This article was originally published on SFFGazette.com; be sure to keep checking that site for all the latest updates on Star Wars and The Mandalorian!
The Mandalorian's season 3 finale ended on a rather definitive note, wrapping up plot threads from the very beginning of the show. It's no great surprise that many fans walked away from "The Return" feeling like they'd just watched a series finale, so where does the story go from here?
We have lots of burning questions we hope will be answered in the weeks ahead, but chief among them are the ones you can see below.
Is there going to be a season 4 of The Mandalorian?
Yes, even though Lucasfilm and Disney+ haven't officially announced plans for a fourth season, showrunner Jon Favreau has already confirmed he's writing it.
"With television, we're very lucky that we don't have to rush things through into an hour-and-a-half, two hours. We get to tell stories slowly," he said last year. "So now, as Dave [Filoni]'s doing Ahsoka, it's very much informing the writing that I'm doing for [The Mandalorian] season 4. It becomes - how should I put it - more precise."
Ahsoka premieres later this year, as does Skeleton Crew, and they're also set during the same post-Return of the Jedi timeline. With that in mind, it's possible Din Djarin and Din Grogu will return in one or both for cameo roles.
When will The Mandalorian season 4 premiere?
At this stage, your guess is as good as ours, though we can take an educated guess.
It was recently reported that production will begin later this year and that means The Mandalorian could quite easily premiere in late 2024. The Acolyte is currently the only Star Wars TV series heading to Disney+ next year, so we're sure Lucasfilm will be keen to get this show back with a much smaller gap than the one between seasons 2 and 3.
Early 2025 is another possibility, of course.
What will The Mandalorian season 4 be about?
It's too soon to say for sure but, as you might have guessed, there are already some pretty compelling theories doing the rounds online. However, after that touching ending, it appears a fresh start beckons.
During a recent interview, director and executive producer Rick Famuyiwa strongly hinted that season 4 will be a fresh start for the Star Wars series. "I do think there's something, at least for me, that feels like we've reached a kind of a chapter, and we’re ending a chapter in the storytelling by the end of Season 3 that's been built since we first met these two characters, the first season."
Djarin and Grogu look set to embark on missions for the New Republic that will see them hunting for Imperial remnants, and with Grand Admiral Thrawn returning in Ahsoka, that series could offer a much better idea of where The Mandalorian goes from here ahead of Dave Filoni's planned crossover movie.