The Mandalorian Season 3: When Will We See The Next Set Of Stories?
The Mandalorian Season 3 now isn't set to hit Disney+ until February 2023.
Given the massive popularity of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian has enjoyed, you just knew a season 3 was on the way. How could it not with the adventures of Din Djardin and his new Baby Yoda companion, Grogu, leading the way? So, even though we knew it was coming, it was still music to our ears when Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy announced season 3 of The Mandalorian was on the way.
So, with all the drama surrounding the series (Gina Carano getting fired as Cara Dune), what does a season 3 look like? Is there going to be a Gina Carano replacement and will we get more Grogu? Here is everything we know about the upcoming season 3.
THE MANDALORIAN SEASON 3 PUSHED TO FEBRUARY 2023
Kathleen Kennedy dropped a lot of Star Wars news at the Disney Investor Day in 2020, talking about the many upcoming series heading to Disney+ as well as the next Star Wars movie. While all this news was exciting, intriguing, and somewhat shocking, what fans of The Mandalorian were excited to hear was that Mando would be back around Christmas 2021. But that was then.
We are now in late 2022 and we have yet to see The Mandalorian season 3. The date jumped from Christmas 2021 to Christmas 2022. Unfortunately, that date is no longer as we now have word that season 3 won’t reach Disney+ until February 2023.
Fans did, though, get a taste of what’s to come for our adventurers as Disney released a teaser trailer for the upcoming season 3. In it, you will see the return of Din Djarin as well as some of our favorites such as Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan Kryze, Amy Sedaris as Peli Motto, and Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon. You can check out the trailer below.
Favreau explained how the nature of The Mandalorian allows for flexibility with production. “We’re in very small situations and oftentimes we have a lot of characters in masks,” he said. “And we also have a lot of digital work that augments things. So we’re a show that’s probably well-equipped to be flexible based on the protocols that are emerging surrounding work restarting.”
However, Favreau’s assurances didn’t stop the eventual delay. Instead of releasing in late 2021, The Mandalorian season 3 didn’t start filming until late 2021, with a projected release date of late 2022. Collider was the first site to break the news, and they speculated Pedro Pascal’s commitment to HBO’s The Last of Us could be the main cause of the delay. One might also argue that since The Book of Boba Fett premiered on December 29, 2021, the delay worked out well in that it gave Temuera Morrison’s show a chance to shine without competition.
A NEW MANDALORIAN IS REVEALED
In November 2021, images and video leaked courtesy of Bespin Bullet suggested that there was a new Mandalorian character in the upcoming season. The video shows a man in a Mandalorian armor costume — who doesn’t appear to be Pedro Pascal — performing outside in the middle of a blue screen. For most of the video, he’s standing toward the top of a ladder. There are also shots of what appear to be storage areas for props and scenery. You can see the images and video below.
The man doesn’t appear to be any of the male actors we’ve seen wearing Beskar armor without accompanying helmets before The Mandalorian season 3. It’s not Pedro Pascal, Temuera Morrison, Timothy Olyphant, or Simon Kassianides (Axe Woves in season 2).
It could be a stunt double. While in the video he can be seen talking and pointing at something out of frame, you can’t hear him so it isn’t clear if he’s performing dialogue or speaking to a crew member. If it is a stunt double, it’s likely not one for Mando, unless he’s now going to have his helmet off a lot more often.
WHERE SEASON 2 LEFT US
For us to speculate where The Mandalorian season 3 will send Mando, we must take a closer look at the season 2 finale, titled The Rescue, and to get to that, we must also acknowledge the few major characters season 2 has given Star Wars fans.
Not only did we get Mando back, but we saw the return of Grogu (the ever-lovable Baby Yoda), Cara Dune, Greef Karga, and Moff Gideon, but we also saw the exciting introductions to Bo-Katan Kryze, Koska Reeves, and Ahsoka Tano. Plus, Star Wars fans got what they’ve been wanting for years since his introduction in The Empire Strikes Back, Boba Fett, who appeared alongside Fennec Shand.
The season 2 finale was a whirlwind of information. The Rescue was Mando and Cara Dune going after Grogu who is being held on Moff Gideon’s ship. Bo-Katan and Koska Reeves tag along as Mando has agreed to help them with their quest to retake Mandalore if they, in turn, help him rescue The Child. This set up many things.
Mando needs to rescue Grogu, Bo-Katan wants the Darksaber and the head of Gideon and, for good measure, his ship. This turns into a showdown between Mando and Gideon and another showdown between our heroes and the dark troopers.
When all begins to look bleak for Mando and crew, the real “rescue” arrives in the form of a black glove, the greensaber, Jedi uni. Yes, Luke Skywalker, along with R2-D2, arrives to save the day. How it all unfolds, well, watch the finale.
The big takeaway from the season finale is that Baby Yoda may be gone (but not for good!). He left with Luke Skywalker to resume his Jedi training. The goodbye was tearful and Mando even took off his helmet (sure to have consequences later) to let Grogu know how he felt. The trailer shows that there will be consequences for Mando.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE MANDALORIAN SEASON 3
The Mandalorian season 3 will have a lot of questions to answer, the biggest, of course, was answered in the season 3 teaser trailer when we saw Baby Yoda. We do know that Ahsoka Tano is going to be in a spin-off from The Mandalorian. We also heard about Rangers of the New Republic, a spin-off that was to star Gina Carano’s Cara Dune, but that is no longer happening, and we have already been given The Book of Boba Fett.
What does that leave for The Mandalorian season 3 to tackle? Will interacting with spinoffs be the theme of season 3? It seems more likely that the next season of the show will focus on Din Djarin’s relationship with Bo Katan, her comrades, and their quest to restore Mandalore. But the series could surprise us and go in a totally different direction.
Din hasn’t seemed very interested in helping Bo Katan out before. Now though, with the Dark Sabre in his hand, he may have no choice.
We know, thanks to Giancarlo Esposito who plays Moff Gideon, that his character will be back for season 3 (with a slip at a possible season 4) and that Moff Gideon may play an even more prominent role.
Giancarlo Esposito told PEOPLE, “We’re living in a universe that is huge and [that has] so much to explore. So I think this show is going to start to lay the groundwork for the depth and breadth that’s going to come in season three and season four, where you’re really gonna start to get answers.”
THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT SETS UP SOME OF THIS SEASON
If the reveal of Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 wasn’t enough to push anticipation for The Mandalorian season 3 to a new level, the post-credit scene truly sent fans into overdrive. It takes us back to Tatooine and Jabba the Hutt’s palace. It’s a place last seen in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.
Inside the long-since deceased Jabba’s palace sits a now very fat and wealthy Bib Fortuna (Jabba the Hut’s former right-hand man). He’s comfortably positioned, sitting on Jabba’s throne. That is until Boba Fett and Fennec Shand arrive. Bib isn’t long for this world and Boba takes his place on the throne. We then get to see title cards. The Book of Boba Fett. Coming December 2021.
The Book of Boba Fett is a separate show, but it looks like it’ll be released at the nearly same time as The Mandalorian season 3, which means we have two live-action Star Wars shows to watch back to back.
SOME MANDALORIAN SEASON 3 FOOTAGE WAS LEAKED
Season 3 of The Mandalorian is on its way and fans can’t be more excited with anticipation. The excitement ramped up tenfold when a trailer for the third season was leaked on Instagram.
The footage was shown to audiences at Star Wars Celebration that also included an impressive panel featuring not one, not two, but three Din Djarin’s – Pedro Pascal and the two stuntmen who play Mando under the helmet, Lateef Crowder, and the Duke, John Wayne’s grandson, Brendan Wayne. Joining the three were Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, Katee Sackhoff, Carl Weathers, and Emily Swallow.
While the panel was eager to discuss (but not give away too much) season 3, the highlight came when they rolled out footage of the upcoming season. In it, there were plenty of returning favorites and some newbies as well. Babu Frik was there along with Kowakian monkey lizards.
Greef Karga and Peli Motto will be returning and with Katee Sackhoff sitting on the panel, then you know Bo-Katan Kryze will be back in action. Will she be the new big bad villain in season 3?
One of the more intriguing aspects of the leaked trailer is the appearance of Katy O’Brian. The name may not be familiar to some of you, and the character she has portrayed in the first two seasons is almost a blink-and-you-miss-her-type role. O’Brian’s character, Comms Officer, has been a constant at the side of Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), but her appearances have always been brief.
The leaked footage, though, shows a quick glimpse of O’Brian, without her helmet on, looking over her shoulder. The theory now is that Comms Officer, whose character name we do not know, is set to play a much bigger and more important role than what the first two seasons have led us to believe.
Filoni clued fans in on what they can expect with season 3, though again, he was very light on details. “There’s a lot of new adventures coming up,” he said via Games Radar. “I have to be careful, I can’t really say anything specific, but I think the Force will be strong with this, let’s just say that.”
