Before The Mandalorian and Grogu was announced, the expectation was that the story of Din Djarin and his tiny green charge Baby Yoda would continue in The Mandalorian season 4.
Of course, that ultimately didn't end up being the case, as, after the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike and the WGA writers' strike, the plan was retooled to bring the duo to the big screen rather than continue on Disney Plus. But, Favreau had already written all the scripts – and, as it turns out, this story would have heavily linked to Ahsoka season 2.
"You can't just take those scripts and turn them into a movie," Favreau told SFX magazine in the latest issue. "There were a lot of characters, it assumed you'd watched the whole show, and it was teeing up what was happening moving into [the second season of ] Ahsoka. It was about Grand Admiral Thrawn and following the larger storyline [of this era of the Star Wars timeline].
"This is a completely different medium," he continued, "so I had to start from scratch, essentially. There were certain things I wanted to pursue, like the idea of Grogu being the Mandalorian's apprentice. As long as you understand the archetypes of this hardened warrior with their vulnerable young apprentice, you’ll know these characters well, even if you've never seen the show. But there's still a lot of Star Wars in there. You're going to see where things are going [in the wider universe], but that doesn't diminish from the experience of watching it as a standalone film."
Thrawn returned at the end of the first season of Ahsoka, along with Ezra Bridger. Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren, meanwhile, were stranded on Peridea.
The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives on May 22, while Ahsoka season 2 doesn't yet have a release date.
While you wait, fill out your watchlist with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows for everything else the galaxy far, far away has in store.
