Star Wars actor Pedro Pascal has confirmed that his The Mandalorian franchise has reached the end of a chapter. The Mandalorian was Star Wars' first live-action series on Disney+, and it ran for three seasons before launching a big-screen movie this May. The series arrived in the wake of the Skywalker Saga ending, and the duo of Din Djarin (Pascal) and Grogu/Baby Yoda became breakout stars.
Following Season 3 of The Mandalorian, fans were genuinely concerned about the future of Mando and Grogu. The season finale felt like the ending of their story, as Djarin and Grogu retired to homestead on Nevarro, taking on missions for the New Republic. Moff Gideon was defeated, Grogu was returned to Djarin's care, and the Mandalorians had re-taken Mandalore. There were no overarching plot threads left that seemed to justify another season, and three seasons seemed like a pretty good run for the Star Wars show.
As it turns out, The Mandalorian's time on Disney+ was not the closing of a book, but only one of its chapters, according to Pascal. The Star Wars actor spoke to Empire Magazine ahead of the release of The Mandalorian & Grogu, saying that Season 3 "only felt like the ending of a particular chapter." That next chapter is now in full swing as Mando and Grogu head to the big screen in the first major Star Wars feature film since Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.
The duo's time on TV seems to officially be done, with any hopes of The Mandalorian Season 4 dashed after Lucasfilm announced they were turning it into a movie instead. However, The Mandalorian's new era is not defined solely by its format, but also by Djarin's character arc.
Pascal explained that during the Disney+ series, Din Djarin was a bounty hunter for anyone and everyone, taking on contracts for both good and bad people. However, post The Mandalorian Season 3 finale, Din is now "just working for the good guys," and his time with Grogu on the TV show allowed him to "[expand] his heart" and "[disarm] his armour," so that he can now "fight for what he knows is right," in this next chapter:
"They open up the opportunity for him to continue his best work as a bounty hunter, but just working for the good guys. Combining skill and morality. Whereas when we meet him first, it’s simply skill, and Beskar, and [the Mandalorian] Creed. Through his relationship to Grogu, there is an expansion of his heart and a disarming of his armour, so to speak, that leads him to fight for what he knows is right."
Djarin's work for the New Republic appears to be the core of what The Mandalorian & Grogu is about, but this couldn't have happened without the duo's previous era, which saw Djarin relinquish his morally grey ways and be turned to the side of good thanks to his bond with Grogu.
Adding to the feeling of this being a new era of The Mandalorian is the fact that many of the show's recurring characters are not carrying over into the film. Giancarlo Esposito's three-season villain, Moff Gideon, was defeated in Season 3; Carl Weathers' High Magistrate, Greef Karga, won't return after the actor's tragic passing, and there's been no confirmation of whether Emily Swallow's Mandalorian Armorer or Katee Sackhoff's Bo-Katan Kryze will be back.
Instead, The Mandalorian & Grogu will introduce new characters, like those played by Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White. Fans will meet them when The Mandalorian & Grogu arrives in theatres on May 22.
What to Expect From The Mandalorian & Grogu's New Era
The Mandalorian & Grogu will mark the start of a new era for The Mandalorian, making it an ideal starting point regardless of whether fans have seen the Disney+ show.
When fans first met Din Djarin in Season 1, he cared only about earning enough to pay for a full set of Beskar armor. But by the time Season 3 came around, Djarin had found a larger calling, ensuring he prepared his clan-member, Grogu, for the wider world, and helped his fellow Mandalorians reclaim their home. That all served to make Din Djarin the hero he will be in The Mandalorian & Grogu, and makes him easy to empathize with as this next chapter begins.
As for his arc over the next chapter, Star Wars now has a chance to explore what kind of impact Din Djarin and Grogu can have working alongside the New Republic, which could potentially connect them to more of the larger goings on in the Star Wars universe, leading into The Force Awakens.
If The Mandalorian & Grogu is proven to be successful at the box office, this could be the start of the biggest era yet for the Star Wars heroes, with rumors of a potential new trilogy of Mando and Grogu films on the cards, which will continue this new chapter for the duo far beyond the TV show.
