Credit: LucasfilmThe third season of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s smash hit Star Wars spinoff, The Mandalorian, came to an end back in April after an—arguably, short—eight-episode run. Now, in the weeks following its finale, one of the show’s leading actors is speaking out about a common complaint surrounding the episodes’ runtimes.
Can you ever get enough of The Mandalorian? After its debut season arrived on Disney+ in 2019, the general consensus on that question would’ve likely been “no.” Lucasfilm’s first foray into live-action TV remains one of the Disney streamer’s most-watched series of all time, with audiences demanding more of Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and baby Grogu’s adventures across the galaxy.
Still, Disney seems intent on giving fans just enough Mandalorian content to keep them satisfied, with subscribers waiting an excruciating two years between Seasons 2 and 3. And when the third season finally arrived on Disney+ in March, fans were disappointed to find that the short, under 40-minute episodes weren’t worth the wait, and didn’t give the show a chance to breathe.
Although Season 3 of The Mandalorian remains its worst-rated, fans still wanted to see more, especially from one of Disney+’s most lucrative series. With that unforgettable Season 2 finale still fresh in viewers’ minds, which also leaned closer to an hour, hopes were high that the new episodes could at least push past that 40-minute mark. But with all eight episodes ranging between 35 and 56 minutes, this might’ve been the most inconsistent season yet.
Speaking on her new podcast, Blah Blah Blah, Bo-Katan Kryze actress Katee Sackhoff chimed in on the conversation, explaining why it’s so difficult for a show as large-scale as The Mandalorian to branch into longer, one-hour episodes—even if the demand is there.
During the podcast interview, Sackhoff was joined by director Bryce Dallas Howard, who stated in the conversation how rewarding it is for her to work on projects that have such a cultural impact while acknowledging how those projects “require so many people” to make them possible:
It’s so fun to get to be a part of stories like [‘Spider-Man’], because it’s very meaningful to people, right? But also because it requires so many people to achieve it, right? And the kind of… animatronics, the mix of visual effects, practical effects, cinema, performance, and so many different kinds of people need to come together in order for it to work. Because like… engineers, and artists, and it’s really, really, really amazing when it does all work.
Sackhoff then addressed fans’ concerns about The Mandalorian and its relatively fast-paced storytelling, revealing that “there are so many moving parts” to each episode, which is why they tend to be shorter:
That’s why I tell people that ‘Mando’ is like… They’re always so confused why it takes so long for us to shoot and why the episodes are, in their minds, so short. And I’m like, ‘There are so many moving parts to this that you have no idea.
The Bo-Katan actress certainly isn’t wrong in saying that a lot goes into making a Star Wars show as high-caliber as The Mandalorian. From constructing massive practical set pieces, including life-sized Rancor heads and full-on cities, to adding special effects and CGI, the time, money, and labor behind shows like The Mandalorian is almost incomprehensible. This is also on top of writing and editing the actual story, which is an entirely different beast.
Sackhoff herself is even surprised that creators can pump out new episodes every couple of years, joking during the podcast interview, “We’re lucky that we finish as fast as we do. We’re rushed all the time and the fact that we finish is crazy.”
While some fans believe The Mandalorian should extend their episodes closer to an hour, it’s important to note that the Disney+ series was designed to be a half-hour drama, meaning we won’t regularly get the sprawling one-hour epics regularly seen in shows like HBO’s Game of Thrones.
But with select “chapters” running 50 minutes or over, maybe there is the possibility of The Mandalorian shifting towards longer-format episodes in the future. However, the ongoing WGA strike is casting doubt on that happening anytime soon.
As for The Mandalorian Season 4, don’t expect to see it arrive on Disney+ until 2025 at the earliest. According to recent production reports, those hoping to see Mando return in 2024 will likely be disappointed, as the combination of the Hollywood writers’ strike and Disney slowing down its content releases will almost certainly push the next season back by a year or so.
Jon Favreau has already penned the Season 4 scripts, but even so, without a writer on set, filming can’t proceed on The Mandalorian until writers work out a deal with major studios. And considering that the cast and crew have to put so much work into every episode, hitting the one-hour mark in Season 4 seems like an impossible feat.
For the sake of storytelling, some episodes of The Mandalorian could probably afford to be a little longer, with the end credits and opening sequence taking off at least three or four minutes, if not more. But ultimately, it’s important to remember that this runtime works for the crew, who seem to have a good thing going behind the scenes if the series’ viewership numbers are anything to go by.
What do you think of Katee Sackhoff defending Mando’s runtimes? Do you think they could be longer? Let us know in the comments below.