<em>The Mandalorian & Grogu</em>: Everything We Know

This story contains light spoilers for the season 3 finale of The Mandalorian.

Grogu might be a little guy, but he's about to become a big movie star. Since its announcement at D23 2024 in Anaheim, all eyes have been on The Mandalorian & Grogu, the next Star Wars film set to release in theaters in May 2026 as a continuation of the Disney+ hit The Mandalorian. Now, Disney has released the trailer, albeit one that feels undercooked and lacking the dramatic weight the franchise typically calls for.

On September 22, Disney and Lucasfilm released the trailer for The Mandalorian & Grogu. Sporting a distinctly retro pulp-inspired title logo and a mostly nonverbal trailer—it's all action, barely any talking here—the trailer delivers on the Mando and Grogu front, showing them hopping around the galaxy and getting involved in all kinds of dangerous trouble. (Mando blows up a whole AT-AT, which is sick.) Audiences also glimpse a new character named "Ward," a veteran Rebel Alliance pilot, played by Alien's Sigourney Weaver.

You can watch the trailer below.

The movie sure looks fun, and it's great to see these characters again. But with a trailer that's just 90 seconds long and without any sense of what the story concerns, everything about The Mandalorian & Grogu thus far feels like it's a standalone Disney+ special with a theatrical release, instead of the first live-action Star Wars movie in years. It lacks the weight of a "must-see event" that past Star Wars films were, and it bodes ill for Lucasfilm's overall grasp of the franchise in a post-pandemic era of movies.

It would also be a mistake not to mention how this trailer is releasing amid controversy for the Disney corporation. Since last week, the indefinite hiatus of Jimmy Kimmel Live!—produced by Disney-owned 20th Television and broadcast on Disney-owned ABC—has been the new frontline for the continued protection of constitutional free speech. This is conjecture, I admit, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that the trailer was rushed out in an attempt to distract us all from Kimmel, and to recoup some of Disney's $4 billion it lost in stock because of it.

Until now, Disney has made The Mandalorian & Grogu a new hope for the Star Wars franchise. On stage at D23, writer and director Jon Favreau promised the movie is an "all-new adventure following these two characters." But right now, it's as if a phantom menace is cutting the next big Star Wars film at its knees.

Although we have a trailer, little else is known about The Mandalorian & Grogu other than some of its cast members (including Pedro Pascal, who is reprising his lead role as Din Djarin), the appearance of other Star Wars characters, and its scheduled release date of May 22, 2026. This, of course, brings up about a zillion more questions. Kimmel aside, we're here to rampantly speculate about the details of this movie—as well as what lies ahead for our favorite Star Wars duo. This is the way.

He’s back!

According to Variety, Favreau's film will "focus on the New Republic" and "close out" the interconnected stories told in The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and other Disney+ shows. Interesting! It sounds like a very Avengers-esque way to say goodbye to the first wave of Star Wars on Disney+. You have to imagine that—whatever story will be told in this film—it'll truly launch Grogu's arc in the greater Star Wars universe. (Blaster to my head, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy sees The Mandalorian & Grogu as the kid's origin story. Especially if Rey's new film will see her rebuilding the Jedi order.)

"I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created," Favreau told Deadline. "The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting." There's not much to go on there. Maybe The Mandalorian season 3 will give us some hints?

Babu Frik!

No, not really. "Chapter 24" of The Mandalorian, more or less, gives Mando and Grogu's stories a clean slate. We learn that our favorite father-son duo finally took Greef Karga up on his offer to house them on Nevarro. Judging by Mando's parting conversation with Captain Teva, he'll roam the galaxy as an "independent contractor" for the New Republic, wiping out Imperial remnants. Meanwhile, Bo-Katan Kryze, the Armorer, and the rest of the formerly exiled Mandalorians have settled back into their old digs on Mandalore. In other words? The Mandalorian's main players will remain relatively idle, until the Star Wars Bat-Signal calls on them for the next adventure.

Before the Mando movie news hit, we caught up with Pedro Pascal for our April/May '23 cover story. In the accompanying video interview, streaming above, we asked the actor how he felt about the idea of joining the Star Wars film universe. In quippy, Pascalian fashion, the man had two words: "Fuck yeah." It's safe to say that Pascal will feature heavily in Favreau's film, though he has yet to be officially confirmed. Now, let's just work on finding an excuse to get rid of Mando's helmet in time for the movie.