The Mandalorian and Grogu

Star Wars

No Star Wars movie projects have actually made it to release before being cancelled at this point, not since Solo, but one that is definitely, finally happened has just released its first trailer, The Mandalorian and Grogu, which has a release date of May 22, 2026.

The 9- second spot is a combination of silly Grogu antics and intense action, though really no indication of what the plot of the film is going to be. It shows the new character played by Sigourney Weaver, and I believe I heard a short line from Jeremy Allen White, voicing Rotta the Hutt, Jabba’s son, a role that was previously announced.

The concept of a Mandalorian and Grogu movie has been somewhat perplexing since it was announced, with the first Star Wars film “back” since its break being a chapter of a show, rather than something new. It’s not 100% clear if the film is meant to be a grand finale of The Mandalorian, replacing season 4. That seems to be the case, but nothing is set in stone yet, and Disney has struggled to produce streaming TV content outside of The Mandalorian, with few exceptions, the biggest of which being Andor, of course.

The Mandalorian season 3 ended with (spoilers) an attack on Moff Gideon and his clones, and the start of the reforging of Mandalorian society. Mando doesn’t stick around for that, and by the end of the show, appears to be back to simply bounty hunting like he started the series, this time with Grogu in tow. Comments from Bo-Katan actress Katee Sackhoff would seem to indicate her character isn’t showing up for the film, despite her prominence in season 3.

What this all says to me is that Disney has tried to craft a movie that you do not need to do “homework” for, as in watching three full seasons and 24 episodes of The Mandalorian. There’s a Mandalorian, he’s got a cute baby Yoda, they go on adventures. That appears to be the gist of the pitch here to those unfamilair with the series.

This does look like it will be more significant than four or so Mandalorian episodes stuck together with much more expensive-looking action sequences (cost has been a big issue with Star Wars projects as of late). Disney is pushing forward from here with actual movie projects that appear like they will make it to fruition. We just got a glimpse of Ryan Gosling in Star Wars: Starfighter, meant to be out in 2027. James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi, set 25,000 years before the Skywalker saga, is still in the works.

It’s not clear what level of success a TV spin-off Star Wars film may have, even if it’s based on a popular show. We might look at Solo, the last film Disney made that was considered underwhelming with its $392 million haul. Given that this is the first Star Wars film in eight years now, I would expect interest to have increased quite a bit since then, weird title aside.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.