Pedro Pascal has demonstrated interest in a The Mandalorian movie, and that is exactly what Star Wars needs for its theatrical future. The first-ever Star Wars live-action TV show, The Mandalorian was the flagship title for Disney+ upon the streaming service’s launching. Almost three years later, The Mandalorian is regarded by many as one of the best Star Wars content released under Disney, which is why it should serve as north for the franchise not only on Disney+ but also on the big screen. With The Mandalorian season 3 due in 2023, and the future of Star Wars movies still murky, more fans than ever are taking the prospect of a The Mandalorian movie seriously.
While Star Wars had already built a TV legacy thanks to Star Wars: Clone Wars, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Star Wars Rebels, it was only after Disney+ that Lucasfilm was able to dive into live-action shows. The Mandalorian started as a very experimental project, and it combined traditional Star Wars movie tricks like puppets and costumes with state-of-the-art movie-making techniques. The Mandalorian evolved from a self-contained story about a bounty hunter wandering in the galaxy to a lore-heavy Star Wars show with major implications for the saga. Din and Grogu’s story reportedly has an endpoint in mind — here’s why a The Mandalorian movie is the only way to do it justice.
The Mandoverse Is The Best Thing About Star Wars Right Now
The Mandalorian’s success naturally led not only to more live-action Star Wars shows but also to more stories set in that specific time period. The Mandalorian season 2, The Book of Boba Fett, and the upcoming Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew are all set around eight years after Return of the Jedi, thus forming what is being called “the Mandoverse.” The time period and the fact they are all produced by Jon Favreau is not the only link between those shows, as The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka serve as direct The Mandalorian spinoffs that only came to be after specific episodes of The Mandalorian season 2. There are many Disney+ Star Wars shows in the works, and a surprising number of them springboard directly from The Mandalorian rather than the Star Wars movies.
When asked if he would be on board with a Mandalorian theatrical movie to wrap up the show (via Fandango), Producer Rick Famuyiwa said he does not know anything about it. Pedro Pascal, however, said that it is a great idea, and if it isn’t a conversation already, it will be now. More than wrapping up the Mandoverse, The Mandalorian movie would help Star Wars return to the big screen with characters that are already loved by the audience, thus allowing the next Star Wars movie to build up on something that it is already established.
The Mandalorian Has An Endgame (& It Deserves The Big Screen)
During Disney Investor Day 2020, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy mentioned how The Mandalorian’s spinoffs would culminate in a “climactic story event.” While plans for the Mandoverse have certainly changed now that Rangers of the New Republic was put on hold and Skeleton Crew was greenlit, it seems like the idea of an overarching story set in that period and involving the Mandoverse characters still exist. For example, The Book of Boba Fett dedicated an entire episode to combine the stories of Boba, Mando, Grogu, Ahsoka, and even Luke Skywalker — not to mention the Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra teases. As such, it is difficult to imagine that Mandoverse shows and their characters will not crossover again.
In addition to the likely crossover, it is certain that The Mandalorian as a show has an endgame in mind. That was alluded to by Pedro Pascal and Jon Favreau, and it was later confirmed by Bo-Katan actress Katee Sackhoff. When speaking to Variety, Sackhoff said that she was told how many seasons The Mandalorian will run for — which confirms that the show has an endgame. All of that considered, after establishing itself as one of the best pieces of Star Wars content in decades, The Mandalorian deserves a theatrical finale — one that would honor the global level of success that the show achieved.
What Would A Mandalorian Movie Be Like
The Mandalorian is not an anthology like Clone Wars, but it is also not a long-lasting narrative like Star Wars Rebels. Instead, The Mandalorian has used a combination of episodic and serialized TV in the making of a unique Star Wars. That said, The Mandalorian already shares a lot with feature films, including the fact that some of its directors like Jon Favreau and Rick Famuyiwa have worked on feature films prior to the show. The Mandalorian’s groundbreaking use of the Volume, virtual sets, and Unreal Engine are now being absorbed by the movie industry, as seen in movies like The Batman and Thor: Love and Thunder. In terms of visuals, a Mandalorian movie might not even be that much different from the show.
In terms of the plot, a Mandalorian movie would have to expand the scale and the scope of Din Djarin and Grogu’s story. So far, The Mandalorian has been very moderate in terms of scale, with Din Djarin and Grogu rarely sharing the screen with several Mandalorian or Force-users. That is already changing with The Mandalorian season 3, which will see Din Djarin interacting with a lot of Mandalorians from many different clans. A Mandalorian movie would therefore have to take Din Djarin’s journey to an even bigger level.
The Mandalorian Proved There’s Life Without The Skywalkers
Perhaps The Mandalorian’s most important feat was to prove that Star Wars can move past the Skywalkers. Up until The Mandalorian, most of Disney’s Lucasfilm’s efforts were focused on the Galactic Civil War period and, of course, on the Star Wars sequel trilogy – all of which center on Skywalker legacy characters. However, after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was received with a lot of criticism and went on to make less than its two Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the box office, it was clear that Star Wars had to find a new path beyond its established characters.
The Mandalorian premiered close to the release of The Rise of Skywalker, and two seasons later, Mando and Grogu have joined names like Luke, Han, and Leia as some of the most important and recognizable Star Wars characters in the history of the franchise. The simplicity of its premise added to a compelling dynamic between the Mandalorian and “baby Yoda” charmed audiences all over the world, proving that Star Wars does not have to rely on Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader.
The Mandalorian Movie Would Fix Star Wars’ Theatrical Problems
Almost three years after The Rise of Skywalker, the future of Star Wars on the big screen remains uncertain. Several projects have been announced in the past few years, including a Rian Johnson Star Wars trilogy, a Taika Waititi Star Wars movie, the now-canceled Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron, and a Kevin Feige-produced Star Wars movie. However, none of those projects have so far entered pre-production. In fact, now that Disney removed Rogue Squadron from its upcoming slate, there is currently no scheduled Star Wars. Deciding what the next Star Wars movie will be has become a challenge for Lucasfilm, one that could be solved with a Mandalorian movie.
The Mandalorian has already built an audience, and its main characters Din Djarin and Grogu are known and loved on a global level. Therefore, The Mandalorian could be the key to reigning the Star Wars theatrical franchise. In fact, the Mandoverse crossover event teased in 2020 could be reshaped into a theatrical Star Wars movie featuring names like Mando, Grogu, and Ahsoka. The Mandalorian movie would still be something fresh compared to the Skywalker Saga, but it would be a far less-risky project than a completely new Star Wars story.
The Mandalorian Season 3 Shows The Cinematic Potential Of The Mandoverse
Teaser trailers and early footage from The Mandalorian season 3 already show the potential Din Djarin and Grogu’s corner of the franchise has for a movie release. The third season of The Mandalorian already promises to be much larger in scope than seasons 1 and 2, and is also reported to be depicting the Siege of Mandalore. This battle is one of the most important in the Star Wars canon, despite having never been shown on screen (similar to the Battle of Jakku that took place between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens). Plus, thanks to the events of The Book of Boba Fett, Din Djarin will now be engaging in interstellar dogfights in an iconic repurposed Naboo N1 Starfighter.
All in all, The Mandalorian season 3 looks packed with many cinematic elements which would feel right at home in a Star Wars theatrical release. Even if season 3 isn’t a Mandalorian movie itself, it will definitely show the potential The Mandalorian has if a Mandalorian film were given the green light. Disney might not have concrete plans for a new Star Wars movie right now, although it’s almost certainly a case of when rather than if one will arrive. Should a strong enough idea for a followup to the Sequel Trilogy not present itself, however, a The Mandalorian movie would be something almost no Star Wars fans would be unhappy to see.
