One of the biggest lingering questions surrounding The Mandalorian and Grogu and The Mandalorian’s canceled fourth season may have just been answered by one of the franchise's returning actors. Hemky Madera appeared in Season 3 of Lucasfilm’s Disney+ series as Commander Barro, an Imperial warlord aligned with Moff Gideon’s (Giancarlo Esposito) Shadow Council. The star has since confirmed that the reprisal of his role in The Mandalorian & Grogu, released in theaters on May 22, 2026, was originally designed for The Mandalorian Season 4.
The reveal offers fans one of the clearest behind-the-scenes looks yet at how co-writer/director Jon Favreau’s planned continuation of the series evolved after Lucasfilm pivoted away from another Disney+ season and toward a theatrical release instead. During a recent interview with lohud, Madera admitted "he never expected to make the jump to the big screen:"
"When they said there wasn’t going to be a Season 4 for The Mandalorian, but there was going to be a film, with all honesty, I was not expecting that I was going to be part of the film because there are bigger names and bigger characters that they could bring. And Jon said from the get-go when I booked for the show, that a Season 4 episode would be mine. So, I guess that episode became part of the film."
Madera’s Commander Barro being important enough to receive a standalone episode in the scrapped season of The Mandalorian is a clear sign that at least a portion of Favreau’s initial story for Season 4 may be present in The Mandalorian & Grogu.
Did The Mandalorian & Grogu Reduce Commander Barro's Season 4 Role?
For years, The Mandalorian Season 4 was treated like an inevitability. Favreau had reportedly already written scripts for the season before Hollywood’s writers’ and actors’ strikes disrupted production schedules across the industry in 2023. But during that delay, Lucasfilm began reassessing the future of its Disney+ strategy while also rebuilding the Star Wars brand’s theatrical identity.
Favreau largely abandoned the initial scripts for The Mandalorian Season 4, which would have reportedly tied into Ahsoka and the growing threat posed by Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). The writer started from scratch to craft a brand-new story, which led to The Mandalorian & Grogu, the franchise’s first theatrical feature since Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker in 2019.
But if Favreau truly intended to dedicate a full Season 4 episode to Commander Barro, that likely means the original season would have heavily explored the fractured remnants of the Empire after Gideon’s fall.
It seems, though, that these plans may have shifted, given that Barro's final role in the movie is rather meager. The Imperial warlord attempts to flee from Din Djarin's ambush, but is blown up by the bounty hunter before he is able to escape. Given the reduced screentime, it seems as though Commander Barro would have had a much more expanded role in the scrapped fourth season if there was originally supposed to be a whole episode centering around the character.
As The Mandalorian & Grogu juggles several different storylines, such as the Hutt twins' grudge, Rotta's time in the ring, and Grogu's solo adventure, Barro's original Season 4 storyline may have ultimately been condensed to account for everything else going on in the movie.
Why The Mandalorian & Grogu Shifted Course From Season 4’s Storyline
One of the biggest criticisms surrounding The Mandalorian Season 3 was that it often felt more focused on universe-building than Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu themselves. In hindsight, that may have been intentional.
Season 3 spent a great deal of time focusing on Mandalore, expanding the New Republic storyline, introducing Imperial remnants, teasing cloning operations, and laying groundwork for Thrawn’s arrival. Those threads increasingly look less like standalone plotlines and more like chess pieces being arranged to set up an epic crossover.
As The Mandalorian & Grogu was intended to appeal to both new audience members in addition to diehard fans, it makes sense why some of these loaded story arcs may have been dropped in favor of a streamlined narrative that can onboard newcomers.
As a result, familiar storylines, Madera's Commander Barro and the Imperial warlords, are still present to honor fans as well as what the narrative was intended to be, but have been retooled to limit the amount of homework needed to enjoy the film.
What We Know About The Scrapped Mandalorian Season 4
While Lucasfilm has never fully revealed its original Season 4 plans, several major clues have surfaced over the last year. Looking at them together paints a fascinating picture of what the series may have become before the pivot to film.
Grand Admiral Thrawn Was Likely the Main Villain
The Shadow Council in The Mandalorian Season 3 repeatedly referenced Thrawn’s return, while Ahsoka Season 1 ultimately brought the Star Wars: Rebels villain into live-action via Mikkelsen’s chilling performance.
Everything pointed toward The Mandalorian Season 4 escalating the Imperial Remnant storyline, and the New Republic realizing, perhaps too late, that Thrawn had returned to the galaxy. The events of that scrapped season likely would have set up Dave Filoni’s eventual crossover movie, believed to be the high-stakes conclusion to the MandoVerse saga.
The Season May Have Featured Several MandoVerse Characters
Favreau and Filoni spent years building interconnected storylines across The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett, Andor, and Skeleton Crew. A full Season 4 likely would have allowed those worlds to collide more organically. Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi), Hera Syndulla (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), and more could have all rotated in and out of the story naturally as it built toward its climax.
Season 4 Was Reportedly Setting Up Ahsoka Season 2
Multiple reports previously indicated that Favreau’s original Season 4 scripts helped establish story elements for Ahsoka Season 2. Thrawn’s return is the central threat tying together this entire era of Star Wars storytelling. Season 4 likely would have spent substantial time showing the New Republic ignoring warning signs while Imperial factions quietly regrouped in the shadows.
Characters from Season 1 of Ahsoka, including Hera Syndulla and Ezra Bridger, would likely have been instrumental in any attempts to get the New Republic to recognize the dangers of a Thrawn resurgence, while also possibly organizing a mission to rescue Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) from Peridea. Zeb is still present in the movie, so this may have been Favreau's way of keeping some connective tissue within the MandoVerse.
