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Credit: LucasfilmWhen Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu hits screens in 2026, it will be seven years since the lone wolf Din Djarin first entered the galaxy far, far away in Disney+’s flagship original show.
2026 will also mark 16 years since a certain character last appeared in the franchise, but that will reportedly all change as a wild casting report claims they will return in the movie set to replace The Mandalorian Season 4.
The Mandalorian, the smash-hit Star Wars series that took the galaxy by storm, debuted on Disney+ on November 12, 2019.
Created by the visionary Jon Favreau, the series transports fans to a galaxy far, far away, diving into uncharted territory just five years after the Empire’s fall in Star Wars: Episode VI–Return of the Jedi (1983). Set during the early New Republic era, the show masterfully blends classic Star Wars lore with the gritty allure of a space Western.
At the heart of the story is Din Djarin, the titular Mandalorian played with stoic intensity by Pedro Pascal. This lone bounty hunter stumbles upon his most unexpected mission yet: protecting “The Child,” better known to fans as Grogu. The adorable, Force-sensitive creature quickly became a cultural phenomenon.
Their journey pits them against Imperial remnants, led by the sinister Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), and introduces them to iconic characters like Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), and even the legendary Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison).
With its cinematic storytelling, iconic characters, and heartfelt nods to Star Wars history, The Mandalorian redefined the franchise, paving the way for an exciting slate of spin-offs, including The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka.
While many Star Wars fans expected to see one of the three projects announced by Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy at Star Wars Celebration 2023 on the big screen first, audiences will, in fact, be going back to the New Republic era.
The surprise movie announcement came in January 2024 when Lucasfilm confirmed that The Mandalorian and Grogu by Jon Favreau would lead the Star Wars film slate. At the same time, the studio also confirmed that Dave Filoni would bring a second season of Ahsoka to Disney+.
The Mandalorian and Grogu will seemingly replace any plans for a fourth season of The Mandalorian. The Hollywood Reporter claimed that Disney had pivoted away from the bounty hunter’s small-screen home, opting for theaters instead.
“Instead of a fourth season, Disney decided to pivot The Mandalorian to launch its first Star Wars feature film since The Rise of Skywalker,” THR reported in early October.
“Coming in 2026, The Mandalorian & Grogu will probably perform well. Yet it also looks like Disney spent many years and untold capital struggling to develop a new Star Wars movie, and its best idea was an extra-long episode of a TV show.”
As it stands, The Mandalorian and Grogu is set for a May 22, 2026, release date, marking the end of an almost seven-year drought for Star Wars on the big screen.
And while momentum has seemingly been stronger than any previous year, at least when it comes to feature films, the studio carved out its December 2026 release–long thought to be for Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Rey Skywalker vehicle–with Disney slotting in Ice Age 6 (2026).
While information about what direction Favreau and Filoni will take with this feature film replacement of the fourth season is unclear, Star Wars fans do know some of the faces who will appear in the 2026 movie.
Pedro Pascal will, of course, be back in his role of Din Djarin. However, as he confirmed during the third season of the show, he now only voices the character, with Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder filling out the suit. It’s not been confirmed if that will be the case for the film.
Grogu, brought to life by puppetry, will also appear. Alien franchise icon Sigourney Weaver will join the titular pair in an undisclosed role. But the most interesting casting choice, which dropped earlier this week, has left fans completely bewildered.
According to entertainment scooper Jeff Sneider, Emmy-winning star of FX’s The Bear Jeremy Allen White has been cast in The Mandalorian and Grogu as Jabba the Hutt’s son, Rotta the Hut.
Rotta the Hutt first appeared on screen in the Star Wars franchise in the 2008 Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie, the film that launched the beloved seven-season-long Clone Wars series. His second and last appearance was in the 2010 episode “Sphere of Influence.”
Sneider joined Kristian Harloff on his YouTube channel to reveal the news. It should be noted that neither Lucasfilm, Disney, nor Jeremy Allen White have confirmed this casting for The Mandalorian and Grogu. The reveal surprised fans, who have shown mixed feelings about it; one fan thought it was a parody announcement, while another said it was a “bold move” to cast White in the role.
There seems to be some confusion as to whether White, if playing Rotta the Hutt, will voice a CGI take on the character or be buried under prosthetics.
Not only does the casting raise eyebrows, but it also calls into question the plot of the movie. With a big talent like Jeremy Allen White reportedly in the role, it would seem that Rotta the Hutt, and by extension the Hutt clan at large, maybe an integral plot point for The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Recently, Dave Filoni, who is writing the script with Jon Favreau, spoke about production on The Mandalorian and Grogu.
“Jon and I had a great time working on that, as we always do. It was great seeing Grogu. He’s become such a star,” Filoni said during the Disneyland premiere of Skeleton Crew (via Comic Book Movie), “and it’s amazing how it’s evolved, what we can do now with the puppetry compared to Season 1 and where we are today in a film working with the team, which I worked quite a bit with them on the puppetry.”
It will be interesting to see what direction The Mandalorian and Grogu movie takes, considering that Season 3 of the show largely replaced Din Djarin (Pascal) as the titular Mandalorian, opting to centralize Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze instead.
The finale also seemingly wrapped up the cloning storyline of Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito). However, with the many retcons of Disney’s sequel trilogy and the focus on contextualizing Emperor Palpatine’s return, Force cloning could once again be the crux of the upcoming movie.
How do you feel about Jeremy Allen White’s reported casting as Rotta the Hutt? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!