Grogu might be small, but he has a big destiny. The green youngling has demonstrated his strength in the Force over and over again, and he even trained with the legendary Luke Skywalker for a little while.
But Grogu left his Jedi training to return to his adoptive father, Din Djarin, as seen in The Book of Boba Fett. As The Mandalorian and Grogu director Jon Favreau explains to us when we meet in London to talk about the new Star Wars movie, though, not following the traditional Jedi path doesn't mean the Child has left the path entirely.
"He's not on the typical Jedi path of a youngling, but he has trained with some of the best Jedi teachers that there are," Favreau tells us. "We know for sure he's studied with Luke Skywalker. There's implications that he may have crossed paths with Yoda, because he does recognize the name, is what we imply. And he also was there at the Jedi Temple before Order 66.
"So, it's a big part in talking to Dave Filoni, and by extension, to what he learned from George [Lucas], which is that the Force is about training," he continues. "It's about refining, just like an athletic ability or any skill. And we do see that, although Grogu is not serving under somebody who is teaching him, he still clearly is meditating and going through some version of the Jedi discipline. So, I think that his Force use has definitely leveled up a bit. Luke Skywalker didn't study under Obi-Wan for very long, but still refined his skills. So, I think that that's part of the path that's available to Grogu, as per what we've already learned from the previous Star Wars films."
While we certainly do see Grogu meditating and using the Force in the new movie, much of the focus is on Din Djarin teaching his son how to be a Mandalorian. "Grogu is now a Mandalorian apprentice," says Favreau. "He's been tasked with that, for those people who had watched the show. If you hadn't watched the show, what you need to know is that he is now going to be a Mandalorian in training, and so his father and teacher is taking him along on the adventures. What we learn through this is that Grogu's quite capable, but also Din Djarin, the Mandalorian, is a very good protector, and so he's always going to look out. And I think it's the next stage of their relationship, both as a father and son, but also as a teacher and an apprentice."
Grogu is also thrown in at the deep end at times, accompanying Mando on dangerous missions and even shouldering some hefty responsibility on a solo quest of his own. "The story drove us to that sequence," Favreau says. "In The Mandalorian, there's a certain proportionality to the way that the stories have unfolded and the tone of the stories that we like to tell with these characters. But I think since Grogu now is sharing billing, we want to give an opportunity to show some growth and character development and skill development in this character, and so by having the tables turned, so to speak, we open the door for Grogu to demonstrate that he's not just a character to be rescued. He's not a vulnerable little child anymore, and because he ages so slowly, as a storyteller, it's a wonderful opportunity to really play every beat of this development out deliberately."
Grogu's teacher, Mando, follows a strict Creed that forbids him from showing his face: though Din Djarin has removed his helmet in the past for Grogu's sake, we saw in The Mandalorian season 3 that he's still devoted to his code. As for whether Mando's understanding of that Creed might have changed, Favreau says: "It's an interesting proposition. Throughout the series, we had met different Mandalorians from different backgrounds, and each embraces a different part of the Mandalorian creed. Din Djarin comes from a tradition where the helmet stays on. Of course, Bo-Katan and others take the helmet off. And what's interesting now is we have a character that's going to be potentially both Jedi and Mandalorian in Grogu, and we'll see what his path is."
The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives in theaters this May 22. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows for everything else the galaxy far, far away has in store.
