The Mandalorian season 3 may not have lived up to the first two seasons, but Lucasfilm’s breakout characters will get a chance for some cinematic redemption on the big screen. Via Variety, Lucasfilm has announced that The Mandalorian and Grogu feature film will bring Star Wars back into movie theaters after over half a decade since The Rise of Skywalker was released in 2019.
Series creator Jon Favreau, who had previously only directed the second season premiere, will helm The Mandalorian movie and presumably write the script as well. Favreau has also written nearly every episode of the series, so these are characters that he is deeply familiar with.
“I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created,” said Favreau in a statement. “The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting.”
It’s hard to disagree with that, as we are also excited to see The Mandalorian and Grogu. But before these characters head to their biggest adventure to date, there are some things that we want to see in The Mandalorian movie.
Keep the focus on The Mandalorian and Grogu
One of the main reasons why some fans were upset with The Mandalorian season 3 is that the two lead characters, Din Djarin and Grogu, were sometimes just supporting players in Bo-Katan Kryze’s quest to reunite the Mandalorian people and retake their home world. There are factions of Star Wars fans who freak out whenever a female character takes the lead, and that may have played into the negative reaction to season 3.
Having said that, Din Djarin and his newly adopted son, Din Grogu, have been at the heart of this show since the very beginning. Those are the two characters that fans of the show universally love, and any movie featuring them has to actually be about them.
Increase the scale with more varied locations
The Mandalorian’s first three seasons were all filmed in The Volume, a revolutionary virtual set that can actually appear to be using real backdrops when filming. It’s a magnificent tool, but even The Volume has its limits. If The Mandalorian and Grogu is on the big screen, then it needs to have more expansive locations and scale than the show could deliver. And that means filming on location like the Star Wars movies and even Andor.
It’s not as if The Volume should be completely abandoned for the movie. But when it comes to feature films, fans have higher expectations. We don’t want to see just an extended version of an episode with slightly better effects. We want to see a real Star Wars movie that belongs on the biggest screen possible.
Pump up the action to the next level
No one should reasonably expect The Mandalorian and Grogu to suddenly go R-rated for their first big screen adventure. Star Wars simply isn’t that kind of franchise. But there is an obvious difference between television action and film action. The Mandalorian movie can’t simply coast on something that has already been done before on the show.
The action in this film has to be innovative compared to what we saw in the series. As much as Din Djarin and Grogu are fan favorites, the easiest way to get moviegoers back into theaters for another Star Wars film is by giving them mind-blowing visuals and action that they can’t get anywhere else.
The Mandalorian and Grogu will begin filming later this year. Lucasfilm hasn’t officially set a date for The Mandalorian movie, but a 2026 release seems likely.
