During Lucasfilm’s portion of The Walt Disney Company’s 2020 Investor Day event, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy stated that the hit Disney+ series The Mandalorian has “ushered in a new era” within the Star Wars universe.
The executive then went on to confirm that, among the numerous new Star Wars series coming to the streaming platform, would be two direct spinoffs of The Mandalorian — Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic.
Kennedy did not, however, specifically mention The Mandalorian Season 3. Here, we share everything we know so far — for sure — about the third season of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s hit series.
Ahsoka, Rangers of the New Republic, and The Book of Boba Fett will interconnect.
After Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic were announced on December 10, a third Mandalorian spinoff, The Book of Boba Fett, was announced during The Mandalorian Season 2 finale post-credits scene on December 18.
At Investor Day, Kennedy confirmed that Ahsoka — which will feature Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars fan-favorite Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), presumably continuing her storyline from The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 5 (Chapter 13: The Jedi), searching for Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger — and Rangers of the New Republic — which is likely to be the rumored Cara Dune (Gina Carano) spinoff — will both be set in the timeline of The Mandalorian and will interconnect to the show.
As a matter of fact, Kennedy said the trio of series will ultimately culminate in a live-action streaming event, about which no further details have been shared at this time.
During a Good Morning America interview in early January 2021, Mandalorian creator and showrunner Jon Favreau confirmed that The Book of Boba Fett — which seems as if it will be set on Tatooine if the post credits sequence in Jabba the Hutt’s former palace is any indication — will also be connected to The Mandalorian, but did not say if the Boba Fett show will play a role in the aforementioned streaming event within the Star Wars universe.
Temuera Morrison is set to reprise his role as the iconic bounty hunter, and Ming-Na Wen will be back as sharpshooter and mercenary, Fennec Shand.
Pedro Pascal is returning for the third season.
Even though not much has been confirmed about The Mandalorian Season 3, we do know some crucial details for sure. For example, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) will be back for the third season of the Star Wars streaming series.
This was first confirmed by Pascal’s stuntman, Brendan Wayne, in a since-deleted Instagram post that read:
No spoilers!!! But just in case the world didn’t know yet @pascalispunk is incredible. The journey they wrote for him this season was so beautiful. The fact that Pedro went beyond the page and made this epic. Thank you @pascalispunk
Yes!! Pedro is coming back and awesome . There was never any question. DO NOT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ. Now let’s get ready for WW84 @wonderwomanfilm
Furthermore, in Jon Favreau’s Good Morning America appearance, he confirmed that:
“So this [The Book of Boba Fett series or mini-series] is actually separate from The Mandalorian Season 3. But, what we didn’t say in that announcement is that the next show coming up, Kathy said the ‘next chapter’ and that’s going to be the Book of Boba Fett and then we go into production right after that on Season 3 of The Mandalorian back with the main character that we know and love.”
Favreau also confirmed that The Book of Boba Fett will film and enter post-production before The Mandalorian Season 3 begins filming.
We do not know an exact premiere date (but a filming date has been confirmed!)
During Lucasfilm’s Investor Day presentation, Kennedy shared that “the next chapter will begin Christmas 2021,” while an image of Din Djarin in his beskar armor flashed on the screen behind her.
The presumption, among both Star Wars fans and news outlets, was that this meant The Mandalorian Season 3 would premiere — alongside Ahsoka, Rangers of the New Republic, and The Book of Boba Fett — in December of next year.
The Book of Boba Fett was the only spinoff with a 2021 release. Animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch — which is set to feature an animated version of Fennec Shand, voiced by Wen — will also premiere sometime in 2021.
On January 26, 2021, Orlando area reporter Scott Gustin confirmed, via Production List, that The Mandalorian Season 3 will begin filming on April 5 in Los Angeles, California. At this time, only Pedro Pascal is confirmed to return for the eight-episode season, per IMDb.
As stated, titular Mandlaorian Din Djarin will be back for The Mandalorian Season 3. No concrete casting details outside of this have been shared at this time.
Given how things ended with two major story arcs — Grogu (AKA The Child AKA Baby Yoda) and the Darksaber — in the Season 2 finale (Chapter 16: The Rescue), it seems likely that Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) and her Nite Owl Mandalorian warriors, including Koska Reeves (Sasha Banks), and Luke Skywalker (CGI Mark Hamill in the finale/possibly Sebastian Stan in the future) could be back.
There also exists the potential for a Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) return, since Djarin spared his life after winning the duo’s beskar spear vs. Darksaber battle.
The status of Grogu’s return in the third season of The Mandalorian also remains unconfirmed at this time.
Although the Skywalker Saga officially ended with Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019), we may see additional iconic characters from the Star Wars galaxy return in future seasons of The Mandalorian.
Star Wars Legends tales could be made canon.
In The Mandalorian Season 2, Episode 5 (“Chapter 13: The Jedi”), Rosario Dawon’s Ahsoka Tano learned that fan-favorite character Grand Admiral Thrawn — who entered the existing Star Wars canon in animated series Star Wars Rebels— was serving as the master of Corvus Magistrate Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto).
Furthermore, reports are also swirling that Luke Skywalker’s Star Wars Expanded Universe wife, Mara Jade, could play into the Mandalorian story moving forward. This would make sense since the popular character appeared in the Legends Thrawn Trilogy novels by Timothy Zahn.
Stay tuned to Inside the Magic for all of the latest details about the upcoming season of The Mandalorian from creator Jon Favreau and other Lucasfilm and Disney executives.
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Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney
