The Mandalorian season 3 is debuting on Disney Plus very soon as Din Djarin deals with the consequences of taking off his helmet. Plot details remain very light on the secretive Star Wars spin-off, but in a new interview with SFX, executive producer Rick Famuyiwa has shared some insight into what to expect from season 3, including how the threat of the Empire continues to grow.
In The Mandalorian’s post-Return Of The Jedi time-space, the most important questions surround the status of Palpatine’s ruthless military machine and their connections to the sequel trilogy’s First Order. Despite the best efforts of the New Republic, remnants of the Empire are still out there, though few in power want to believe they pose a threat. In fact, it seems that only X-wing pilot Carson Teva (played by Kim’s Convenience’s Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) has any idea that – even with the mustache-twirlingly evil Moff Gideon in custody – trouble is brewing on the Outer Rim.
"There’s certainly something that Teva has been having an ear to in terms of what the Empire may be up to, so yeah, I think we’ll certainly see some of that throughout the season," Famuyiwa reveals in the latest edition of SFX with The Mandalorian on the cover. "For now we know that Moff Gideon has been taken away, but the larger forces of what might be out there as the remnant Empire still exist. Something that hangs over some of this season is [the question of] what that element might be. There are things going on that our characters may not be aware of, but certainly, Teva has some inkling about."
The Mandalorian season 3 also has the challenge of topping its season 2 finale that not only introduced the spin-off show The Book Of Boba Fett by stealth but also surprised everyone by bringing a young Luke Skywalker back into the fold. How do you beat that?
"I think every season you try to tell a simple story that connects," says Famuyiwa. "I can say that this season has certainly been the biggest yet, the most ambitious yet – it was almost crazy to try to do everything we’ve tried to do this season – but I think that ambition is just driven by wanting to continue to make these stories great. For me, the foundation has always been that simple relationship between Mando and Grogu. The adventures get bigger and the characters you meet might be as iconic as Luke Skywalker, but it’s always in the service of that simple story. That’s taken us to bigger and bigger places, and certainly, this season is the biggest yet."
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The Mandalorian season 3 begins on Disney Plus on March 1. That's just a snippet of our interview, available in the latest issue of SFX Magazine with The Mandalorian season 3 on the cover, available on newsstands now! For even more from SFX, sign up to the newsletter, sending all the latest exclusives straight to your inbox.
