We May Have to Wait Until 2022 For 'The Mandalorian' Season 3
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Season 2 of The Mandalorian seemed to double the monsters, the fight scenes, and the Baby-Yoda-eating-things-he’s-not-supposed-to moments. It was more of everything we love, while also giving us some Star Wars firsts, including an appearance from Bo-Katan, a live action Ahsoka Tano, a successful CGI face replacement (sorry, Tarkin), and Boba Fett unmasked and earning more than six minutes of total screen time.
The season continued the series’ vaguely linear storyline, wherein a masked Mando (Pedro Pascal) unites with allies, accepts side quests, and tries his best to father maybe the most old and powerful infant in all of fiction.
Mando’s quest has evolved from rescuing The Child (informally, Baby Yoda; formally, “Grogu”), to escorting him to a Jedi for training, to once more having to rescue him. And that’s only the half of it. The Mandalorian star Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon) hinted this fall that the series plans to keep flying for at least another two seasons.
Here’s what we know about season 3 of The Mandalorian now.
When's Season 3 of The Mandalorian coming out?
Alongside a cascade of other early December Disney news—including two (!) Mandalorian spin-off series: Rangers of the New Republic (likely with Cara Dune) and Ahsoka (with Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano)—the real-world entertainment Empire announced that the next chapter of The Mandalorian story will hit Disney+ in time for Christmas. The exact date was not announced, meaning it's unclear whether the series will follow its usual November release schedule or be something of a Christmas Eve surprise.
It's also unclear whether what we're promised at the end of 2021 is in fact season 3. At the end of the season 2 finale, Chapter 16: "The Rescue," we see Boba Fett arrive on Tatooine to assassinate Return of the Jedi's Bib Fortuna. The post-credits sequence ends with a tease: The Book of Boba Fett, December 2021.
So either Disney will be releasing two series near simultaneously at the end of 2021 (The Mandalorian season 3 and the spin-off, The Book of Boba Fett) or Fett will take The Mandalorian's 2021 slot, pushing season 3 to 2022. The latter seems most likely. The good news: we're still getting Star Wars content next year.
Now, obviously, release announcements these days are deserving of skepticism, given: 2020. But there's good reason to think Disney will make good on its projection.
Executive producer and showrunner Jon Favreau confirmed in an interview with Variety that production for season 3 was “on schedule” and that the team planned to begin filming by the end of 2020 (no recent news on whether filming has begun, though).
Favreau pointed out the series’ favorable filming conditions in the face of COVID:
“We’re in very small situations and oftentimes we have a lot of characters in masks. 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.”
That digital work includes large LED monitors that the filmmakers have used in place of a greenscreen. This innovation allows them to film in one location, decreasing production time.
Last month, Disney itself nearly confirmed a 2021 date on the season 3 premiere when the Slovak Disney Plus' YouTube channel listed season 3 as part of its 2021 slate. While we won’t know for sure until filming is confirmed and wrapped (hopefully, this winter), we’re still optimistic for Season 3 to come as soon as possible, whether that's simultaneous with The Book of Boba Fett or after.
Who's in the cast?
So far, the only confirmed name is series lead Pedro Pascal (as Mando). But just as season 2 reintroduced characters Cara Dune (Gina Carano) and Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), we’re likely to see more than a few holdover figures, including—most likely—Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen), Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison), and Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson). And, hey, why not give Mayfeld (Bill Burr) another go? Though, given the possible new spin-off Boba Fett series, we may no longer see Fett and Shand in The Mandalorian. Only time will tell.
We expect a few main newcomers as well—now that the Jedi have been officially reintroduced to the series’ plot—and some celebrity guest stars. Given that Grogu is off to Luke's Jedi summer camp, could he become friendly with...a young Ben Solo?
Dwayne Johnson has expressed interest appearing in the galaxy. If so, he might be harder to tie up by his ankles than John Leguizamo.
What will Season 3 be about?
It's really anyone's guess at this point. The major arc of the series—returning Baby Yoda to the Jedi—has seemingly been completed. Still, we have a good couple decades before the events of The Force Awakens, where lots of things in the galaxy start going to hell. Plenty of time for rich plot.
Season 2 left Mando in the company of Bo-Katan and the darksaber, opening up the possibility for a season 3 power struggle as the remnant Mandalorians seek to recapture Mandalore from the empire. Mando may spend season 3 jostling for the throne—all while battling the escalating military force of Moff Gideon, who we can't imagine will spend season 3 handcuffed on the floor. In an interview with People, Esposito (Moff Gideon) hinted at just how much more viewers are in store for:
"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 3 and Season 4, where you’re really gonna start to get answers."
If the previous 2 seasons have only been laying the groundwork, we’re in for an explosive third season.
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