On Tuesday, Lucasfilm announced plans for a new Star Wars feature film titled The Mandalorian & Grogu. Understandably, that's led to concerns about The Mandalorian season 4 being scrapped, a shame seeing as Jon Favreau has already confirmed his scripts were all completed last year.
The trades have said the fourth season is still in active development, and Bespin Bulletin (via SFFGazette.com) has heard the original plan was for production to begin next month. The situation has since changed, though insiders remain resolute in their belief that cameras will begin rolling later this year.
Making Star Wars (who broke the news about Mando heading to the big screen last year) has since chimed in to reveal both The Mandalorian and The Mandalorian & Grogu being developed at the same time "sounds really possible."
"One of the concepts has come out of this, count this as a rumour for now, is that the plan was to do six episodes of Mando [season four] and to take the finale, what would’ve been the finale, the big two parter, from the end of that and that’s being developed into the film [The Mandalorian and Grogu]," the site reveals.
Lucasfilm getting The Mandalorian's fourth season on Disney+ by next year is a smart move as it can then serve as a lead-in to the movie. We wouldn't take those comments about The Mandalorian & Grogu serving as the "finale" too literally because Disney needs to ensure the film is a draw to more than just Disney+ subscribers.
However, filmmaker Jon Favreau expanding his original idea into a two-hour feature which can be enjoyed by new and longtime Star Wars fans alike sounds like an ideal way to restore the franchise to its former glory in theaters.
Last year, Favreau made it clear there's no end in sight for The Mandalorian franchise as far as he's concerned so we'd bet on bucket head and his war returning to streaming somewhere down the line.
"I think the beauty of this is that it's a middle chapter of a much larger story. And though we'll have resolution over time with these characters, I think that how these characters fit into the larger scope and scale, but it's not like there's a finale that we're building to that I have in mind."
"Quite the contrary, I love for these stories to go on and on. And so these characters potentially could be with us for a while, and I really love telling stories in their voice, and I love the way the adventures unfold and I'm looking forward to doing much more."
The Mandalorian & Grogu doesn't have a confirmed release date but is expected to arrive in theaters on May 22, 2026.