed solely by white men.

[71] Visual effects studio Industrial Light & Magic, a subsidiary of Lucasfilm, opened a new division in November 2018 called ILM TV, specifically intended for episodic and streaming television.

[72] While directing The Jungle Book (2016), Favreau had used large screens on set to create interactive lighting so when live-action footage was combined with a digital environment in post-production the effect would be more realistic.

[73] When he began working on The Lion King, Favreau worked with visual effects vendor Moving Picture Company, technology developer Magnopus, and the game engine software Unity to develop a new virtual camera system that allowed him to film scenes in a virtual reality environment as if he was filming with physical cameras.

[74][3] During pre-production, the virtual photography process developed for The Lion King was used to plan the series' filming and determine what environments would be needed on set.

[74] ILM used a smaller version of the technology for Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), but on The Mandalorian they utilized a 21-foot-tall (6.4 m) set that was 75 feet (23 m) in diameter, surrounded by a 360-degree semicircular LED video wall and ceiling.

[73] Composer Ludwig Göransson was recommended by several of his previous collaborators to Favreau, including directors Ryan Coogler and Anthony and Joe Russo, and musician Donald Glover.

As examples, she cited Obi-Wan Kenobi serving as a mentor to the adolescent Anakin Skywalker, Princess Leia lamenting over her grown son Kylo Ren, or the absence of Rey's parents.

[93] The Mandalorian's parental role in the series makes him a softer and more relatable character;[94] he changes in a positive way because of raising the Child, becoming less selfish and self-absorbed.

[95] He risked his life and drastically changed his career as a bounty hunter to accept his responsibility as the Child's caretaker and guardian,[84][85] marking a significant parental sacrifice.

[97] Several writers suggested the fact that the Mandalorian's face is concealed has a tabula rasa effect and his anonymity allows viewers to see and imagine themselves as parents.

[84] Anthony Breznican of Vanity Fair has noted that none of the day-to-day difficulties of parenthood are portrayed in the series: "There is no shrill squawking from Baby Yoda, no tantrum, no spit-up, no uncontrollable shrieking that burrows into a parent's psyche like a dentist's drill shredding a soft, pink nerve.

"[98] Likewise, Vulture writer Kathryn VanArendonk said the show ignores or does not address many parenting details that make fatherhood difficult, such as what the Child eats, when he goes to sleep, and whether he wears diapers.

[112] "Chapter 1: The Mandalorian" aired on Disney's linear networks ABC, Freeform, and FX on February 24, 2023, in anticipation of the season three premiere on the service.

Bonus features include the featurette "Honoring the Magistrate: A Tribute to Carl Weathers", "Galactic Legacy: The Creatures and Droids of The Mandalorian", and "Forging the Covert: Part Three".

The website's critical consensus reads, "Action-packed and expertly-crafted—if at times a bit too withholding—The Mandalorian is a welcome addition to the Star Wars universe that benefits greatly from the cuteness of its cargo.

The site's critical consensus reads: "With fan favorites and fresh faces galore both in front of and behind the camera, The Mandalorian's sophomore season solidifies its place as one of Star Wars's most engaging and exciting sagas.

The site's critical consensus reads: "Mileage may vary by a couple parsecs as The Mandalorian becomes more and more about the connective tissue of broader Star Wars lore, but this remains one of the most engaging adventures in a galaxy far, far away.

[3] Several actors working on the series, including Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito, gave high praise to the technology and the way it allowed them to act within the environment rather than pretend in front of a green screen.

He felt Lucasfilm could be "more responsive" to audience reactions in determining potential spin-offs due to the faster production time for television series than films.

Favreau looked to his experience working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where smaller stories exist within the larger narrative, as a potential guide for spin-offs.

Favreau, Filoni, and Robert Rodriguez executive produced, with Morrison and Wen reprising their respective roles as Fett and Fennec Shand.

[145] Pascal, Swallow, Sedaris,[153] Olyphant, Dawson, and Hamill also reprise their roles,[154] along with Favreau as the voice of Paz Vizsla, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Carson Teva,[153] and W. Earl Brown as the Weequay bartender.

[146] At Star Wars Celebration London in April 2023, it was announced that Filoni was directing a feature film that would serve as the conclusion to the interconnected stories of The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka, among others.