The Mandalorian successfully capped off its impressive sophomore run last December, earning positive reception from fans and critics along the way. Even before the show's monumental Season 2, a third season already received the green light , which goes to show the trust of Disney and Lucasfilm towards the Jon Favreau-created project.
Mando's next adventure in Season 3 will be far different from the first two seasons. For starters, it appears that fans will see less of Grogu this time around, mainly due to the toddler's training with Luke Skywalker somewhere in the galaxy far, far away.
On top of that, Cara Dune will not be featured anymore in the show's upcoming storyline. Lucasfilm recently confirmed that Gina Carano is “not currently employed” by the company and there are “no plans” for the actress to return in any future Star Wars project.
Meanwhile, Pedro Pascal was nabbed to play the lead role by another top tier-project in the form of HBO's The Last of Us . As a result, this raised the question of how the actor will balance his leading man duties between The Last of Us and The Mandalorian . Now, a new report (and some speculation) may shed some light on that subject.
PEDRO PASCAL'S STAR WARS FUTURE
Deadline , via Collider , shared in a report that The Last of Us has Pedro Pascal in “first position,” meaning that the actor's role in the high-profile series adaptation takes precedence over any other project, including The Mandalorian .
Collider provided an in-depth explanation of this tidbit by pointing out that the show that's in “first position” ultimately wins out if ever a scheduling conflict will arise. The outlet revealed that some actors were forced to drop out of other projects or “greatly reduce” their screen time due to needed adjustments.
Still, Collider pointed out that filming for The Mandalorian Season 3 won't begin until early 2022, meaning that “it's possible” that Pascal will take a “more limited physical role” in the Star Wars series if The Last Of Us ends up starting production this year.
LESS TIME IN MANDO'S HELMET?
It's no secret that The Mandalorian 's approach in terms of utilizing Pascal has been one of the major topics of discussion among fans in the past. This tidbit even led to a controversy surrounding the actor's desire to be out of Din Djarin's helmet, but this was debunked by Pascal himself admitting that he's happy to do whatever is best for the show.
Given Pascal's upcoming major role in The Last of Us, it looks like the actor will once again be limited to voice acting instead of on-screen performance for at least the first batch of episodes of The Mandalorian Season 3. This should be the case if production for the HBO series went the distance, with an added timeline for re-shoots and, of course, the “first position” rule that is being implemented.
In the first two seasons of The Mandalorian , Din Djarin only removed his helmet during the latter half of the show's run. Should Mando remove his helmet for a particular plot point, the writers of the series will likely place these scenes at the tail-end of the third season, making it plausible for Pascal to be on set as soon as he wraps filming for The Last of Us .
Moreover, there's a strong possibility that Pascal and his representatives spoke to Disney first about his upcoming involvement with the HBO series, and this could've made Jon Favreau and the rest of the creatives aware of how his availability will be mapped out in the show's production.
Interestingly, Pascal teased that there will be more no-helmet scenes for Mando in Season 3, admitting that it's a “fascinating” idea moving forward. At this point, it's pretty much guaranteed that the actor will be involved with a good amount of scenes that don't require a helmet for The Mandalorian.
