{"id":459426,"date":"2026-03-05T19:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T19:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/459426\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T19:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T19:53:08","slug":"the-mandalorian-and-grogu-marks-a-completely-different-era-of-star-wars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/459426\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mandalorian And Grogu Marks \u2018A Completely Different Era Of Star Wars\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been seven years since Star Wars<\/a> was last on the big screen. 2019\u2019s Episode IX \u2013 The Rise Of Skywalker<\/a> marked the end of an era, the end of a saga, bringing a trilogy of trilogies to a close. Ever since then, Star Wars stories have unfolded on the small screen, unspooling the adventures of Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett, Cassian Andor and more. But no characters have exploded on streaming in quite the same way as The Mandalorian and Grogu, an unlikely father-son pairing whose adventures across the galaxy charmed Star Wars diehards and newcomers alike. \u2018Baby Yoda\u2019, as fans first dubbed him, was inescapable. Now, the pair are charged with bringing Star Wars back to cinemas: The Mandalorian And Grogu<\/a> is coming.<\/p>\n

It is, says Lucasfilm co-CEO Dave Filoni, a different prospect to the last time the saga made a culture-shaking big-screen comeback. \u201cEpisode VII<\/a> was a completely different entity,\u201d explains Filoni, who also co-wrote The Mandalorian And Grogu, and directed second-unit on the film. \u201cI had dreams of Episode VII since I came out of Return Of The Jedi<\/a>. You were like, \u2018After VI comes VII! Where\u2019s VII?\u2019 We\u2019re in a completely different era of Star Wars now.\u201d The Mandalorian And Grogu doesn\u2019t carry the burden of introducing a new trilogy, or establishing a group of unknown heroes. Instead it is, Filoni says, \u201ca big celebration\u201d of its title pair.<\/p>\n

So, where were bounty hunter Din Djarin and Grogu \u2013 his adoptive son and Mandalorian apprentice \u2013 when we left them? The Season 3<\/a> finale had a sense of genuine finality to it<\/a>, as our heroes settled into their homestead on Nevarro, having thwarted Moff Gideon and played their part in reclaiming Mandalore. \u201cIt only felt like the ending of a particular chapter,\u201d Pedro Pascal tells Empire. The same finale also saw Mando agree to take on missions solely for the New Republic at Adelphi Base. \u201cThey open up the opportunity for him to continue his best work as a bounty hunter, but just working for the good guys,\u201d says Pascal. \u201cCombining skill and morality. Whereas when we meet him first, it\u2019s simply skill, and beskar, and [the Mandalorian] Creed. Through his relationship to Grogu, there is an expansion of his heart and a disarming of his armour, so to speak, that leads him to fight for what he knows is right.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s that sense of heart that Filoni and director Jon Favreau hope to translate to the big screen. Yes, the action will be bigger for cinemas. There will be massive practical sets, puppetry galore, stop-motion courtesy of Phil Tippett\u2019s studio. But at the centre of this is, well, The Mandalorian and Grogu \u2013 the duo who captured hearts the world over. \u201cWhat can\u2019t you do now?\u201d says Filoni, noting that spectacle only goes so far. \u201cIt\u2019s a question of, \u2018Is the audience going to believe it? Are they going to feel it?\u2019 That comes through the characters. If the characters are connecting, then the adventure plays, the action plays, the tension plays.\u201d The next adventure begins. Mando and Grogu are back. Star Wars enters a new era. Fire up the Razor Crest.<\/p>\n

\"Empire<\/p>\n

Read Empire\u2019s full cover story on The Mandalorian And Grogu \u2013 speaking to Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White about Star Wars\u2019 big-screen comeback \u2013 in the May 2026 issue<\/a>, on sale Thursday March 12. Pre-order a copy online here<\/a>. The Mandalorian And Grogu comes to UK cinemas on May 22.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been seven years since Star Wars was last on the big screen. 2019\u2019s Episode IX \u2013 The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,2839,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-459426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}