Lucasfilm made a promise to Star Wars fans when The Mandalorian was being developed, and now, seven years later, the creative team behind the show and the upcoming film is abandoning that promise with The Mandalorian & Grogu. Despite the first two seasons of The Mandalorian being extremely successful, Season 3 fell short in the eyes of many Star Wars fans. A lot of diehards were eager to see Din Djarin and Grogu on the big screen when The Mandalorian & Grogu was officially announced, but as the film's release date nears, the optimism has began to fade.
The Mandalorian creator and The Mandalorian & Grogu director Jon Favreau recently made an announcement that essentially proves that The Mandalorian & Grogu will do away with the core premise of the Disney+ series that was established when the show first premiered.
In a recent interview with Empire Magazine, Favreau pulled back the curtain on The Mandalorian & Grogu, talking specifically about what fans can expect from the upcoming film and revealing what will be different about the titular character from the last time fans saw him.
According to the director, Din Djarin will not be portrayed as a bounty hunter in the upcoming movie. Instead, the nature of his character will derive from something stated in Season 3 of the Disney+ show, where it was said that the character does not "want to go out there and just be a hired gun." Instead, the movie will explore him "[working] for the good guys," such as Sigourney Weaver's Colonel Ward:
"One of the last things we say [in Season 3] is, like, 'I don’t want to go out there and just be a hired gun. I want to work for the good guys.'"
Notably, this goes against everything Lucasfilm promised when The Mandalorian first aired. The show was entirely built around following a mysterious bounty hunter with a muddy past, and The Mandalorian & Grogu is moving away from that completely. Now, instead of giving fans a gritty look at a bounty hunter who is more neutral on the grand scale of right and wrong, The Mandalorian & Grogu will seemingly just showcase another hero fighting "for the good guys."
Favreau also commented on Star Wars Rebels' Zeb Orrelios being in the film and the dynamic he will bring to the table. The director teased that he will bring a lot of "fun" to the film, and fans who have not watched Rebels will still be able to appreciate "the voice, the swagger, and the physical ability" Zeb possesses:
"Now we get to really have fun with him. He’s such a compelling character, even if you’ve never seen 'Rebels,' between the voice, the swagger, and the physical ability."
The trailer for The Mandalorian & Grogu did not reveal that much about the plot, but it did give fans a sense of the movie's tone. Many criticized the trailer for looking and feeling too much like the show, as many wanted a higher-quality/blockbuster experience.
The Mandalorian & Grogu will be released on May 26, 2026.
Did Star Wars Make a Giant Mistake with The Mandalorian & Grogu?
It is no secret that The Mandalorian's primary focus was on Din Djarin's character arc. Even though Grogu is a central character, he was still used more as a plot device to further Djarin's character arc than his own.
There is nothing wrong with Din Djarin changing as a character. Fans have been able to see him go from a pretty hardcore bounty hunter to someone with a pretty big heart across three seasons of the Disney+ show. However, it seems like Star Wars still could be making a bit of a mistake with the direction they are taking his character.
The hero storyline has been told in Star Wars many times before, and one could argue that the galaxy far, far away has the best "good guy" storyline of all time in Luke Skywalker. Therefore, it is a bit puzzling that Lucasfilm now wants to make another bona fide hero in Din Djarin, when fans have clearly expressed interest in seeing something new within the galaxy.
A good character to use as an example for how Din should have been portrayed is Arthur Morgan from the Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2) video game. For reference, Arthur Morgan was the main character of RDR2, and he was not an objectively good or moral person. In fact, he was rather bad on the full spectrum, as he broke the law constantly, killed hundreds of people, etc.
However, he went through a full redemption arc throughout Red Dead's story, and died making an incredible sacrifice. However, that still didn't make him a hero. Just because he began making better choices and helping people didn't mean that his past transgressions were washed away. For 99% of his life, he lived as a hard outlaw. But he was relatable and extremely likable by the end, and still remained in that blurred area between good and bad.
Din Djarin could have been one of Star Wars' best characters if he had been portrayed in a similar manner. Bounty hunters aren't good people. They literally kill for a living. But Din decided to do a good act by protecting Grogu (find out what Grogu's new ability will be in the upcoming movie here). However, Star Wars is now portraying him as a full hero, which seems like a mistake. If he were to still make some questionable choices or do good acts while not following the laws of the New Republic, his character arc may feel fresher and more interesting.
