The Star Wars franchise has been on an extended hiatus from releasing feature films since Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker was last released in December 2019. In the nearly five years since then, Star Wars has been far from dormant. The franchise has expanded into the realm of live-action television series, with a number of different original shows releasing on Disney+, ranging from The Book of Boba Fett to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, Ahsoka and more.
The first and most popular of these shows was The Mandalorian, which debuted its first season in the immediate weeks prior to the theatrical release of The Rise of Skywalker.
Now, Star Wars is gearing up to make a big return to cinemas. Last year, Lucasfilm and Kathleen Kennedy unveiled three new live-action Star Wars films that would tackle stories in completely different eras of the galaxy’s history – a solo film about Rey set after The Rise of Skywalker directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a new film from Dave Filoni that will build off shows like The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, as well as an ancient Jedi origin film from James Mangold.
All three of these films have continued to develop over the last year, but Lucasfilm’s full theatrical plan has really come into focus with the announcement of another new film. This film, titled The Mandalorian & Grogu, begins shooting this year and will be the first new Star Wars film in theaters ahead of this upcoming lineup.
This new Mandalorian movie is likely coming instead of a fourth season of the Disney+ series. It’s a big swing by Disney and Lucasfilm to regain audience interest after the Star Wars brand has slowly diminished over the last few years. If The Mandalorian & Grogu is going to be the big new film that the franchise so desperately needs right now, there are a few key things that it needs to get right. Here’s what we believe those to be:
7 Taking The Mandalorian Back to its Roots
When The Mandalorian premiered back in 2019, a significant portion of its success was the result of it being a breath of fresh air in the Star Wars franchise. It was a new story with compelling characters and an interesting plot that still brought the fun atmosphere that fans had come to expect from Star Wars. At the time, Star Wars was already beginning to struggle more than a bit. Solo: A Star Wars Story had recently become the first box office failure in the franchise’s history, and the reaction to the sequel trilogy of films divided the fan base more than ever. When The Mandalorian arrived, it was finally something that almost all Star Wars fans could love and agree on.
The Mandalorian Was a Space Western
Part of what made The Mandalorian different was how Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni approached telling this new story in the galaxy far, far away. Instead of attempting to recreate the previous films, the show took inspiration from the same things that inspired George Lucas originally. The Mandalorian was pulling from the films of Akira Kurosawa and the gritty westerns of the 1950s. It took these aesthetics and ideas and applied them to its own sci-fi fantasy story, which then resulted in it being closer to the tone and vibe of the original Star Wars than anything else produced by Disney. The first season of The Mandalorian has been the creative peak of the series so far. If this new film wants to be successful, it needs to go back to this approach.
6 Existing in its Own Space
When The Mandalorian was first released, the fact that it was disconnected from any other Star Wars story was a key aspect of its success. While it was the first live-action story to be set in the aftermath of Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, it doesn’t rely on the original trilogy or its characters at all. It used that story to establish the world and perspectives of Mando, but then it continues off to tell its own story. It’s something that anyone could watch, regardless of them having seen every Star Wars film or none of them.
Dave Filoni’s Characters Should Be Separated
This aspect of The Mandalorian has become less true with each new season. The second season of the show introduced many familiar faces, including Ahsoka Tano, Bo-Katan Kryze, Boba Fett and even Luke Skywalker. While these characters factored into the story in understandable and story-servicing ways, they also took away from The Mandalorian’s individuality.
With the third season of the show, the show felt more like an extension of Dave Filoni’s growing corner of Star Wars – which includes the Clone Wars and Rebels animated shows, as well as the live-action Ahsoka series – rather than an independent story standing on its own two feet. In order to ensure the success of The Mandalorian & Grogu, the story needs to exist on its own terms, not in relation to other shows and stories.
5 The Relationship Between Din Djarin and Grogu
Considering the name of the film is The Mandalorian & Grogu, the focus of this new movie needs to be entirely on its two lead characters. This cannot be a film that attempts to be a piece of a larger puzzle that just happens to feature these characters. People love both Din Djarin and Grogu; they have become two of the most popular Star Wars characters in the franchise’s history. The father-and-child relationship between them is the heart of the show, and that dynamic needs to be front and center in this new movie.
Mando and Grogu’s New Life
Thankfully, the end of The Mandalorian’s third season perfectly sets up the opportunity for a new story focused specifically on them. After the two characters were reunited in The Book of Boba Fett, they spent the latest season of The Mandalorian traveling to Mandalore in order for Din Djarin to regain his honor as a Mandalorian.
The season ends with Djarin redeemed, Grogu being inducted into the Mandalorian Order (and given the name Din Grogu) and then the two settling down on their own tract of land on the planet Nevarro. With Djarin having formally adopted Grogu, The Mandalorian and Grogu can further their story as they learn from one another and work as a team on a new adventure.
4 Effectively Laying the Groundwork for Thrawn
While it’s crucial that The Mandalorian & Grogu tells its own story in its own way, it’s impossible to ignore the broader Star Wars franchise completely. The second and third seasons of The Mandalorian clearly teased the arrival of Grand Admiral Thrawn, the villainous Imperial commander who developed an incredible reputation in various Legends novels as well as the Rebels animated series. With that story already introduced in The Mandalorian, it needs to be followed up on in some way – even a minor one – in this new film. Given that the end of the Ahsoka series shows Thrawn (played by Lars Mikkelsen) return to the Star Wars galaxy, his presence cannot go unacknowledged in this new film.
Building Toward Heir to the Empire
One of the films announced prior to The Mandalorian & Grogu is a feature directed by Dave Filoni, which has been described as the culmination of this “MandoVerse” group of Star Wars shows – The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett, etc. This movie is almost assuredly an adaptation of Heir to the Empire, the Legends novel that effectively served as Star Wars: Episode VII in the ‘90s and 2000s.
The Mandalorian & Grogu can continue to set up that film by establishing the effect Thrawn’s return has on the galaxy. Thrawn himself does not need to be the villain of the film, but his presence should be felt. That way, Filoni’s Heir to the Empire can operate as a direct sequel to The Mandalorian & Grogu and have a better chance at bringing in casual audiences, rather than relying entirely on the small but passionate fan base of the Legends novel and Filoni’s animated shows.
3 A Solid Supporting Cast
As The Mandalorian makes the jump to the big screen, it’s crucial that the film is able to bring in a lot of casual viewers that may not already be fans of Din Djarin and Grogu specifically. This is where a solid supporting cast can do wonders. While movie stars may not have the same amount of sway over the box office that they used to, a recognizable and reliable face in a cast can still do a lot to give a movie more weight and generate interest from general audiences. While The Mandalorian already has Pedro Pascal – who has recently become one of the most beloved names in Hollywood – in the lead role, the role is essentially just voice work for him at this point, as the character never removes his helmet.
Expanding the Cast of The Mandalorian
The Mandalorian already has a strong supporting cast, consisting of Katee Sackhoff, Giancarlo Esposito, Carl Weathers and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, though they aren’t necessarily names that will draw in a large audience. Esposito was potentially the biggest name among them, but his character’s end in season three makes it unlikely that he will return.
The answer is clear; The Mandalorian & Grogu needs to add more big names to its cast in order to make it feel like a theater-worthy event. The absence of Esposito’s Moff Gideon leaves a major gap open for the film’s villain. With Jon Favreau returning to the director’s chair, he could potentially bring aboard previous collaborators like Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Peter Dinklage or even Robert Downey Jr.
2 It Needs to be Accessible for Casual Fans
One of the biggest problems that has been facing Star Wars over the last few years is how increasingly inside-baseball and self-referential the franchise has become. This recently reared its head the most with the Disney+ series Ahsoka which, while it did start its story from a solid entry point, generally gave audiences the impression that they needed to have seen several other shows, like The Clone Wars, Rebels and The Mandalorian, in order to understand what was happening in the show. The Mandalorian & Grogu cannot be like that if it wants to successfully reintroduce Star Wars to audiences on the big screen.
Audiences Shouldn’t Have to Do Homework
By beginning in a fresh place without building upon a lot of specific previous stories, The Mandalorian & Grogu would cast the widest net possible. It needs to be the kind of movie that anyone can walk into and completely understand and appreciate, regardless of their experience or lack thereof with Star Wars as a franchise. If viewers feel like they need to go back and watch multiple seasons of other shows, or even the first three seasons of The Mandalorian, then a lot of people will choose to skip the film entirely.
It needs to be accessible to everyone in order to ensure the Star Wars audience will continue to expand moving forward.
1 It Has to Feel Like Classic Star Wars
Finally, the most important thing that The Mandalorian & Grogu needs to do is just tell a great Star Wars story. It needs to remind people of why they fell in love with the franchise to begin with, without being overly reliant or referential to previous stories. The first season of The Mandalorian did this incredibly well, but the series as a whole has somewhat fallen off in that regard with additional seasons. It needs to be a fun space-faring adventure with genuine stakes and likable characters.
Following The Rise of Skywalker
The fatal flaw of the Star Wars sequel films – particularly the last one, Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker – is that they were too reliant on nostalgia and references to the previous stories. The Rise of Skywalker spent so much time trying to remind viewers of the original trilogy that it forgot to tell its own compelling new story. That film’s narrative failures are a big part of why the Star Wars franchise is in such a poor state right now, as it killed a lot of interest from casual fans. If The Mandalorian & Grogu is going to be the first new Star Wars film in years, it needs to make up for these mistakes and win back the viewers that have been lost.
