Before creator Tony Gilroy got involved and turned Andor into a thrillingly rich, thematically nuanced masterpiece, the Star Wars show was initially in the hands of Disney animation boss Jared Bush, and a new art book has revealed the Zootopia director's original take on the material.

As spotted by Cinelinx, new coffee table book The Art of Star Wars: Andor contains Bush's original pitch for the Star Wars show, taken from his 2018 series bible, and it reveals a radically different version of Andor that never was.

“The fledgling Rebellion experiences a crippling setback when an Imperial mole hidden within its ranks decimates a series of rebel bases. Cassian Andor, a young intelligence operative, is one of the few who survive, only to be falsely accused of being the mole himself. Out in the cold, Cassian discovers the only way to clear his name and find the mole is to infiltrate an Imperial planet which holds the key to uncovering the mole's identity.”

While this concept for the show retains the core idea of Andor being an espionage-powered story set in a galaxy far, far away, Bush's Andor would have been very different from the two-season show we got under Gilroy's stewardship. Instead of a simple mole hunt, Gilroy shaped Andor into a show about political oppression and resistance that mirrored real-world events to an almost eerie degree.

Andor was originally revealed in November 2018 after roughly a year of development. Initially, The Americans' executive producer Stephen Schiff was brought on board as showrunner, after Bush contributed a pilot script and series bible. Gilroy, who reportedly oversaw Rogue One's extensive reshoots, later shared his own vision for Andor with Kathleen Kennedy by penning a letter to the former head of Lucasfilm. Kennedy was evidently impressed, as Gilroy officially came on board in 2019.

The two-season show ran from 2022 to 2025 and is widely considered one of the high points of the Disney era of Star Wars. We even named Andor season 2 the best show of 2025. Gilroy provided some insights into the beloved show in our season 2 post-mortem, and even dispelled a fan theory around one of the finale's most ambiguous moments.

As for Bush, Andor may have slipped through his fingers, but the filmmaker had a pretty good 2025 too – he was the director of the highest-grossing Hollywood movie of the year, Zootopia 2, after becoming the chief creative officer of Disney Animation in late 2024.

Andor is streaming in full on Disney Plus. For more, check out our list of the best Disney Plus shows, or look ahead with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.

Live-action Ezra Bridger actor Eman Esfandi has posted a cryptic tease for Ahsoka season 2.

Esfandi made his live-action debut in the first season of the show, and he'll soon be returning when the show airs on Disney Plus early next year.

"'The pain you're feeling cannot compare to the joy that is coming' I tell myself as I await season 2," Esfandi wrote on Twitter.

The tease is so mysterious that even the official Star Wars account doesn't seem to know what to make of it, simply replying: "Eman"

Esfandi had a response, however: "Should've left that in the drafts my b"

At the end of Ahsoka season 1, Ezra safely made it back to the main galaxy by stowing away on Grand Admiral Thrawn's ship. But, Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren were left behind, along with Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati.

So far, Ahsoka season 2 is shrouded in mystery. What we know for sure, though, is that Hayden Christensen will return as Anakin Skywalker, Admiral Ackbar will face off against Thrawn, Rory McCann is taking over as Baylan from the late Ray Stevenson, and there will be battles across two galaxies.

"Anybody who saw the sequels knows that there's a First Order coming in, like, 20 years from where we are now in the storyline," The Mandalorian and Grogu director Jon Favreau has teased of the second Ahsoka season. "And then Ahsoka season 2 is coming out – which I've seen all of – and that's definitely more dealing with the larger [picture], a higher level. That's about the officers and we're the enlisted men – this is more of a ground-level experience of what's going on. You're seeing the backdrop – which, by the way, is what the first Star Wars started off as."

Ahsoka season 2 doesn't have a firm release date yet beyond early 2027. While you wait, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows for everything else the galaxy far, far away has in store.

Back in 2020, The Mandalorian season 2 broke the internet when it brought back Luke Skywalker in the finale. The cameo was a total secret, even to the actors on set, bar Pedro Pascal.

But, Ming-Na Wen, who plays Fennec Shand in the Star Wars universe, has revealed she knew the truth the whole time.

"Oh, I knew it was Luke. How could you not? The glove, the lightsaber, the R2-D2 that they painted freaking green," Wen said in conversation with Katee Sackhoff, who plays Bo-Katan Kryze (and had no idea they were dealing with Luke Skywalker). "I just turned to Jon [Favreau] and Dave [Filoni], I'm like, 'Are you kidding me?'"

The cover story was this mysterious Jedi was none other than Plo Koon, who died during Order 66 – a story Sackhoff apparently believed.

"I'm like, 'Come on. It's R2-D2.' They're like, 'No it's not,'" Wen added, confirming no one would tell her the truth in the moment. Check out the conversation below.

In the finale, Luke Skywalker showed up to save Mando, Grogu, Cara Dune, Bo-Katan, Koska Reeves, and Fennec Shand from the Dark Troopers.

"But even when they didn't admit it, I didn't know how they were going to present it," Wen added. "So, I was very surprised, because I didn't see all those other stuff… It was amazing. I still cried and freaked out."

Luke Skywalker showed up again in The Book of Boba Fett, but hasn't been seen since – though a Star Wars fan spotted a background detail in The Mandalorian and Grogu that might have hinted at his presence on Adelphi Base.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is currently in theaters, and, right now, we don't know what's next for Din Djarin and Baby Yoda. The next Star Wars release is Ahsoka season 2, which is arriving in early 2027.

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.

After the success of Maul – Shadow Lord, Darth Maul voice actor Sam Witwer says he wants Star Wars to take more risks, because if not, the sci-fi franchise won't grow.

"You have to take creative risks. It’s like the Maul character – if you’re not going to take risks with the Maul character, do something really new with him, you should not be taking the character out," said Witwer on the Pause for Thought podcast. "I think it’s the same thing with Star Wars in general… Certain things are gonna hit with certain audiences – everyone has their favorite. But without that spirit of experimentation, you don’t get anywhere."

Maul – Shadow Lord is quite out of the ordinary for the franchise. Using noir-inspired animation style with real paint strokes mixed with computer-generated visuals, the series looks different from anything we have seen before in Star Wars and shines a more positive light on a once-hated villain. However, doing something different paid off. Shadow Lord sits at a near-perfect 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and we awarded it 4 out of 5 stars in our Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord season 1 review.

The same goes for Andor. Differing from traditional Star Wars movies and shows, which adopt typical space-fantasy themes, Andor gives fans an insight into the reality of living under oppressive Imperial rule. Andor has a 96% score on RT.

Witwer says Star Wars should be taking these risks more often. But fans are feeling it too. Just last month, Star Wars fans were complaining about the number of projects set between the prequels and original trilogy, wondering if now is the time to move on.

However, it seems as though the tide is turning. As well as Maul – Shadow Lord season 2, which is already in production, the franchise is ready to tell some fresh stories, starting with Shawn Levy's Star Wars: Starfighter starring Ryan Gosling. Levy has also shown interest in making a Star Wars horror movie, which we are well overdue for.

For more on the way, check out our list of upcoming Star Wars movies and shows, and keep up with the Galaxy Far Far Away with our guide on how to watch Star Wars movies in order.

It's time to discuss the Star Wars prequels like it's 1999.

Speaking on the Class Clown podcast (H/T Variety), Peter Serafinowicz – who voiced Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace – recalled his displeasure with the experience.

"The design of it… I wasn't that into it," Serafinowicz said of Maul's Dathomir look. "When I saw the film, it was the biggest disappointment of my life at that point. It really was."

Serafinowicz, who was replaced as the voice of Maul by Sam Witwer in future projcets, even revealed how Star Wars creator George Lucas compared him to Darth Vader's voice actor, James Earl Jones. It didn't seem to go down that well.

"Suddenly there I was with George Lucas, and he was like saying, 'Well, Peter, you're the new James Earl Jones,' and I was like, 'Fucking hell, am I? Then why are you paying me such shit money, George?'"

Whatever Serafinowicz's opinion, it can't be doubted that Darth Maul emerged from the prequels as one of its most iconic aspects. The twin-blade lightsaber-wielding Sith went on to play a key role in Star Wars: The Clone Wars before starring in his own Disney Plus animated series, Maul – Shadow Lord.

Recently, fellow Star Wars villain actor Ian McDiarmid has revealed that Lucas once had plans for a Palpatine TV show, seemingly charting his life from Chancellor to Emperor. But that's not a story Disney will tell you.

For more from a galaxy far, far away, check out the upcoming Star Wars movies currently in the works.

Long before the current Disney Plus era of Star Wars, it turns out George Lucas wanted to make a TV show centered around Ian McDiarmid's Emperor Palpatine.

McDiarmid himself revealed the news at Spacecon San Antonio 2026, via The Popverse.

"[George Lucas] was talking about, I think I can tell you now, a television series," McDiarmid shared. "At the time we didn't think about Star Wars in terms of television series. Very speculative. We had lunch one day, and he said I've got this idea, and I hope you might want to be involved. We could sort of follow the Emperor's progress, like Hitler's, some of that. There might be an assassination attempt, and of course it wouldn't succeed. It sounded really exciting. And he also said that maybe you could direct one, and then I fainted. But sadly, that didn't come to pass."

While this does sound like a separate project, especially since McDiarmid says it was "speculative," it's possible this could have been part of the Underworld TV show, which would've been set between the prequel and original trilogies and focused largely on Coruscant's criminal underworld. However, it really does seem Lucas had an entirely separate, Palpatine-focused project in mind.

Of course, while Andor season 1 and 2 never actually featured the Emperor on screen, they did deal heavily with Imperial politics, which might be the closest we get to seeing a project like the one envisioned by Lucas. McDiarmid, meanwhile, returned as Palpatine for a cameo in the Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

Next up for Star Wars is Ahsoka season 2, which has a confirmed release window of early 2027. The Mandalorian and Grogu, meanwhile, is in theaters now.

You can keep up to date on everything else the galaxy far, far away has in store with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows.

The Mandalorian and Grogu star Brendan Wayne has defended the movie's box office performance – and also hinted at Lucasfilm co-president Dave Filoni's grander plan.

Wayne is one of the Din Djarin suit performers and has played Mando since season 1 of the Disney Plus show.

Speaking to Brandon Davis, Wayne was asked what makes Filoni the right man for the top Lucasfilm job. As part of his answer, Wayne explained: "Dave's understanding of like, 'Hey, we're going to tell a story, and we're going to tell it over, three movies, or this next episode, this next season of Ahsoka.' He understands that it's not all about, did we open well against Solo, or whatever it was? We were amazing because we didn't have the budget of those movies, and we still did something."

The Mandalorian and Grogu debuted to a $165 million opening weekend on a budget of a matching $165 million, and its total global gross now stands at $297 million. While it has made almost double its production budget, it is the lowest grossing Star Wars movie ever, behind Solo's $392.9 million.

What's especially intriguing about Wayne's answer, though, is the concept of telling a story over three movies and the next season of Ahsoka. Whether Wayne is just speaking hypothetically, or whether there really is a plan for more movies, remains to be seen…

What is clear, though, is that Ahsoka season 2 is going to have huge ramifications for the galaxy far, far away.

"Anybody who saw the sequels knows that there's a First Order coming in, like, 20 years from where we are now in the storyline," Jon Favreau has previously teased. "And then Ahsoka season 2 is coming out – which I've seen all of – and that's definitely more dealing with the larger [picture], a higher level. That's about the officers and we're the enlisted men – this is more of a ground-level experience of what's going on. You're seeing the backdrop – which, by the way, is what the first Star Wars started off as."

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review, or see our guide on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

Jon Favreau says The Phantom Menace inspired a tiny detail in The Mandalorian and Grogu.

In the in-theater director commentary, Favreau revealed that the red laser barriers in the stadium where Din Djarin is forced to fight Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White) were inspired by the Duel of the Fates sequence in The Phantom Menace (H/T Laughing Place). Remember those laser gates on Naboo in the infamous fight scene where Obi-Wan Kenobi faces off against Darth Maul? It's a subtle reference, but a cool one nonetheless.

Favreau also revealed that the video game Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order was used as a reference for what the inside of an All Terrain Armored Transport, aka an AT-AT walker, looks like. The worlds depicted in various Star Wars graphic novels also helped the art team figure out what the planet of Nal Hutta should look like.

The director commentary is available in over 6,000 US theaters via the TheaterEars app, and is currently only available in the United States. The commentary itself, and more, will likely arrive with the later streaming and VOD release of the film. As the movie is still in theaters, we likely have quite a while to wait before that happens.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review, or see our guide on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order to get caught up on the galaxy far, far away.

The Mandalorian and Grogu director Jon Favreau has shared which scene from the Star Wars movie was filmed first, and it's my favorite moment.

In the director's commentary currently available to moviegoers via the TheatersEars app, Favreau revealed that the very first thing shot for the film is the plate of the ocean at Adelphi Base, where Grogu and Rotta the Hutt play in the tides together (via Laughing Place).

Now, if you're not up on filmmaking lingo, a plate shot is something filmed to be used in a VFX shot. So, this means the ocean itself was filmed, and Grogu and Rotta added later.

The scene is my favorite in the whole movie – which might come as a surprise, considering all the action, or that beautiful sequence involving Grogu fending for himself. But, the brief, adorable moment acts to emphasize the growing friendship between Rotta and Grogu (one of the reasons Rotta is my MVP of the movie), and, as Din Djarin watches on, it's a sweet reminder that these two get to play in the surf because they have a protector willing to save them from the galaxy's villains.

The director's commentary has revealed all kinds of fun behind the scenes facts about the Star Wars movie, including that Favreau sought George Lucas's permission for one part of the film, Edgar Wright had some advice regarding Embo the bounty hunter, a Luke Skywalker reference was added last minute, one of the best lines was improv, the Droid Gotra were inspired by a scrapped Star Wars game, and Jedi: Fallen Order helped with one action sequence.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review, or our guide on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

The Mandalorian and Grogu may be a standalone movie, but the Star Wars film includes a flurry of nods to the franchise and has brought up many discussions within the fan base, including how powerful the Hutts are.

Over on Reddit, one fan pointed out how the new movie shines a new light on the Hutts after Jabba made a rather weak first impression in the original trilogy. "For the longest time, I've heard about how Legends paints the Hutts of Old as these great warriors," said the fan, "I never really believed it when my only point of reference was the likes of Jabba and the Hutt Council… Then I saw how Rotta was moving in the new movie and completely understood all of it."

Let's face it, when we meet Jabba in Return of the Jedi, we see a bloated, idle crime lord who, yes, has immense power, but he is not exactly a warrior. The sluggish villain made it hard to understand how he got into such a position. Enter Rotta the Hutt in The Mandalorian and Grogu. The new movie gives us insight into what the Hutts can do at the peak of their power, which is demonstrated in the arena scene, where we see a jacked Rotta, voiced by Jeremy Allen White, show off his talents.

"Sure, he's still probably not beating anything in a foot race," added the fan, "but the sheer intimidation factor of this Slug Hulk charging at you like a demon, followed by the strength to lift some of the most deadly creatures in the galaxy and toss them around like toys… Combine all of this with the aforementioned blaster-resistant hide, and I can finally understand why these guys are so feared even before their empire."

Other fans seem to agree, as one replied, "Hutts are like tongues, pure muscle, but leisurely life makes them fat," and another added, "Honestly, Rotta has become one of my favourite new characters just because of how he makes people realise how dangerous Hutts are when they aren't fat and lazy."

When the movie first hit screens, our writer singled Rotta out as the real MVP of The Mandalorian and Grogu, writing, "from the moment Rotta is introduced in the film, it's obvious he's going to be a ton of fun."

The Mandalorian and Grogu is out in theaters now. In the meantime, check out our guide on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order, and keep up with upcoming Star Wars movies and shows heading your way.

Star Wars stories in a galaxy far, far away often take inspiration from wider media in the iconic franchise. But we didn't expect this.

As Jon Favreau revealed during a cinema-exclusive director's commentary on The Mandalorian and Grogu, the cancelled Uncharted-like Star Wars 1313 was influential to the droid group guarding the Nal Hutta palace.

As per Laughing Place, the Droid Gotra were 'borrowed' from the scrapped LucasArts title, which would have centred around Boba Fett on Coruscant.

Perhaps the most famous Star Wars video game that never was, 1313 was dropped after Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm and the shuttering of LucasArts. Perhaps it's no surprise that remnants of the project live on, however.

Ex-Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy told Slash Film back in 2015 "we don't want to throw any of that stuff away" in regards to 1313 or George Lucas' ambitious TV show Star Wars: Underworld.

The Mandalorian also has previous history with repurposing 1313 concepts. So, even if we never get to play as Boba Fett in a fully-fledged rampage through the galaxy's criminal underworld, some of the game's legacy stretches out into streaming and big-budget blockbusters.

The curious case of the in-cinema director's commentary, meanwhile, has thrown up several gems for those listening via the TheatreEars app – including why director Edgar Wright gets a thank you in the credits and how a Luke Skywalker reference was added on the day of filming.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is now in cinemas. For more, see our The Mandalorian and Grogu review, or our guide on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

Filmmaker Edgar Wright had one key note after watching an early screening of The Mandalorian and Grogu, and it has to do with the movie's evil bounty hunter, Embo.

According to the director's commentary provided by Jon Favreau, which movie-goers can listen to in-theater thanks to the TheaterEars app, Wright suggested that the best way to introduce Embo in the film was to have him appear earlier (H/T The Holo Files). Initially, our live-action introduction to Embo was when he breaks into Din and Grogu's house to capture Din on the orders of the Hutt Twins. Having him subtly appear in the corner of the screen when Din and Grogu fly back to Nevarro makes things a little more ominous (especially with his overall sinister appearance), and sets up the danger to come.

We first met Embo in The Clone Wars season 2 episode 17, and his arc ended with him and his anooba Marrok joining the Fett syndicate. It's also worth noting that Embo has a different anooba (his wolf-like hunting partner) in The Mandalorian and Grogu.

The director commentary is only available to United States fans (at least for now), as the TheaterEars app is available in over 6,000 US movie theaters. The commentary itself, and more, will likely arrive with the later streaming and VOD release of the film.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review, or see our guide on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order to get caught up on the galaxy far, far away.

A Luke Skywalker reference in The Mandalorian and Grogu was added during filming, Jon Favreau has revealed.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is still in theaters, and now you can listen in on Favreau's director's commentary with the TheatersEars app. As you might expect, the commentary is revealing all kinds of interesting details about the film.

During the movie, when Mando is injured and Grogu must fend for himself, we see Baby Yoda seated on a tree trunk and meditating. It's a call back to Grogu's stint training as a Jedi Padawan with Luke Skywalker, as seen in The Book of Boba Fett: in episode 6 of that show, we saw Luke and Grogu meditating together.

According to Favreau (via Laughing Place), he had the idea for the meditation scene in The Mandalorian and Grogu on the day of filming, and he used some spare time to capture the moment. He explained that he thinks Grogu learned to meditate from Luke, and the former-Padawan could be "continuing Jedi training on his own."

During The Book of Boba Fett, Luke gave Grogu the choice to either continue his Jedi training or return to Din Djarin. Grogu chose Mando, and now Grogu is officially a Mandalorian apprentice.

"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 told us of Grogu's Jedi journey before the film's release. "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 continued. "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."

This might not be the only reference to Luke in the movie, either: one fan spotted what could be R2-D2 being lifted from an X-wing in the background of the movie's opening credits.

In the same director's commentary, Favreau also revealed that he sought George Lucas's permission for a specific aspect of the film, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order provided inspiration for a major action sequence, and the movie's best line was improv.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. You can check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review to read our verdict on the film, or see our guide on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order to get caught up on the galaxy far, far away.

It turns out everyone's favorite line from The Mandalorian and Grogu was actually some genius improvisation.

That's according to Jon Favreau, who revealed the behind the scenes tidbit in the new director's commentary for the film, which is available via the TheatersEars app.

In the new Star Wars movie, Din Djarin is captured and taken to Nal Hutta by Embo the bounty hunter, and Grogu and his Anzellan pals set off on an adventure to rescue him. This involves climbing up to a pipe that leads deeper into the Hutt palace. As the camera pans down the long, dark tunnel the tiny friends will have to traverse, one of the Anzellans observes: "Big pipe, huh?"

It's a line that has taken on a life of its own online already, and Favreau shared in the commentary that it was improv from Shirley Henderson, who provides the voices for the Anzellans (H/T The HoloFiles).

Favreau has also previously revealed that he reached out to JJ Abrams about the Anzellans, since Babu Frik debuted in Abrams's The Rise of Skywalker. "When I was working with the Anzellans, I called up JJ," he explained. "And JJ came to the set. Because you want him to know that, you know, 'I appreciate what you did. Can we – do you mind? Are we handling this well? Are you happy?'"

In the same director's commentary, Favreau also revealed that he sought George Lucas's permission to use the original Red Jammer model, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order provided a key piece of inspiration for a major action sequence in the film.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. You can check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review to read our verdict on the film, or see our guide on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order to get caught up on the galaxy far, far away.

Boba Fett actor Temuera Morrison was hoping to make an appearance in The Mandalorian and Grogu, and it actually would've made a whole lot of sense.

"I was hoping to pop in there, too, and maybe help [Din Djarin and Grogu] out with something," Morrison told a fan who said that he hoped Boba would've made an appearance. "They might want him back one day… you never know."

It wouldn't have been out of the realm of possibility for Boba Fett to appear in The Mandalorian and Grogu given that he appeared in The Mandalorian season 2, specifically in episodes 6, 7, and 8 (though his subsequent survival after falling into the sarlacc's mouth is implied in episode 1).

You might also recall that Boba's arc ends with him sitting upon the throne that once belonged to Jabba the Hutt. Given that The Mandalorian and Grogu takes place on the Hutts' planet and involves a rescue mission for Jabba's son Rotta... it would've actually made perfect sense for Morrison's bounty hunter to make an appearance, and, as Morrison said, help Din Djarin and Grogu out with something.

The Book of Boba Fett ran for just one season on Disney Plus back in 2022, with Morrison previously saying that the show's reception "seems to have impacted the future of the character in the franchise." As a staunch defender of The Book of Boba Fett and the Star Wars Christmas Special (where Boba made his first official on-screen appearance), I have full faith that we'll see the bounty hunter again.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review, or see our guide on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order to get caught up on the galaxy far, far away.

Over the past decade, Star Wars has focused heavily on the period of time between the prequels and original trilogy, so much so that fans are wondering if it is time to move on from releasing projects set in this era.

When the Star Wars prequels were released, there was no doubt that fans had a lot of questions about what had happened in the 19 years between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. But thanks to the ever-growing franchise, many projects have filled in the blanks and introduced lots of new characters. But when is enough enough?

"Considering the sheer amount of media we've gotten that takes place between III-IV, is there STILL some plot holes that need to be addressed? Or is it finally time to move on?" asked one fan on Reddit. Many others agree, as one pointed out, "Personally, I’m over the timeline between Ep1-6... give us the Luke Han Leia story post-6. Take some heavy swings at the lore. Dig deep and do some mythological heavy lifting."

Many fans are seeing the funny side of Lucasfilm and Disney's overexploration of The Dark Times. "There's still a dude in the back of the Mos Eisley's cantina in ANH we don't have a full 3-season show about," joked one fan, and another added, "You joke, but the Tales From Mos Eisley Cantina literally gave us the backstory of Han Solo's vest."

There are now 10, yes ten, projects set between the prequels and the original trilogy, and that's not counting Tales of the Jedi, which has episodes set slightly before. On the Star Wars timeline, Tales of the Empire, Tales of the Underworld, The Bad Batch, Maul – Shadow Lord, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, Star Wars Rebels, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story all take place during that 19-year gap.

It doesn't look like Lucasfilm is quite finished with the period known as the Reign of the Empire, as Maul – Shadow Lord season 2 is already in production, and a third Star Wars Jedi games is expected to continue the story of Cal Kestis in this period. However, the franchise is exploring pastures new in Shawn Levy's Star Wars: Starfighter, which will take place approximately five years after The Rise of Skywalker. Starfighter hits cinemas on May 28, 2027.

For even more, check out our guide on how to watch Star Wars movies in order, and keep up with upcoming Star Wars movies and shows heading your way.

The Mandalorian and Grogu might be directed by Jon Favreau, but Star Wars creator George Lucas was still involved in one specific way.

Moviegoers are currently able to listen to Favreau's director's commentary for The Mandalorian and Grogu while watching the film in theaters via the TheatersEars app, and Favreau reveals plenty of fascinating details about the flick.

In the commentary, Favreau explains that he was at Skywalker Ranch, using the parking lot to film a Razor Crest miniature, when he learned that the original Red Jammer Y-wing starfighter model was being prepped for display at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. Favreau then obtained the permission of George Lucas himself to use the model in the film (via Laughing Place).

The Red Jammer was created as a reference for A New Hope, but the model itself never appeared in the film. The Mandalorian and Grogu marks its first appearance in Star Wars.

"After a lengthy negotiation, George Lucas gave us permission to borrow the model," visual effects supervisor John Knoll previously told VFX Voice (via ComicBook.com). "We shot two motion-control elements of it. It's in the movie and will go by quickly. Unless somebody points it out, you won't notice it, but there are two photographed elements of a 1976 original model from Star Wars, which has never been seen onscreen before."

The Red Jammer shows up during The Mandalorian and Grogu ending, in the Nal Hutta X-wing action sequence. It's being piloted by filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung. For more The Mandalorian and Grogu Easter eggs and cameos, check out our guide through the link.

Lucas's American Graffiti was also an inspiration for The Mandalorian and Grogu, Favreau shared, specifically Mando wanting to boost the Razor Crest's speed by stripping his new ship of restrictors.

Favreau has also previously revealed that he reached out to JJ Abrams about using the Anzellans again, since Babu Frik debuted in Abrams's The Rise of Skywalker.

Plus, during the commentary, Favreau explained how Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order helped inspire a key sequence in the film.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. You can check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review to read our verdict on the film, or see our guide on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order to get caught up on the galaxy far, far away.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is still in theaters, and moviegoers are currently able to enjoy an audio track of Jon Favreau's director's commentary running alongside the film via the TheatersEars app.

As you might expect, the director's commentary lifts the lid on plenty of interesting details about the latest Star Wars film – including a link to the game Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Per Laughing Place, Fallen Order was used as a reference for the look of an AT-AT walker's interior. The Mandalorian and Grogu's action-packed opening sequence sees Din Djarin and Grogu battling Imperial remnants across three different walkers, destroying the giant vehicles as they go.

In Fallen Order, Cal Kestis climbs inside of an AT-AT on the Wookie homeworld planet, Kashyyyk, and he even uses the walker itself in a showdown against his Imperial foes.

That's not the only way Fallen Order figures into the movie, either: on Adelphi Base, BD unit droids can be spotted wandering around (they made their live-action debut in Peli Motto's garage in The Mandalorian). For more The Mandalorian and Grogu Easter eggs, check out our guide through the link.

Recently, it was confirmed that Cal Kestis's story is not over, and a new Star Wars book even revealed that Luke Skywalker knows Cal survived Order 66 by 34 ABY on the Star Wars timeline (AKA after the Death Star's destruction). What might be next for Cal remains to be seen, but here's hoping he returns sooner rather than later.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more on the film, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review, or see our guide on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order to get up to speed on the galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars series The Book of Boba Fett was met with a mixed reaction when it hit Disney Plus back in 2021. Critics were more up on the show than audiences, based on its divisive Rotten Tomatoes score, and there was a general consensus that the best episodes were when the series diverted course to tell The Mandalorian's story.

However, despite not winning over viewers, it seems that Lucasfilm may have considered a second season of the show at some point. Speaking at Fan Expo Philadelphia, Jonny Coyne, who played Lord Janu Coin in The Mandalorian and Grogu and briefly in The Mandalorian season 3, shared the insight.

"They said they were going to put me into [The Mandalorian] season 4, and maybe a possible Boba Fett episode as well, and then it all went away," he told audiences. "It all went away, and then the movie happened."

Per Screen Rant, it seems that Coyne was referring to conversations that happened after he appeared in The Mandalorian season 3, meaning that he can't have been referring to The Book of Boba Fett season 1. If this is true, then it does suggest that Lucasfilm was actively considering a second outing of the Temuera Morrison-led spin-off.

It seems quite unlikely that would happen now, but you never know what the higher-ups at Lucasfilm are considering next for the galaxy far, far away. What has been confirmed is Ahsoka season 2, which will be arriving in 2027. You can also check out all of the other upcoming Star Wars movies and shows that have been confirmed.

Andor might be a direct prequel to Rogue One, but it does have one key difference with the movie – its tone.

While Andor is a gritty political thriller, Rogue One still has more of an edge to it, but is less intense than the show.

"I watched Rogue One right after the finale of Andor and they really are played completely differently," says one person on Reddit. "The characters are paper thin in the movie compared to the depth they all get in the show, the pacing is far quicker and there's never a moment to [ruminate] on things. Now some of these are expected because one is a blockbuster movie and the other is a methodical serial television show so the very medium they're both in pretty much means they will feel different."

"When I rewatched Rogue One right after I finished Andor, I was struck by how mystical the former seemed in comparison to the latter," says another fan. The Force does play a part in Andor season 2, but in only a few scenes.

"The tonal changes between R1 and Andor have quite a bit to do with format and genre. One was a single movie, and the other a 24 episode series; one was basically a war movie focused on a specific action and the circumstances that led up to it, and the other was a political/espionage thriller. Also, there were differences in writing and production style that impacted tone for each," argues someone else.

"I find R1 waaaay colder and emotionally distant than Andor," says another person, while another says: "I cared about the characters in Andor and... not in the other"

"Cassian in Andor doesn't perfectly line up with Cassian in Rogue One, but it's close enough," says someone else.

"My biggest gripe with the Andor/Rogue One 'Trilogy' is that Rogue One uses the classic, lighter music and emotional themes. It has those momentary flashes of whimsy that the OT/PT/ST have. Also, while I loved C3PO and R2 on first release, their very brief presence did disrupt the flow a bit on rewatches, and after Andor, I actively dislike them showing up," is another person's take. "I know Andor Cut fixes most continuity errors that were introduced from what I understand, but it's unfortunate that the official release is so tonally different from Andor from purely an entertainment standpoint."

Andor season 2 ends just moments before Rogue One begins, with Cassian Andor setting off on the mission that will eventually lead to him helping steal the Death Star plans on Scarif.

Next up for Star Wars is Ahsoka season 2, which has a release window of early 2027. The Mandalorian and Grogu is currently in theaters.

You can keep up to date with everything else on the way with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.

Shawn Levy may be busy working on Star Wars: Starfighter, but he has an idea for another story in the universe. It's all inspired by Backrooms, the new world-of-mouth horror movie from YouTuber Kane Parsons, which sees a shopkeeper get lost in an endless stretch of rooms that he can't escape from.

Speaking at a screening of the film, which Deadpool and Wolverine director Levy was an executive producer on, he revealed that he'd love to explore something similar in a galaxy far, far away.

"Right now, I'm making a movie called Star Wars: Starfighter, and so I very much have Star Wars on my mind," Levy told Vanity Fair. "And I can't help but be captivated by a Backrooms, Star Wars mashup and, luckily, I've got a little bit of involvement in both, so I'll see what I can do."

It's definitely a fun idea. Part of the appeal of Backrooms, and why it has already been winning over audiences at the box office, is that it is a unique, original idea. We'd love to see this kind of thinking brought into the Star Wars universe. It wouldn't be the first time that the franchise has expanded beyond its core story, finding success with original stories like Andor, The Acolyte, and Skeleton Crew.

While these genre experiments have had mixed success, we'd love to see more of them. It's true too that horror is not a style that Star Wars has explored yet – and this isn't the first time that it has been suggested.

Andor creator Tony Gilroy previously shared his hopes that the franchise would lean into genre. "I always fantasised that the show would break new ground, that someone would be able to make a three-camera sitcom in Star Wars or a horror movie," he previously told SFX magazine.

"I think the first thing I said to Kathy [Kennedy, Lucasfilm president] when she said they wanted to open a line, was, 'Could you do a courtroom drama?' And why not? We've worked really hard on Andor to make our lane, and it's up to other people now to find another way to do it."

For more on the galaxy far, far away, check out our guide to upcoming Star Wars movies and shows and our breakdown of the Star Wars timeline.

The Acolyte season 2 would have connected to the sequels through Manny Jacinto's Qimir, showrunner Leslye Headland has said.

The Star Wars show was scrapped in 2024, reportedly for low viewership, though it was actually Disney Plus's second most-watched show of the year. This year, the show had a resurgence and returned to the streamer's top 10, apparently bolstered by Maul – Shadow Lord.

"I'm having a resurgence of The Acolyte in my real life," Headland told Empire magazine. "I speak with people who are really big fans, and were disappointed in the cancelation. I went to a play last night, and somebody was like, 'I just have to tell you that I loved it.'"

Headland also explained that she'd be happy to return to Star Wars. "I would still want to do it! Absolutely," she said. "As more people discover it, I think people may want to see some form of the story come back."

As for what that might look like, Headland revealed more. "We did have a lot of stuff that we wanted to explore – including tying in lore to the sequels," she shared. "Getting into who exactly Manny [Jacinto]'s character is, his connection with [Jedi Master] Vernestra, his connection with [Sith Lord] Plagueis, and then his connection with other sequel-established things."

Jacinto's Stranger, AKA Qimir, did appear to have some kind of relation to Kylo Ren, as hinted at by a musical cue in the show.

A new Star Wars book has also enhanced The Acolyte lore with a reference to Vernestra. "Some even say that it was during this brightest of times that the Sith began to crawl their way back out of the darkness," says Luke Skywalker of the High Republic in the updated version of Marc Sumerak's Star Wars: The Secrets of the Jedi, subtitled The Chronicles of Luke Skywalker. "There are even whispers that legendary Jedi like Vernestra Rwoh may have been complicit in their return. But we may never know for sure."

Next up for Star Wars is Ahsoka season 2, which is arriving in early 2027. The Mandalorian and Grogu is currently in theaters.

You can see everything else the galaxy far, far away has in store with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.

Before making his live-action debut in The Mandalorian and Grogu, we first met villain Embo in The Clone Wars series. However, Lucasfilm boss Dave Filoni says the bounty hunter was actually supposed to appear way earlier, in George Lucas' scrapped series Star Wars: Underworld.

"While we were writing and creating The Clone Wars, George was also developing a live-action series called Star Wars: Underworld," said Filoni to StarWars.com. "He had a lot of visual development done where he was exploring new designs for ships, planets, droids, and aliens. When we would meet to discuss upcoming Clone Wars [episodes], George would use some of that visual inspiration for our stories."

First announced at Star Wars Celebration 2005, Star Wars: Underworld was supposed to be a live-action show that would bridge the gap between the prequel and original trilogies. Set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, Lucas wanted the series to take on a more mature tone than the space opera. Over the next few years, the team built huge set pieces and wrote over fifty scripts. However, in 2010, the project was abandoned due to budget constraints.

Just last year, producer Rick McCallum shed a little more light on why Underworld was cancelled. McCallum told Young Indy Chronicles podcast that the show would have cost upwards of $40 million per episode, adding, "each episode was bigger than the films... It would’ve blown up the whole Star Wars universe, and Disney would’ve definitely never offered George to buy the franchise."

It is not clear what part Embo would have played in Underworld, but it was the first piece of concept art that prompted both Lucas and Filoni to include him in The Clone Wars. "I gave Embo the species name 'Kyuzo,' which was a character from the Seven Samurai played by Seiji Miyaguchi," added Filoni. "I really liked that character so I gave a nod to the performance in Embo's character." That was just the beginning, as Embo went on to make more appearances in the show and even gained a trusty companion, a dog named Marrock.

After the Clone Wars, Embo retired and went to live a quiet life on the planet Felucia. In The Mandalorian and Grogu, which is set around 30 years after the end of The Clone Wars, we meet Embo in a new era, where he has a new pet and is quickly pulled back into the bounty hunter life. Embo is just one of the antagonists against Din Djarin and Grogu in the new movie, as the pair join forces with the New Republic in order to save what the Rebellion fought so hard for.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is now in cinemas. For more, check out our guide to The Mandalorian and Grogu ending, plus a look at the full Star Wars timeline.

The Way isn't just a nifty catchphrase. For Din Djarin and his fellow Mandalorians, it's a way of life that adds 'never showing your face to an enemy' to its list of many rules and regulations.

Pedro Pascal's Mandalorian has already broken that creed on multiple – albeit necessary – occasions, but The Mandalorian and Grogu movie has unmasked the Star Wars character for longer than at any point in Din's prior history across three seasons on Disney Plus.

As per numbers crunched by Star Wars Holocron, Din Djarin is unmasked for 270 seconds in The Mandalorian and Grogu. By comparison, The Mandalorian seasons 1-3 offer a shade fewer moments of unmasked action, clocking in at 259 seconds.

Towards the movie's third act, The Mandalorian and Grogu sees Din Djarin pulled in front of the Hutt Twins and his helmet removed – a moment that Pedro Pascal said made "perfect sense."

"When we got to that part, all I can say is that it made perfect sense, and it was what I was hoping would be the reason," Pascal told Empire. "If I were to pitch something, I would say, ‘The only thing that makes sense is...’ And that’s exactly it. He filled that blank. I said immediately, ‘Jon, that’s exactly what I was hoping to hear!’"

Previously, Mando has taken off his helmet to say goodbye to Grogu, as well as showing his face to IG-11 after being seriously wounded at the tail-end of the first season. This is the first time he has been forcefully unmasked, however, which is probably why we saw Pedro Pascal's face for so long.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is now in cinemas. For more, check out our guide to The Mandalorian and Grogu ending, plus a look at the full Star Wars timeline.

12 years ago, Charlie Cox was officially announced as Daredevil, and Marvel fans are celebrating the occasion.

The Marvel Twitter account shared the news on May 28, 2014. All these years later, Cox has appeared in multiple seasons of the Netflix show, two seasons of Daredevil: Born Again (with Daredevil: Born Again season 3 on the way), She-Hulk, and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

"12 years ago today, Charlie Cox was officially announced as Daredevil One of the best castings in superhero media," said one fan on Reddit, which kicked off a celebration.

"Time flies. He is so awesome as Daredevil," said one person, while another said: "Top 5 casting in the MCU for me. He owns this role for life."

"S-Tier comic book casting," said another fan. "Matt Murdock is one of the more complicated roles in the MCU to play and Charlie nails everything about him to perfection," agreed someone else.

"12 years later and he is still giving us phenomenal acting moments in the role that blows me away," said another person. "One of the Marvel [goat]s for sure"

Daredevil: Born Again season 3 doesn't yet have a release date, but Bullseye actor Wilson Bethel has recently teased his new suit.

"There will be a small time jump, but it's not too significant. It's not like we're jumping ahead five years or anything," Marvel TV boss Brad Winderbaum has said of the upcoming third season. "We're probably jumping ahead a year or so, kind of like the real-life distance between seasons."

While you wait, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows for everything else that's on the way.

The Mandalorian and Grogu director Jon Favreau has revealed he got in touch with J.J. Abrams about using the Anzellans again.

The very first Anzellan brought to screen was Babu Frik, everyone's favorite little guy from The Rise of Skywalker – which was directed by Abrams (he also helmed The Force Awakens).

Speaking to SFX magazine about bringing Dave Filoni's creation Embo into live-action in The Mandalorian and Grogu, Favreau explained: "We were developing the live-action version of him and showing Dave versions – we've got to show Dave. Because there's a special thing, when you use a [character] – even though it belongs to Star Wars, if somebody came up with the character, you go [to them].

"Like when I was working with the Anzellans, I called up JJ," he continued. "And JJ came to the set. Because you want him to know that, you know, 'I appreciate what you did. Can we – do you mind? Are we handling this well? Are you happy?' And with Embo, same thing with Dave."

Now, the Anzellans first returned in The Mandalorian season 3, so it's not totally clear if Favreau reached out about the Anzellans for the show or the new movie. But, J.J. Abrams is thanked in the credits of The Mandalorian and Grogu, so it seems this story explains why.

The Anzellans end up having quite the pivotal role in the first Star Wars movie in seven years, too, so we're sure Abrams is very happy with how the little guys are doing.

Next up for Star Wars is Ahsoka season 2, which has an early 2027 release window.

Until then, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review or our guide on how to watch all the Star Wars movies in order.

Skeleton Crew season 2 might be possible, star Kerry Condon has revealed.

The Star Wars show debuted in December 2024 to a very positive Rotten Tomatoes score of 92%, but, since then, updates on its future have been scarce.

"I mean, I heard maybe possibly, but I don't know," Kerry Condon, who played Fara, mother of youngster Fern, told Screen Rant. "You never know in this business, but I really hope so because I thought the kids were great."

Skeleton Crew followed a bunch of kids who, after accidentally leaving their planet, have to try and find their way back home – only, nobody has heard of their planet, and it also turns out to be the rumored home of legendary treasure.

Jude Law starred as Jod Na Nawood, while Nick Frost voiced droid SM-33. The young cast was made up of Kyriana Kratter as KB, Ravi Cabot-Conyers as Wim, Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Fern, and Robert Timothy Smith as Neel.

While the show was well received, its debut didn't make it into the Nielsen top 10, with its first two episodes netting only 382 million minutes watched in their first week. That's the lowest of any live-action Star Wars show.

Still, a recent Production Weekly update said Skeleton Crew season 2 is "in development," so more could well be on the way.

Our own Skeleton Crew review awarded the show 4 stars, calling the show "a fun adventure story with lots of promise for Star Wars TV."

We'll just have to wait and see what happens next for Skeleton Crew, but in the meantime, Star Wars has returned to the big screen for the first time in seven years with The Mandalorian and Grogu, which is currently playing in theaters.

Up next is Ahsoka season 2, which has an early 2027 release window.

Until then, get up to speed on everything else the galaxy far, far away has in store with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.

It's been almost a decade since Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi hit screens, but one eagle-eyed fan has spotted a big difference between the final cut of the movie and the trailer.

The trailer for The Last Jedi, which landed on Star Wars' YouTube page in October 2017, includes a shot of Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 approaching the Jedi Temple only to find it destroyed and on fire. However, one Reddit user has found that the shot in the trailer does not include the many bodies strewn all over the ground in front of the temple, which is shown in the movie. "In the final version for The Last Jedi, you can see [dead] bodies in this shot, unlike in the trailer version," pointed out the fan.

In the final version for The Last Jedi, you can see killed bodies in this shot, unlike in the trailer version from r/StarWars

The scene is actually a flashback from Luke's memory, as he recalls finding the bodies of the students he placed in his Jedi temple between Return of the Jedi and The Last Jedi. He believed that Kylo Ren killed the students. Kylo's motivations stemmed from his paranoia and dark thoughts due to his shift to the dark side. He thought that his uncle wanted to kill him after finding Luke standing over his bed one night with his lightsaber drawn.

The post has opened up a big discussion. One fan pointed out, "At the time the film came out, I think the implication was that the Knights of Ren are what some of the surviving Jedi students became, because Luke says, 'When I came to... the temple was burning. He had vanished with a handful of my students. And slaughtered the rest.'" Another added, "It would also better explain why Luke gave up. He trained all these people only for the dark side to rise in some."

It is thought that Skywalker had brought Padawans to the temple to train, including his nephew, Ben Solo. Luke's sister, Leia, had previously expressed her wish for her Force-sensitive son to be trained under Luke, after she discovered a dark presence attempting to influence him. But after Skywalker entered Ben's room one night and briefly considered slaying him, Ben lashed out, creating a lightning storm that destroyed the temple and killed almost all of the students. However, in the movie, we don't actually see Kylo causing the destruction or harming the students.

Since The Last Jedi in 2017, the Galaxy Far, Far Away's cinematic universe has grown with movies Solo: A Star Wars Story and The Rise of Skywalker. This year, the first Star Wars movie in seven years hit the big screen. The Mandalorian and Grogu follows Din Djarin and his young apprentice Grogu, who join forces with the fledgling New Republic after the fall of the evil Empire.

For more, check out our guide to the Star Wars timeline, and keep up to date with upcoming Star Wars movies and shows heading your way.

One Star Wars fan has given us all a full tour of the Din Djarin and Grogu homestead, and now I'm wondering if Mando is accepting applications for roommates.

The homestead was introduced at the end of The Mandalorian season 3, when Din Djarin and his newly adopted son, Din Grogu, settled down on Nevarro. In the show, though, we only got to see the house from outside.

The duo return to it in The Mandalorian and Grogu, and this time, while we get to see inside, it's only a glimpse before Grogu is forced to flee (with his Anzellan pals) and Mando literally blows up the roof to get to bounty hunter Embo.

But, thanks to the Fortnite collaboration, we can see the entire household. In the video, which you can watch below, we can see the grounds outside, including two blurrgs outside in a callback to season 1. The N-1 starfighter is also parked nearby, and there's a target range behind that. Round the front, you can even see Mando himself sitting next to the front door and enjoying some downtime, in a reference to the season 3 finale.

Inside, the house is simple, but very cozy. There's a bed against the wall and what looks like a smaller bed for Grogu on the floor beside it. On the other side of the house, there's a fireplace – with Mando's blaster mounted in pride of place above it – and a small kitchen and dining area. The whole interior is pretty spartan, but there are some rugs for decor. Check it out below.

Honestly, the whole place looks adorable, and I hope someday – in a potential The Mandalorian season 4 or somewhere else – we get to see Mando and Grogu spending a peaceful stretch of time in their homestead together.

"We wanted to build something that, yes, was a gaming experience, and you drop in with, I think, up to [12 players], and it's a fun adventure, but the backdrop is a very immersive one," Jon Favreau told us of the Fortnite collaboration. "And you could choose to go on the adventures within it, but you could also choose to explore. And we even developed other areas that we had either explored [or] thought about, so that you can actually explore and go throughout that planet."

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review, or our roundup of how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

The Mandalorian actor has reacted to the positive reaction of The Mandalorian and Grogu. We're not talking about Pedro Pascal though, but instead the man inside the suit, Brendan Wayne.

Wayne took to Instagram to thank fans, writing, "The audiences have been heard from and we are overwhelmed by the positive response. We loved what we were making and hopefully now we can make more!!!"

The movie currently stands at 62% on Rotten Tomatoes, but it seems like fans are loving it a lot more than critics, as the movie holds an 88% audience score. In our The Mandalorian and Grogu review, we called the movie "a lot of fun with Baby Yoda's sheer adorableness doing a lot of heavy lifting."

Wayne booked the role of Din Djarin for the first season of Disney Plus series The Mandalorian back in 2019, and has helped bring the bounty hunter to life for three seasons, and now in the new movie. But wait, you might be thinking, 'I thought Pedro Pascal played the Mandalorian?', which is true, but it actually takes a number of actors to play Mando. Pascal provides the voice of Mando, and is who we see under the suit whenever he takes his mask off, which has only been four times so far.

However, most of the time, when the hero is in full metal armour, it's Wayne under there. When it comes to the stunts, mixed martial artist Lateef Crowder takes the wheel. Thanks to Mando following the strict creed that all Mandalorians live by, which involves never revealing their faces out of fear of banishment, you never really know who is under there.

Pascal, Wayne, and Crowder all return to play the bounty hunter in The Mandalorian and Grogu. Set after the fall of the evil Empire, which has displaced Imperial warlords throughout the galaxy, the movie follows Din Djarin and his young apprentice Grogu as they join forces with the fledgling New Republic. Directed by Jon Favreau, the movie also stars Sigourney Weaver as Colonel Ward, Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt, Steve Blum as Zeb Orrelios, and Jonny Coyne as Lord Janu.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is currently in theaters. For more, check out our guide to the Star Wars timeline, and keep up to date with upcoming Star Wars movies and shows heading your way.

Cal Kestis still has more to come, according to Lucasfilm.

Cameron Monaghan's Jedi is the protagonist of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (and the novel Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars), but he hasn't been seen in canon elsewhere just yet (he had a non-canon appearance in Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy).

"Never say never. We've got his lightsaber in the park. We've got more Cal stories coming," a Lucasfilm representative (also identified as a Disney representative in the report) told GameRant.

What that might mean is a mystery, but it might be hinting at another game, another novel, or even a live-action debut for Cal. It all remains to be seen.

Recently, Star Wars confirmed in a new book that Luke Skywalker knows Cal Kestis survived Order 66.

In the book Star Wars: The Secrets of the Jedi: The Chronicles of Luke Skywalker by Marc Sumerak, Luke writes: "Order 66 might have seemed like a quick and efficient method of eliminating the Jedi, but not every member of the Order succumbed to this act of betrayal. A small handful of Jedi managed to escape execution, such as Master Jaro Tapal's Padawan Cal Kestis, but their numbers continued to fall during the years that followed."

So, whatever might happen next for Cal Kestis, Luke Skywalker at least knows about him by 34 ABY on the Star Wars timeline (AKA 34 years after the Death Star blew up). Cal has already made quite a name for himself in his appearances so far, which could explain how Luke comes to learn of him, or the two Jedi could even cross paths in a future Star Wars project. We'll just have to wait and see.

Up next for Star Wars is Ahsoka season 2, which has an early 2027 release window. Next year also brings with it Star Wars: Starfighter, while The Mandalorian and Grogu is currently in theaters.

You can keep up to date with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.

When Grogu first debuted way back in the first season of The Mandalorian, he was a tiny, green, and very defenceless youngling.

Over the years, the Child has done some serious growing: his bond with Din Djarin has flourished from bounty hunter and target to father and son, and his mischievous, wilful, and snack-obsessed personality has made itself known. Along the way, he's moved from a baby stuck in his pram, to a Jedi Padawan – for a little while, anyway – and now to a Mandalorian apprentice with his own Beskar armor and a wrist-mounted (paintball) blaster. Grogu might still be tiny (and green), but he's no longer defenceless.

It's in his latest adventure, The Mandalorian and Grogu, that Grogu really comes into his own, too – and proves that he's so much more than just a cute sidekick.

The young protect the old

In the first half of the new Star Wars film, Grogu spends his time hanging out on Din Djarin's shoulder, occasionally jumping into action to destroy a mouse droid with the Force, or to shimmy up a building and unlock it from the inside. He also has plenty of lovely little moments that are guaranteed to make you aww aloud, like sneezing after the snowy AT-AT action scene, jumping on the bed of the new Razor Crest and giggling, or waddling through the Adelphi Base on his teeny legs.

It might seem, then, that Grogu's only purpose in his first big-screen outing is to help out Papa Mando and look adorable while he does it. But, halfway through the film, everything changes. Din Djarin is taken captive by the ruthless bounty hunter Embo after crossing the Hutt Twins, and Grogu and his Anzellan pals watch in dismay as Mando is taken away to Nal Hutta.

Back in The Mandalorian season 3, Grogu faced a similar dilemma when Din Djarin was attacked by a gruesome cyborg on Mandalore. Baby Yoda jumped into Mando's N-1 Starfighter and asked its astromech to pilot him to Bo-Katan Kryze, and, in this way, he was able to rescue his father. This time, however, Grogu and the Anzellans take on the challenge of saving Din Djarin all alone.

Grogu suits up in his Beskar armor and heads to Nal Hutta with the Anzellans, and, together, they manage to sneak into the Hutt palace, where Mando is battling a dragon snake for his life. Grogu fixes a bomb – yes, really – onto the bars of the dragon snake's lair, which frees Mando (and spares him a grisly fate as a snack). When it becomes obvious Din Djarin can't fit into the Anzellan's ship to escape, Grogu stays behind to save him, even though Mando told him to go.

Grogu Force heals Mando's wound, but the dragon snake's poison isn't so easily vanquished. Here, the film shifts to a beautiful, meditative sequence showcasing some stunning puppetry work, in which Grogu, completely alone on a planet where danger lurks in every corner, nurses Din Djarin back to health. Grogu – who, don't forget, is just a baby – builds a mud hut for Mando and uses the Force to slide him into it (with a few head bumps), collects water for them both, and manages to steal some fish from a nearby stranger.

This stranger turns out to be friendly, and he makes Grogu a poultice to cure Mando, which the Child dutifully feeds him. It works, and Mando wakes up – and, naturally, gets right back to holstering his weapons.

In a touching moment, Din Djarin also affirms that Grogu, by saving his life, is following the Mandalorian Creed: "The old protect the young, and then the young protect the old. This is the Way." It's hard to think of any higher praise for a Mandalorian apprentice.

Your turn, Grogu

Of course, that's not to say that Grogu has ever just been "shoulder candy," as one of the movie's bad guys calls him. Grogu has always been at the heart of The Mandalorian: the entire show revolves around the hugely meaningful father and son bond that grows between the Child and Mando himself, and all the ways it changes them both. Just compare how brutal and merciless Din Djarin was back when he was introduced to the paternal ease with which he confiscates Grogu's macarons until after dinner in the movie.

But Baby Yoda's adventure in The Mandalorian and Grogu is the biggest responsibility he's ever had on his tiny shoulders, and it proves how much potential he has as he continues to learn the Way of the Mandalore and grow older. At the end of the film, he's able to use his Force powers to rescue Rotta the Hutt from falling into the dragon snake's pit – back in season 1, lifting the mudhorn to save Mando knocked him out for the entire episode.

The film even ends on a note that sets up the future. As the duo flies away from Adelphi Base, Mando calls Grogu up to the controls and lets him push the button that sends them to lightspeed. "Your turn," he tells his adopted son, in a very clear passing of the torch.

Grogu probably isn't ready to become a fully fledged Mandalorian just yet – he's still pretty small, after all. But it's obvious that, whatever comes next, Grogu has plenty more ahead of him, both as his Force powers get stronger and as he learns more as a Mandalorian apprentice. They really do grow up so fast…

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review, or our roundup of how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is out in theaters now as it takes Star Wars back to the big screen for the first time in seven years. The film follows Din Djarin and his apprentice Grogu on an adventure around the galaxy, but there's one moment that fans think could be setting up the little green guy's future.

This revolves around the scene when Mando is brought back in front of the Hutt twins after his betrayal. They show him that they've caught Rotta the Hutt and they're keeping him in a state where they can torture him constantly. They tell Din Djarin that he'll be in pain for centuries as the Hutts can live for many, many years.

This has sparked a theory from a Twitter user called RebelScum_MF, who wrote: "I'm calling it, Rotta will be the one to take care of Grogu after Din is gone. They put the line that the Hutts can live centuries for a reason!"

Grogu is a member of Yoda's species, which means he can live for centuries. Indeed, by the time he died in Return of the Jedi, Yoda was 900 years old. Unfortunately, Mando won't be able to live that long, as his species has the same life span as humans. This means – and we shudder at the thought – he will die long before his ward Grogu.

Grogu is still just a youngling in the show and the movie, and it's not clear when he will reach maturity. If it takes many more years, then it does seem like Rotta could step in. The pair certainly had a good bond in the new film, especially when it comes to snack sharing.

Other Star Wars fans have been reacting to the theory – and it seems the responses are pretty mixed. "Does he not become a grown ass man at some point? Bros already pushing 60, it’s about time to grow up," wrote one, while another added: "Was thinking that! Love it!!! wonder if they were part of the Resistance against the First Order."

Meanwhile, a third pointed out: "It’s foreshadowed in the movie about a growth spurt, which is likely what will happen with Grogu by the next installment. Rotta was the example…" Jon Favreau has opened up about the character's future in the Star Wars universe, saying he has "a lot of plans" for him. So we'll just have to wait and see…

In the meantime, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review, as well as how to watch Star Wars in order.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is now in theaters as it reunites Din Djarin with his young apprentice Grogu. The pair are now both working as bounty hunters for the New Republic in the new Star Wars movie, which focuses on their mission to find Rotta the Hutt.

The movie stays in the present with the duo and doesn't feature any huge reveals or flash forwards to the future of these two characters. However, in a new special debunking fan theories, it seems like something around showing Grogu's future in the franchise may have been considered.

Entertainment Weekly showed director Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni a theory from a user called 4forlore that suggested a post-credits scene could show Grogu as a grown-up member of Yoda's species.

While this doesn't happen in the final film, Favreau teased: "There are things that 4thelore has brought up that we have actually…" At this point, Filoni cut in to add: "He's not that far."

The pair don't reveal anything more about what they discussed, but when Pedro Pascal adds that, "If Grogu ever gets that old I'll be long dead," Favreau clarified that the user was "saying a flash forward, that you would get a glimpse of the future." Could this be what the Star Wars filmmakers might have considered?

We do know that Favreau has thought a lot about Grogu's future on screen. In an interview with GamesRadar+, he revealed: "Creatively, I have a lot of plans, and I have a lot of thoughts about these characters, especially for Grogu. Grogu is a character that is – his species lives for centuries. He's on a path to be both a Jedi and a Mandalorian. He's making certain choices and decisions, and he has a great teacher now. And so, as he develops and grows, there's opportunities for stories that would emanate from that."

It's not yet clear where these characters will end up next. The Mandalorian season 4 hasn't been announced, nor has a return for Din Djarin and Grogu in another project. So it seems like we'll have to just wait and see whether we'll ever see a grown-up Grogu in the Star Wars franchise. Here's hoping…

While we wait, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows as well as our The Mandalorian and Grogu review.

The first Star Wars movie in seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu, is now playing in theaters. But before Disney scooped up Lucasfilm for a cool $4.5bn, Star Wars was in a very precarious place, and Ahsoka voice actor Ashley Eckstein credits animated series The Clone Wars with turning that around.

Speaking at MCM Expo, where the cast of The Clone Wars were reunited on stage, Eckstein talked about being a Star Wars pioneer, as the voice of Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano on The Clone Wars.

“For us, it’s easy to forget, but when Clone Wars was on the air, there was no other Star Wars. We thought Star Wars was done," Eckestein said. "This was before Disney bought it and we were the only thing on the air… Without the success of Clone Wars we might not be seeing Mandalorian, Boba Fett, etcetera.”

It's a fair point, as much of Star Wars' recent output (Andor aside) has spun out from the world established by The Clone Wars. The Mandalorian season 3, in particular, featured numerous story threads that tied back to The Clone Wars, while Ahsoka, Maul – Shadow Lord, and The Bad Batch all pick up with characters and events depicted in The Clone Wars and Rebels.

Whether this is a good thing for Star Wars is debatable. The Mandalorian season 3 is widely considered the show's weakest season, in part because of its connections to Star Wars' animated output. The influence is plain as day, though: Rebels fan-favorite Zeb Orrelios plays a noteworthy supporting role in The Mandalorian and Grogu, while Ahsoka season 2 will further the story of The Clone Wars and Rebels in live action.

Originally, The Mandalorian season 4 would have set up the new season of Ahsoka in a major way, but Favreau started from scratch after pivoting to a feature instead of a new season. As it stands, The Mandalorian and Grogu continues the adventures of Din Djarin and his tiny green ward. But despite being a "standalone" story, the new movie does feature "subtle stuff that relates to Ahsoka season 2." We've got a wait to find out what, exactly, as Ahsoka season 2 won't hit Disney Plus until early 2027.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our list of upcoming Star Wars movies or here's how to watch The Clone Wars in order.

It's been three years since The Mandalorian season 3 ended on Disney Plus, but one fan has found a way to continue the story by splitting up new Star Wars movie The Mandalorian and Grogu into chapters as if it were The Mandalorian season 4.

Warning, the following contains mild spoilers for The Mandalorian and Grogu, so turn back now if you haven't seen the film. But first, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review.

Over on Reddit, the fan split the new movie up into eight chapters, following on from where season 3 left off with Chapter 24. Chapter 25, which the fan aptly titled 'The Warlord', focuses on the first part of the movie where we catch up with Din Djarin and Grogu on a new adventure, Chapter 26 titled 'The Contract, sees the duo meet Sigourney Weaver's character Colonel Ward and get given their mission to find Rotta the Hut, Chapter 27 titled 'The Heir' introduces us to Rotta, and Chapter 28, titled 'Abduction' sees the Grogu and Mando kidnap Commander Coin.

As we get into the movie's main action, the Star Wars fans' next chapter, titled 'The Hunter,' is when Embo comes into the picture and kidnaps Mando, and Chapter 30, 'The Trial', sees Pedro Pascal's Mandalorian stand before the Hutts, before Chapter 31, 'The Guardian', sees Grogu nursing Din Djarin back to health. Then, to finish the season off, the fan's final chapter titled 'Retribution' finds Mando and Grogu back together again as they kill the Hutts.

Below, other Star Wars fans theorised over whether the movie could span across a whole season, with one reply, "I'd split the movie into 2 chapters: 1: The Old Protect the Young 2: The Young Protect the Old This is the way," and another joked, "And the titles would have leaked before the season came out and everyone would speculate that 'The Guardian' was referencing a Jedi guardian and get hyped that Luke or Ahsoka were going to show up."

However, others were quick to point out that The Mandalorian and Grogu isn't actually a replacement for The Mandalorian season 4, and they're quite right.

Before the movie was announced, director Jon Favreau was working on the fourth season, but the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike and the WGA writers' strike brought production to a halt. Then the plan changed to bring the duo to the big screen.

Favreau looked at The Mandalorian season 4 scripts and decided he could not make a feature film out of them, so he rewrote the whole thing. Moreover, The Mandalorian and Grogu is a standalone Star Wars adventure, which is why the movie steers away from the show. At this point, it is not yet clear when or if the show will return for a fourth season.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows, or our roundup on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

Hideo Kojima has shared his latest review, and it's pretty glowing. The video game maestro has watched new Star Wars movie The Mandalorian and Grogu and it seems like he's a big fan.

"I watched Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu in IMAX," the Death Stranding creator wrote on X. "Back in 2019, I had only seen the opening of The Mandalorian while examining the LED-shot "virtual production" technology, but this time I had no problem diving in."

He went on to add: "Action, car chases, close-quarters combat, sword fights, gun battles, death matches, aerial combat, giant monsters, giant mechs. A complete "everything versus everything" showcase. CGI, puppets, special makeup, animatronics, stop motion."

Kojima even went on to add he loved how "the behind-the-scenes craftsmanship feels like it has everything packed in". He concluded: "Nearly every element from across the entire history of the Star Wars saga is in as well. An entertainment spectacle made with craftsmanlike skill by Jon Favreau."

It's a pretty lengthy review from Kojima who either goes all in with his reviews or leaves them brief, like his verdict on Return to Silent Hill...

The Mandalorian and Grogu opened to a solid box office over the Memorial Day weekend taking in $100 million domestically. This is roughly equal to the last cinematic spin off Solo back in 2018, but it's not clear yet whether The Mandalorian and Grogu will continue to grow over the coming weekends.

For more on the film, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review as well as our breakdown of all The Mandalorian and Grogu Easter eggs and what happened in our The Mandalorian and Grogu ending explained.

In The Mandalorian and Grogu, the titular main duo continue their struggle against the galaxy's lingering Imperial Remnants when they're set on the trail of the movie's main villain: an ex-Imperial by the name of Commander Coin, played by actor Jonny Coyne.

In the run-up to release, the bad guy's name was surrounded by mystery: director Jon Favreau even teased to Empire magazine "you'll like his character name when you hear it." While Coyne's character appeared briefly in The Mandalorian season 3's Shadow Council scene, which featured a collection of Imperials scheming against the New Republic, his character was unnamed.

Ahead of the film's arrival in theaters, Coyne's character was identified only as Lord Janu. But, now that the film is finally here, we know Lord Janu and Commander Coin are one and the same – and that Coyne's Star Wars name is very similar to his real name.

"I don't know how my name got involved in the mix," Coyne tells GamesRadar+. "But at some point when I first got introduced to Jon when I was doing the series – well, the one episode that I did of the series – he said, 'Listen, I hope you don't mind, but we kind of like your name, we're just going to maybe call you Commander Coin.'"

There's even more serendipity to this considering that some of Coyne's friends gave him the nickname Commander Coyne when he first arrived in LA, "and, next thing you know, I'm playing that character." Though as for Janu, he says, "I don't know where that came from."

Commander Coin has a double life as a crime lord on the moon of Shakari, where he operates a fighting ring with Rotta the Hutt as his star warrior. "He's running a club where he makes money prize fighting people, a gladiatorial show for people to make money from," Coyne explains. "He's a bad guy, he is from the Empire, but they're all trying to make a living on the side."

While previous Star Wars villains have been lightsaber-wielding Sith Lords, Commander Coin is a different type of bad guy. "I was kind of hoping that I might get a chance to do a much more scary thing, but Jon was very determined to make him a very, very real non-Star Wars kind of character without the [mimes Darth Vader breathing], none of that stuff going on," says Coyne. "He wanted to make him a very real person, and I enjoyed that."

As you might expect from Star Wars, though, the role was shrouded in secrecy, much like the character's name, even for the actor playing him. "I was given the script: one day to read it," says Coyne. "I had to come into Manhattan Studios and take a MacBook, and read it off an iPad, and read it, and then hand the thing back, signed in, signed out. You weren't allowed to take it away with you. So I had the script for two hours, and tried to immerse myself as much as I could into that.

"The rest of the time, I just got the lines piecemeal, literally just like the line across a screen, and I would try and read it and learn it until the day when I had the sides in my trailer, that's when I had the actual paperwork in front of me," he continues. "So, it was really hard to develop a whole storyline, but it was clear what he was, he was a bad guy, and he was still immersed in that world, and they were still working as the Shadow Council to defeat the Rebellion. And what they're up to is not clear, but it's clearly bad, and along the way, these Shadow Council are scattered around the galaxy, and they're doing mischief and trying to make money and trying to make a living out of it."

But, Coyne did get some context courtesy of Favreau when the director pitched him the role after he'd already signed up to the movie. "[He told me] what he plans to do with my character, and he showed me graphics of my sets that I'd be using," Coyne says. "I had very much practical sets, real sets, as opposed to the Volume and green screen, a lot of things like that. So, I got to play on the real stage, as it were, and that, well, for my little mind, it was much more helpful. I need to touch things."

Indeed, Star Wars has a reputation for beautiful hand-crafted sets and critters, which Coyne got to experience first hand. "My club, the arena, my office were all very real places, and yeah, I think I benefited from that, really," he says. "It helped me tremendously."

That classic commitment to practical filmmaking even extended to a large scale action scene involving stormtroopers and a speeder chase, in which Mando, Grogu, and Zeb Orrelios attempt to escape Coin's compound. "What is brilliant about the guys who do these movies, is that they do introduce modern technology, modern techniques into making these movies, but they never forget the old ways, the old techniques," says Coyne. "So, when I'm in the speeder, you just got a couple of guys with big long poles, just shaking it around. You're just being shook by poles. It's old school attached to the new school. How they put it together is brilliant."

Not everything could really be on set, however: Rotta the Hutt is, as you might expect, a CGI creation (his papa Jabba might have been a real puppet, but Jabba never moved like Rotta…). "It is a wonder when you watch it, how it's all going to come together," reflects Coyne. "So, you're working with guys who are standing in for the various creatures that are fighting in that arena, including Rotta, and you think, 'Is that going to be convincing? It's just a guy in a sort of tail, with a tail stuck to him.' But it comes together beautifully, I think. Whatever they do in that magic world of CGI is extraordinary."

As for whether we could ever see Commander Coin again, Coyne isn't getting ahead of himself. "I got to do a Star Wars movie," he says. "I'd be greedy to say, 'Can I have another one, please?' It's great. As far as I'm concerned, I'm made up. I've done as much as most actors would dream of doing, so I'm very happy with my situation. Will there be more? Yeah, bring it on if they can. But, I'm happy where I am."

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows, or our roundup of how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

The Mandalorian and Grogu features splashy AT-AT action, a gaggle of adorable Anzellans, and sci-fi legend Sigourney Weaver – along with all the loveable father/son antics we've come to expect from our titular duo.

So, I was pretty surprised when, as the credits rolled on the first Star Wars film in seven years, I realized my favorite part of the movie was none other than Rotta the Hutt.

Rotta is introduced as a gladiatorial fighter in crime lord and ex-Imperial Janu Coin's fighting ring, but those who have seen the 2008 Clone Wars movie know him better as Stinky. Baby Stinky was kidnapped by Count Dooku years ago on the Star Wars timeline, and Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano were dispatched on a mission to rescue him. The film plays out like a kind of proto-Mandalorian, with Anakin and Ahsoka escorting the baby through galactic dangers and back to the (relative) safety of his papa Jabba the Hutt. 18 years later, that baby is all grown up.

Comeback kid

I honestly had no idea what to expect of Rotta going into The Mandalorian and Grogu. Not only is he now a seriously ripped adult, he's also voiced by Jeremy Allen White, and director Jon Favreau had somewhat cryptically teased that the movie would explore the psychological weight of being Jabba the Hutt's son.

But, from the moment Rotta is introduced in the film, it's obvious he's going to be a ton of fun. Ludwig Göransson's score is consistently excellent, but the composer goes beast mode for Rotta's grand introduction with a thumping, pulsing, heavy electronic sound that perfectly establishes Rotta as a formidable fighting force. Rotta rolls his big, slug-like body around the arena with terrifying speed, then completely overpowers his opponent with a bone-crunching smack of his considerable weight. What an intro.

Rotta's fun physicality (he complains he can't fit in the Razor Crest's cockpit when Mando asks for help, leaving Grogu to navigate the complicated controls to expectedly chaotic conclusions, and gets strung up like a ham to prevent escape) isn't the only standout for the Hutt, though. He also has an unexpectedly deep storyline, which does, as Favreau promised, deal with the reality of being the son of one of the galaxy's most notorious and ruthless crime lords.

Jabba's shadow

When Mando tracks Rotta down to the cell he sleeps in between fights, Rotta – mid-massage – tells Din Djarin that fighting is his way of escaping the toxic legacy of Jabba the Hutt. Grogu, lured by the promise of snacks, slips between the bars, and Rotta reassures a panicked Mando, "Don't worry, I'm not my father."

Later, Rotta explains that, when the crowd heard he was Jabba's son, they booed him, but gradually those boos became cheers as the crowd accepted Rotta was no Jabba. That's what makes it especially sad when Mando, after being forced into the fighting pit opposite Rotta, gets the upper hand against the Hutt, and the crowd cheers uproariously. Rotta's face falling when Lord Janu, who owns Rotta's contract, announces he'll be dying, and the realization that nobody on Shakari really cares about him sinks in, is especially upsetting.

Eventually, Mando takes Rotta into custody, though Rotta argues that the Hutt Twins want him dead, as he's Jabba's heir. Even free of the fighting pits, Rotta still can't escape this terrible legacy. Of course, Din Djarin has always hidden a heart of gold beneath the Beskar, so he ultimately changes his mind and lets Rotta go.

Here, Rotta ties into the still-flourishing father/son bond between Mando and Grogu beautifully. Din Djarin watches on as Rotta and Grogu play in the ocean at sunset together, in a lovely little moment that harkens back to the quiet character beats The Mandalorian show is so adept at (like Mando and Grogu sipping their soup in unison in season 2). This is a glimpse at the quiet, happy life both Rotta and Grogu could have without the galaxy's villains, a sentiment which is surely not lost on Mando, who strove to protect Grogu from bad guys like Moff Gideon for three seasons of the Disney Plus show.

This is emphasized when Rotta reassures Mando that Grogu is "lucky" to have him, because, when Rotta was the same age, he had to fend for himself: as anyone who has seen The Mandalorian knows, Din Djarin would never willingly leave Grogu alone. At the end of the film, Rotta similarly shares some wisdom with Grogu, telling him: "Your dad's one of the good ones." No one could argue with that. The moment also caps off a sweet friendship that blossoms between Grogu and Rotta, beginning with Rotta offering up his snacks and culminating with the duo saving each other from the Hutt Twins in the movie's climactic action sequence.

So, while I had no idea what to expect from Rotta the Hutt, I'm very glad he has such a large role in the film, both literally and figuratively (seriously, he is ripped). Who knew Stinky had such a bright future ahead of him?

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. You can keep up with everything else the galaxy far, far away has in store with our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows, or see our roundup of how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

The Mandalorian and Grogu brings back Jonny Coyne's mysterious Imperial warlord from his brief appearance in the Shadow Council scene in The Mandalorian season 3.

That scene did not involve the titular duo, though, which means the movie is Coyne's first time appearing opposite Din Djarin and Din Grogu. Of course, the role of Mando is shared between Brendan Wayne, Lateef Crowder, and Pedro Pascal – Pascal provides Din Djarin's voice and face (on the rare occasions he is unmasked), while Crowder provides the stunts and action work, and Wayne provides the more every day performance in the suit.

We spoke to Coyne, whose character's name is Janu Coin, all about his role in the Star Wars film, and we asked who he worked with the most on set.

"Mostly Brendan," Coyne tells us. "You'd be surprised, you know, Brendan carries a lot of the stuff because he's the silhouette of the Mandalorian in so many ways: the way he walks, the way he behaves. So, he's very much a part of it all. Lateef comes in and kicks everybody around. He's incredible, actually, Lateef, and I did get a chance to see him in action a lot of the time. But, most of my work was with Brendan."

While Coyne didn't work with Pedro Pascal on set, he did eventually get to meet him. "He's a fantastic actor, and so lovely. I met him at the premiere, and he was very charming, and bloody handsome," he laughs.

It's not just the Beskar-clad warrior Coyne shares the screen with, though: he also works with Grogu.

"It's a complete individual. They do say don't work with animals and children, because you'll never get a look in as an actor, and it's true," he jokes. "You've got a beautiful alien child in front of you, and as cute as anything, and when he starts flapping his eyes, lids, and he's flipping his ears and things, it's adorable.

"But the guys who [are] his family, as it were, the people who run him, they're never offline," Coyne adds. "They're kind of off-set, off-screen. You pass by, you give little Grogu a little tickle, and he comes alive. They're on him all the time, they just work him all the time. It's quite amazing to watch, really."

In fact, the scene Coyne shares with both of them in his office on Shakari ended up being his favorite from the entire movie.

"I did like my central scene with Mando and Grogu," he tells us. "That was great fun to play, not least because I get to say all the words, that's always the actor's favorite part. No, it was great to be part of all that, and live on that set and live in that world for a little while."

It helps that Coyne was already a big Star Wars fan, even before his role in season 3. "I have seen every single one of them. I'd seen all the Mando series before I got the job. A friend of mine did actually say to me, 'You should be in The Mandalorian.' I said, 'Well, okay, fine, great, bring it on, but you're not a casting director.' But, I'd seen all the Star Wars movies. I was, I think, 18, 19, when the first one came out. It's very much been a part of my entire life, long before I thought of becoming an actor. And then, at this stage of my career, to get into one of these is brilliant."

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows, or our roundup of how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

The Mandalorian and Grogu brings everyone's favorite space dad and his tiny green son to the big screen in the first Star Wars movie in seven years, but originally, the plan was to continue the tale of Din Djarin and Din Grogu on the small screen in The Mandalorian season 4.

While Jon Favreau wrote the entirety of the season, after the dual SAG-AFTRA actors' strikes and WGA writers' strikes brought Hollywood to a halt, the plan pivoted to the film instead.

The movie pits Mando and Grogu against an ex-Imperial by the name of Commander Coin, who returns from the sinister Shadow Council scene in The Mandalorian season 3. As it turns out, though, Commander Coin actor Jonny Coyne was actually initially set to be part of season 4, too.

"There was a time when I was booked to do a whole load of other episodes in season 4," Coyne tells GamesRadar+. "And then that show went away, and then there was an actor strike, and there was COVID, and all sorts of things going on, and it was a difficult time.

"Then I heard the show got canceled, and so I just went, 'Okay, I'll pack my bags, and leave LA,'" he continues. "And then I heard I was going to be part of the movie, and then I heard I was going to be seriously part of the movie, you know, significantly. And then, Jon Favreau called me up and interviewed me, and talked to me about what he plans to do with the character, and I thought, 'Okay, bring it on.'"

But, while Coyne knows he was involved in season 4, he doesn't know if the plan was a similar storyline to what ended up making it to the screen in The Mandalorian and Grogu.

"Never got the scripts for that. Literally, though, the only thing I did with Mando was three lines in the Shadow Council. They weren't particularly significant lines, I don't think so," he says with a laugh, "but somehow it was all an intro to my character into what became the movie. So, I'm thinking maybe there was something along these lines in the series, but who knows."

In the film, Commander Coin, under the name Lord Janu, runs a gladiatorial fighting ring that features Rotta the Hutt as his star warrior. But, as we learned in The Mandalorian season 3, he's also part of the Imperial Remnants, who work in the shadows to undermine the New Republic.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows, or our roundup on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

Does Luke Skywalker appear in The Mandalorian and Grogu? One Star Wars fan thinks so.

Way back in 2020's The Mandalorian season 2, Luke Skywalker answered Grogu's call to the Jedi on Tython and arrived in the nick of time to rescue the youngling from Dark Troopers and whisk him off to Jedi school. But, in The Book of Boba Fett, Grogu chose to leave his Jedi training to reunite with Mando – and, since then, we haven't seen Luke Skywalker again.

But, in The Mandalorian and Grogu, one Star Wars fan might have spotted a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo from the last Jedi himself.

In the film's opening credits, we get a good look at Adelphi Base, as the iconic Mandalorian theme tune plays in the background. In one moment, an R2 unit can be seen getting lowered into an X-wing. "Was that R2-D2 on Luke's X-Wing that I saw on The Mandalorian and Grogu" questions the fan.

It's not entirely clear, because the moment goes by fast enough that it's not easy to see the droid. It could just be a droid that bears a strong resemblance to R2-D2 – in fact, we see one of these in the opening credits, too – or it could be the iconic droid himself.

And, honestly, it would make a lot of sense if Luke Skywalker did visit Adelphi Base on occasion. While he's busy attempting to start his new Jedi Order, he'd likely still have strong ties to the New Republic at this point on the Star Wars timeline. Maybe he dropped in to say hi to his former student, Grogu? Who's to say…

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters now. For more, check out our guide to all the other The Mandalorian and Grogu Easter eggs and cameos, or see our roundup of all the upcoming Star Wars movies and how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

The Mandalorian and Grogu timeline is a bit of a tricky one to figure it out. The film brings back one of the galaxy's best on-screen pairings for a new feature-length adventure. Starring Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin, the new movie sees him join forces with his young apprentice Grogu to go on a mission for the New Republic.

They're brought in by Sigourney Weaver's Colonel Ward to locate Jabba the Hutt's son Rotta the Hutt for his aunt and uncle in exchange for getting some intel on a missing Imperial target.

Much like the TV show, The Mandalorian and Grogu takes place right in the middle of Star Wars timeline. However, you'd be forgiven if you needed a little bit of a reminder about when exactly that is. This is especially true as sometimes the events crossover with the wider universe and other times they stay pretty separate. Well, that's where we come in. Below we've taken a deep dive into when exactly the movie fits in, including breaking down exactly what that means in the wider context of the Star Wars universe. This is the Way to our ultimate The Mandalorian and Grogu timeline guide.

When is The Mandalorian and Grogu set on the Star Wars timeline? *SPOILERS*

The Mandalorian and Grogu takes place after the events of main series. The first two seasons of The Mandalorian on Disney Plus took place in around 9 ABY with the third season taking place two years later in 11 ABY.

It's not confirmed exactly how long after the third season that the new movie begins, but it seems likely that a bit of time has passed. We last saw Mando and Grogu settled on Nevarro and when we meet them again in The Mandalorian and Grogu, they're officially in action as bounty hunters.

In the movie, it's clear they've worked with the New Republic on several missions too. So it seems a least a year or two have passed since they started out. It's long enough too that after their work finding Rotta the Hutt, Mando says that he wants to take a break.

We're going to suggest that we're likely in 12/13 ABY then, based on all of this. The whole movie takes place over the course of likely a week or so, meaning that we won't be jumping far beyond this either. The longest time gap is when Mando is mortally wounded after being bitten by a dragon snake, which likely takes at most a week.

Now you might be wondering what exactly 12 ABY means in the grand scheme of the Star Wars timeline. On a broader level, we are in the 30-year gap between the original Star Wars trilogy and the sequel trilogy.

This is the era of The New Republic after the fall of the Empire. This takes place from around 5 ABY until 34 ABY. After this, The First Order rises, which is the era of the sequel trilogy.

As a result, there are a lot of callbacks in The Mandalorian to the familiar world of the original Star Wars movies. In the show these covered everything from Stormtrooper helmets to an actual Luke Skywalker cameo. In the movie, the main reference comes from the introduction of Rotta the Hutt, who is Jabba the Hutt's now grown-up son. There are several other The Mandalorian and Grogu Easter eggs too, including some cameos from The Clone Wars and Rebels characters.

The gap between the end of 12 ABY and the rise of the First Order in 34 ABY is still being filled up in the wider world of Star Wars. We expect to see more exploration of this in the upcoming Ahsoka season 2 as well as the announced Dave Filoni universe movie, which will bring these characters back to the big screen.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is out in theaters now. For more, check out our breakdown of all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows on the way as well as reading our The Mandalorian and Grogu review.

If you're looking for all The Mandalorian and Grogu Easter eggs and cameos, then you've come to the right place.

Star Wars is notorious for dropping in Easter eggs in every project, and The Mandalorian and Grogu is no different. Below, we've rounded up 18 Easter eggs and 7 cameos tucked away in the film. Now, to be clear, we're not counting the likes of Rotta the Hutt, Embo the bounty hunter, or Zeb Orrelios as a cameo, since those are both fully fledged characters in the film. We mean more the blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearances.

It should go without saying that the following contains major spoilers for The Mandalorian and Grogu, so turn back now if you haven't seen the newest Star Wars movie yet! If you're up to speed, then this is the Way to all the hidden details you might have missed. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.

The Mandalorian and Grogu Easter eggs

Hutt droids

Keep your eyes peeled on Nal Hutta, and you might spot several familiar droids. Clone Wars-era battle droid heads are mounted on some of the guards, along with K2 unit heads. Plus, at one point, Mando tussles with a B2-series super battle droid.

BD units

On the New Republic base, BD droids can be seen walking in the background. These are the same type of droids as BD-1, Cal Kestis's droid companion, and they can be seen in Peli Motto's garage in The Mandalorian TV show, too.

Rotta the Hutt's hologram

When the Hutt Twins are tasking Mando with saving Rotta, they show him a holo-image of their nephew as a youngling. He looks exactly like Rotta did in The Clone Wars movie, only in live-action. This model was first revealed in a behind-the-scenes tour of Jon Favreau's creature shop.

Martin Scorsese and his movies

Martin Scorsese voices Hugo, a chef whom Din Djarin tries to ply some information about Shakari's criminal element from. Hugo, however, is very reluctant to give Mando any information because he's scared of the gangsters. Scorsese, of course, is famous for directing gangster movies like Goodfellas, The Irishman, Casino, and more. Plus, Hugo is the name of a 2011 movie directed by Scorsese.

Huttese

When Mando comes across Rotta in his cell, he greets the young Hutt with "de wanna wanga." This is a Huttese greeting, most notably used by Bib Fortuna in Return of the Jedi.

Luke Skywalker

While the last Jedi doesn't make an appearance in The Mandalorian and Grogu after his cameos in The Mandalorian season 2 finale and The Book of Boba Fett, there is a reference to him. When Din Djarin shows up at Rotta's cell, he says, "I'm here to rescue you." This is exactly what Luke said to a captive Princess Leia on board the Death Star.

Lord Janu

Crime boss Lord Janu is actually none other than the Imperial Commander Coin that the New Republic want found and arrested. He first appeared in The Mandalorian season 3's Shadow Council (as did the Imperial warlord seen in the film's snowy opening action sequence).

Dejarik

Mando figures out that Janu is going to subject Rotta to a "dejarik match," meaning he's going to keep throwing foes at Rotta until the Hutt is killed. Dejarik is the name of Star Wars's equivalent of chess, which is played by C-3PO and Chewbacca on the Millenium Falcon in A New Hope. The enemies that Rotta faces are the same as the holographic players on the board. Cal Kestis went through a similar experience in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, though it wasn't an actual dejarik match.

"I can bring you in warm..."

When Din Djarin arrests Janu, he says his classic catchphrase, first heard in the very first episode of the show: "I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold." This convinces Janu to surrender without a fight.

Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano

Neither Jedi nor Padawan make an appearance in The Mandalorian and Grogu, but Rotta does tell Mando that, when he was Baby Yoda's age, he had to fend for himself. This isn't strictly true, as, when Rotta was a baby, he was kidnapped by Separatists and rescued by Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. They returned Baby Rotta safely to his father, Jabba the Hutt, on Tatooine.

Macarons

As Rotta departs on the gunrunner Mando found to take him safely out of reach of the Hutt Twins, he gives Grogu a parting gift: teal macarons. Grogu ate these in The Mandalorian show, and promptly threw them up during a space battle. This time, Mando confiscates them before Grogu can eat too many, then uses them to lure away Embo the bounty hunter's anooba (not The Clone Wars's Marrok – no relation to Inquisitor Marrok – but a new anooba named Keibu).

Trap door

The Hutt Twins drop Mando through a trap door, where he has to face a giant dragon snake. This mirrors Jabba the Hutt dropping Luke Skywalker through a trap door, where he had to face a Rancor.

Amani

As Mando escapes the Hutt lair, the Twins release the Amani, slimy aquatic creatures first introduced in The Clone Wars.

Grogu's walking stick

While Mando is injured from being poisoned, Grogu gets himself a walking stick to help him trek through the forest, then meditates on a tree branch. He looks just like Yoda.

"This is the Way"

The Mandalorian says his other iconic catchphrase, "this is the Way," after he recovers from being poisoned after Grogu feeds him the poultice given to him by the friendly stranger in the forest.

Grogu's Force calming

Grogu is able to use the Force to calm Embo's annoba Keibu in the Twins's lair. He used this same ability on the Rancor in The Book of Boba Fett.

Droids breaking down the door

Towards the end of the film, Mando stays behind as the Twins's droid guard attempt to break down the door to their throne room. This is just like the scene in The Mandalorian season 2 finale, when the Dark Troopers were smashing down the door on Moff Gideon's ship.

X-wings

Colonel Ward and the other X-wing pilots show up to save the day on Nal Hutta, and they use the same targeting computers as in the Death Star trench run in A New Hope. Plus, as they fly away, their formation looks very similar to the starships flying away from the Death Star right before it explodes.

The Mandalorian and Grogu cameos

Martin Scorsese

One of the most legendary directors of all time voices Hugo the chef in The Mandalorian and Grogu: Martin Scorsese himself. He even gets a credit in the opening sequence

"I know him, and I'm friendly with him when I see him," Favreau told SFX magazine of how the cameo came about. "But also I'm a fan, so I get a little tongue-tied, to be honest with you, when I'm around him and his generation of filmmakers that were so influential on me."

Kathleen Kennedy helped make it all happen. "She knows him well, she socialises with him, and she's like a gold-star producer, so this was an easy one for her," Favreau revealed. "She called him up, he said yes and I got to direct him. He was improvising, and we recorded his whole performance, which we then gave to the CG animators. Boy, it's quite impressive what they were able to do. It's one of the funnest parts of the film. It works well for the story, as a fan of Marty and as a fan of Star Wars."

Dave Filoni

Lucasfilm co-president Dave Filoni returns as Trapper Wolf, watching Mando bring in Janu Coin and then flying an X-wing in Adelphi squadron at the end of the film. He first appeared in live-action Star Wars in The Mandalorian season 1.

Deborah Chow

Deborah Chow is back as her Star Wars character Sash Ketter, seen in Adelphi Base. Chow directed two episodes of season 1 of The Mandalorian and also directed all of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and she first had a cameo in The Mandalorian season 1.

Rick Famuyiwa

Rick Famuyiwa has directed episodes of The Mandalorian and one episode of Ahsoka, and he reprises his role as Jib Dodger the pilot – whom he cameos as in The Mandalorian season 1 – in The Mandalorian and Grogu. He's part of Adelphi Squadron and shows up at the end to help rescue Mando.

Lee Isaac Chung

One of the pilots in Adelphi Squadron is filmmaker Lee Isaac Chung, who plays Lieutenant Garrett Sal. He debuted in a cameo in The Mandalorian season 3. Behind the camera, he directed an episode of season 3 and an episode of Skeleton Crew.

Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Carson Teva

When the Adelphi Squadron shows up to rescue Mando, Carson Teva is one of the pilots flying with them. Played by Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, you probably recognize him from The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka.

Anthony Daniels

C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels is credited as voicing an Air Traffic Control Droid in The Mandalorian and Grogu.

For more, check out our The Mandalorian and Grogu review, or our guide to watching all the Star Wars movies in order.

While Ahsoka season 2 isn't coming until next year, The Mandalorian and Grogu might be laying some groundwork for the new show.

Originally, the plan was to continue with The Mandalorian season 4, but the plan shifted during the 2023 WGA writers' strike and the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike.

"I wrote season 4, and then we went into the work stoppage, and as we came out of it, that's when Lucasfilm was like, 'We haven't had a movie in a while. Could you do something with these characters? Is there something there?'" director Jon Favreau told ComicBook.com. "I looked at the scripts, [Dave Filoni] looked at the scripts, it was not a movie. So, we had to start from scratch.

"And I pitched the new version of what it was, because it also had to be for people who didn't – season 4, people saw the show, they saw Ahsoka, and now this one, it's got to be like, 'No, you should be able to bring somebody who's never seen Star Wars with you,'" he added. "So, it had to be a standalone adventure, but also you want to have enough subtle stuff that relates to Ahsoka season 2."

Now, just what that might mean remains to be seen, but Favreau has previously teased that Ahsoka season 2 is leading Star Wars forward.

"Anybody who saw the sequels knows that there's a First Order coming in, like, 20 years from where we are now in the storyline," he told SFX magazine. "And then Ahsoka season 2 is coming out – which I've seen all of – and that's definitely more dealing with the larger [picture], a higher level. That's about the officers and we're the enlisted men – this is more of a ground-level experience of what's going on. You're seeing the backdrop – which, by the way, is what the first Star Wars started off as."

The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives this May 22. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows, or see our roundup of how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

Looking for what to remember before The Mandalorian and Grogu? Then this is the Way. The first season of The Mandalorian dropped way back in 2019, so your memory of Din Djarin and Din Grogu's adventures might be a little fuzzy.

Below, we've rounded up everything you need to remember before The Mandalorian and Grogu in a Mandalorian recap, so you can get up to speed at a glance. There are six crucial Star Wars plot points that are essential to remember, and we've got them all detailed here.

So, for all you need to know, head on down to our recap. For more, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows.

The Mandalorian recap

Mando originally finds Grogu as a bounty target

Din Djarin meets baby Grogu in quite an unconventional way: a mysterious Imperial by the name of the Client tasks Mando with tracking down a 50-year old bounty. When Mando arrives, the bounty is actually a tiny, green baby.

From the outset, Mando protects him, shooting the bounty hunting droid IG-11 to prevent him from hurting the baby. While Mando does initially hand over Grogu to the Empire, he soon has a change of heart and goes back to rescue him. The fearsome Imperial Moff Gideon, however, continues to attempt to track them down.

Grogu trains with Luke Skywalker

Mando and Grogu have plenty of adventures together and start to develop a father and son bond, but Din Djarin is on a quest to return the baby to his own kind: the Jedi. Ahsoka Tano refuses to train the youngling because of Grogu's strong attachment to Mando, but, after Din Djarin takes his charge to the planet Tython, Grogu calls out to a Jedi. But, the baby is kidnapped by Dark Troopers and the Razor Crest is destroyed in the process.

Later, when Mando and his pals go to save Grogu from Moff Gideon, none other than Luke Skywalker shows up to save the baby and take him away to be trained. Mando and Grogu share an emotional goodbye, and Grogu leaves with Luke.

Mando and Grogu reunite in The Book of Boba Fett

This part of the story is easily missed if you didn't realise The Book of Boba Fett was essential viewing. In the show, Din Djarin returns and goes to visit Grogu at Jedi school. Only, Luke and Ahsoka are reluctant to let Mando see the youngling, because of that pesky attachment rule. So, Mando leaves without seeing his former ward, but not before leaving behind a gift of Beskar chainmail.

Luke, sensing Grogu's heart might not be fully in his Padawan training, gives Grogu a choice between Yoda's lightsaber or the chainmail from Mando. Grogu makes his choice off-screen, but we learn the outcome when he returns to Tatooine in Luke's X-wing, rocking the Beskar vest. Peli Motto then takes Grogu back to Mando, and they reunite mid-battle as Din Djarin helps his old friend Boba Fett with his crime syndicate problems.

Mando will no longer remove his helmet

While Din Djarin had his helmet removed in season 1 by IG-11 in order to heal him, then took it off twice in season 2 for Grogu's sake, in season 3, he is dedicated to cleansing himself and keeping the helmet on. His Creed as a Child of the Watch means he is forbidden from letting others see his face. In season 3, he cleanses himself in the Living Waters of Mandalore, and so he earns forgiveness from removing his helmet.

"It's an interesting proposition," director Jon Favreau told us of whether Din Djarin's understanding of his Creed has changed. "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."

Imperial Remnants are a threat

While the Empire was destroyed in Return of the Jedi, Imperial Remnants – survivors of the old regime – still lurk in the galaxy. In The Mandalorian season 3, we see a gathering of them in the Shadow Council, plotting to restore the Empire (and hoping for Grand Admiral Thrawn's return). Moff Gideon is one such Remnant, though, at the end of season 3, he is killed in a fiery blaze.

In The Mandalorian and Grogu, the duo are tasked with tracking down an ex-Imperial warlord by the name of Commander Coin.

Mando adopts Grogu

At the end of The Mandalorian season 3, Din Djarin formally adopts Grogu, who becomes Din Grogu. That also means Grogu is now Mando's apprentice, and Mando is teaching him the Way of a Mandalorian.

"Grogu is now a Mandalorian apprentice," Favreau told us. "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."

The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives this May 22. In the meantime, check out our guide to watching all the Star Wars movies in order, or read our The Mandalorian and Grogu review.

While The Mandalorian and Grogu's Rotten Tomatoes score might not be super high, it is on track to have an impressive box office opening.

According to Deadline, the Star Wars film (the first in seven years) is estimated to meet or surpass the $80 million domestic prediction for its four day weekend opening.

Globally, the film is predicted to net $160 million. That would mean it beats Project Hail Mary's $141 million to become the fourth biggest opening of the year (tied with China's Pegasus 3, which scored $160 million, per Screen Rant). The biggest opening of the year goes to The Super Mario Galaxy Movie's $372.6 million, with The Devil Wears Prada 2's $233.6 million in second place, and Michael's $217 million in third place.

The Mandalorian and Grogu's production budget is reportedly $165 million, so it would make back almost all that across its opening weekend (this doesn't include the marketing spend, however).

As for North American presales, the report says they stand at $25 million, which puts it ahead of Project Hail Mary and in line with Avatar: Fire and Ash. Project Hail Mary went on to gross $668.5, while Avatar: Fire and Ash took well over a billion. As for how well The Mandalorian and Grogu does, it all depends on its legs.

In comparison, Solo: A Star Wars Story scored a $148 million opening with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 69%, and finished its box office run with $392.9 million.

The Mandalorian and Grogu currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 60%. Our own 3-star The Mandalorian and Grogu review reads: "As a simple adventure story, The Mandalorian and Grogu is a lot of fun with Baby Yoda's sheer adorableness doing a lot of heavy lifting. Epic action and a pulsating score help bring this story to a cinematic level that feels a real step up from season 3. Yet, with surprisingly low stakes for a Star Wars movie, it all ends up feeling rather inconsequential."

The film arrives this May 22. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows, or see our roundup of how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

Sigourney Weaver joins the Star Wars universe in The Mandalorian and Grogu, but, of course, she is no stranger to a huge sci-fi film.

Weaver also stars as Ellen Ripley in the Alien movies and Dr. Grace Augustine/Kiri in the Avatar films, so when we met with her in London to talk about The Mandalorian and Grogu, we asked how joining the Star Wars universe compared to those other legendary sci-fi franchises.

"It's fascinating to me that they're all considered the same genre," she says. "They really couldn't be more different. Alien is a particularly hostile world, a not very nice alien. Avatar, it's the humans who are the bad guys. And in this, you have the Mandalorian, who is a hero, and this little, absolutely adorable, wise-seeming little person."

Weaver was particularly spellbound by Grogu. "I was very lucky because I didn't really have to act with Grogu. He was sitting in the booth with me," she says. "And I didn't realize then, but he's run by five different puppeteers, and they weren't around, but they were all under the table. And so they kept Grogu so alive that the biggest acting job, frankly, was not being completely riveted by him, but playing the scene. I had asked Jon [Favreau] if I could have a scene with Grogu, because that's the delight of being in this picture, and he was kind enough to make this happen."

In fact, despite Weaver's storied career, Grogu still managed to take her by surprise. "I've done a lot of movies, and I'm just astonished by how evolved he is," she marvels. "It's very hard for me to realize that there isn't a real person inside of him."

Grogu wasn't the only part of the production that felt incredibly real, either. "I think immersive is exactly the word," she tells us of the sets. "I got to walk into a typical Star Wars café with a bartender who had things coming out of his head, and order a drink, surrounded by fellow pilots, and the whole range of different species, and it was such a thrill. I didn't realize that I would have such a full Star Wars experience just from this one movie. You don't have to have seen a Star Wars movie to enjoy it, but it has everything we love about Star Wars."

The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives this May 22. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the other upcoming Star Wars movies and shows for everything else in the works, or our roundup of all the ways to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is bringing back Zeb Orrelios, a character first introduced to the galaxy far, far away in Star Wars Rebels.

But if you've never laid eyes on any of the animated show's four seasons, you might be wondering just what Zeb's whole deal is. Right here, we've broken down everything you need to know about Zeb Orrelios, from what he gets up to in Rebels to his role in The Mandalorian and Grogu.

The following is totally spoiler-free, too, so you can get up to speed before you see the new Star Wars movie. So, for all you need to know about Din Djarin and Din Grogu's new ally, head to the below.

Who is Zeb Orrelios in Star Wars Rebels?

Zeb, full name Garazeb Orrelios, is a major character in Star Wars Rebels. He's part of the Ghost crew, which means he flies around the galaxy with Hera Syndulla, Sabine Wren, Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger, and Chopper.

Zeb's missions with the Ghost crew put him up against legendary foes like the Grand Inquisitor, Darth Vader, and Maul, as well as the big bad of the show: Grand Admiral Thrawn. At the end of Rebels, Zeb participates in the Liberation of Lothal – a huge battle against Thrawn's forces on Ezra's home planet, which ends with Thrawn and Ezra lost thanks to the purrgil (both are rediscovered in Ahsoka, and both have returned to the main galaxy to appear in Ahsoka season 2).

In Rebels, Zeb has a very personal reason to hate everything Imperial: Lasan, his home planet, was decimated by the Empire. He went a long time believing he was the very last Lasat, but he eventually discovered more survivors – and he even ultimately struck up an unlikely friendship with one of the perpetrators of the massacre, ISB Agent Alexsandr Kallus, after Kallus switched sides from the Empire to the Rebellion.

After the events of Rebels, Zeb begins working for the New Republic, and his first live-action appearance was a cameo in The Mandalorian season 3, which saw him chilling at the bar on Navarro with pilot Carson Teva.

Who is Zeb Orrelios in The Mandalorian and Grogu?

Zeb is working for the New Republic in The Mandalorian and Grogu, and it looks like he'll be helping Mando and Baby Yoda on their quest. Footage descriptions of the opening sequence of the movie have revealed that Zeb picks the duo up from a mission that involves going up against an ex-Imperial warlord. But, how much screen time the Lasat has in the new film remains to be seen.

For more, check out our guides on all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows, or our rundown on how to watch the Star Wars movies in order.

Lost producer Damon Lindelof has revealed a lot more information about his scrapped Star Wars movie, and it sounds like a pretty new approach to the beloved franchise.

Lindelof was attached to the long-gestating Rey movie, directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, but he ultimately exited the project in 2023.

"Just to talk about the bantha in the room, I was fired off of a Star Wars movie," Lindelof shared on an episode of The Ringer-Verse, as part of a longer conversation on Star Wars. "They asked me, 'What do you think a Star Wars movie should be?" And I said, 'Here's what it should be,' and they said, 'Great, you're hired.' And then two years later, I was fired. And so, I was wrong. At least, through that prism.

"But what we were attempting to do, my partner Justin Britt-Gibson, and Raina McClendon, and I, what we were attempting to do, was to have this conversation in the movie, which is to say there is a force of nostalgia, and there is a force of revision, and they are at odds with one another," he explained. "And let's do the Protestant Reformation inside Star Wars. And it didn't work."

He added that the movie would have had "the conversation that the fandom is having, without winking and looking at the audience."

Lindelof went on to say that "they seemed to like the premise," but he thinks the issue was "the writing was really hard. It was slow. Like the tone, getting it right, where it was inside of the canon, what its relationship was to Episode 9 [The Rise of Skywalker]. Is it starting a new trilogy? Like, all of those things."

He talked more about "looking for the center of Star Wars," saying that, when The Force Awakens released, "it was Rey and it was Finn and it was Poe, and then we were migrating back in, Luke and Leia and Han and Chewie, and all those guys.

"But we got the sense that, when this new trilogy was over, we were going to be launching with these new characters, and that was the center of Star Wars," he explained. "The new question is, are Mando and Grogu the center of Star Wars?"

The Mandalorian and Grogu is indeed the next Star Wars movie – the first in seven years – and it arrives 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.