The Mandalorian was a game-changer for the Star Wars franchise, bringing Star Wars its first live-action series – one that didn’t center on the Jedi, their mythology, or the Skywalker Family. That seemed like a massive gamble at first, but by the end of Season 1, it was pretty clear that The Mandalorian had stoked fan enthusiasm to see more from corners of the Star Wars Universe (Bounty Hunters, Mandalorian culture) that have been previously overlooked by the films.
That said, The Mandalorian has seen some diminishing returns as its continued into Seasons 2 and 3, and helped launch an entire line of Star Wars spinoff series like The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka. The Mandalorian Season 3 was a major disappointment for many fans – then we got the surprising news that Mandalorian main characters Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and “Baby Yoda” Grogu were getting their own movie – while the entire ‘Mandalorian Universe’ corner of Star Wars would come together for a major crossover event film directed by Clone Wars and Ahsoka showrunner Dave Filoni.
As The Mandalorian grows from being a Disney+ streaming series to a major movie property, there is a renewed sense of vigor around the series. During Dragon Con last week, Star Wars franchise stars Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Ahsoka), Giancarlo Esposito (The Mandalorian), Danny Trejo (The Book of Boba Fett), and Manny Jacinto (The Acolyte), all appeared on stage together for a panel. During their discussion, Esposito teased the future of Star Wars, and why he feels there is a “new vision” at work.
Esposito compared the current state of Star Wars – namely fears of content oversaturation, as well as too many dangling story threads in what is supposed to be a cohesive interconnected universe – to the same struggles Disney is also going through with its Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. Marvel Studios has since made a very public and concerted effort to get the MCU turned around and back on track, and Esposito predicts that the same will be done for Star Wars:
“As in the MCU…Disney will figure out how to join all of these characters into one really great movie or TV show. That’s my sense of where it will go,” Giancarlo Esposito explained to the crowd. The actor added that “Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau have a new vision, continuing on with a Mandalorian movie…My sense is that it’s all going to converge at one point or another and we’re going to have another set of… [a] trilogy, or more, of films.”
Star Wars: The Mandalorian Movie Trilogy?
There may be an interesting new kernel of information in that quote, as the current count of Star Wars features set in the New Republic era (when The Mandalorian takes place) stands at just two: Mandalorian & Grogu and Filoni’s event film. It’s also of note that Esposito is the one who keeps talking about the new Star Wars movie plans, as his villain character Moff Gideon supposedly died at the end of The Mandalorian Season 3 (or did he?).
As it stands now, neither Filoni nor Mandalorian showrunner/film director Jon Favreau will commit to revealing plans about The Mandalorian Season 4; we know Ahsoka Season 2 is coming, which could fill in key pieces of the larger event to come – and feature more character crossovers. As for this “new vision” of Star Wars? We’ll keep you updated…
The Mandalorian and Ahsoka stream on Disney+
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