Star Wars newcomer Sigourney Weaver thinks the franchise is more interesting now: "They're no longer trying to do the Star Wars to end all Star Wars"

Sigourney Weaver is set to star in the upcoming The Mandalorian and Grogu, adding Star Wars to her collection of fan-favorite movie franchises, which includes Avatar and Alien. For the actor, however, it was all about the script. "That's my compass," she told Empire.

"[With] The Mandalorian and Grogu, it was not my intention to find a fourth franchise," she continued, "I didn't ever imagine that I would enter the Star Wars world. But what's interesting about Star Wars now is they're no longer trying to do the Star Wars to end all Star Wars. They're letting the universe exist, and tell[ing] really interesting stories within that."

In the film, Weaver plays Colonel Ward, a leader of the New Republic's Adelphi Rangers and a former pilot for the Rebel Alliance. She was briefly teased in the first trailer, unveiled in September. "I think Jon Favreau thought, 'Okay, we want this very strong character. Let’s make it a woman.' I'm not sure it was supposed to be a woman," Weaver revealed.

"I think again, these days, they often think, 'What do I need to do to make this seem more timely?', and now, because women are doing everything, hooray for us. [But] I just fell in love with the script and said, 'I don't know anything about this world.' Jon said, 'Well, you can watch the series,' and I said, 'Oh, there's a series?!'"

Weaver is starring in the film alongside Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin (The Mandalorian himself) and The Bear star Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt, son of Jabba.

However, Weaver's main reason to join the project was Grogu (aka Baby Yoda). "I get to have scenes with a little Grogu which is probably why I did the movie," she confirmed to GamesRadar+. "And he's a little badass too. It's going to be wonderful for people to see what Grogu is up to now because he's grown up a little bit and is capable of much more than maybe we think just watching the series."

Per the official synopsis, "The evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and his young apprentice Grogu."

The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives May 22, 2026. Until then, keep up to date with everything else the galaxy far, far away has in store with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.