Will The Mandalorian & Grogu 2 Happen — Or The Mandalorian Season 4?

Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for The Mandalorian and Grogu.Star Wars' brand-new movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu, is finally here, but many are already wondering what comes next for Din Djarin, Grogu, and this unique branch of the Star Wars franchise that began as a TV show and became a major blockbuster. The Mandalorian and Grogu is set after all three (so far) seasons of The Mandalorian, meaning that Grogu has already gone to Luke's Jedi Temple in progress, received a small amount of training, and opted to return to Din and become a Mandalorian foundling rather than a Jedi.

The movie centers on Din's newfound role within the New Republic, as was established in the Mandalorian season 3 finale, which sees him tracking down and bringing in Imperial remnants, alongside his Force-sensitive newly adoptive son. The trailers for The Mandalorian and Grogu had heavily suggested that this would mean a massive larger impact on the New Republic and the Star Wars franchise for Din and Grogu, although that surprisingly wasn't exactly the case.

Instead, The Mandalorian and Grogu proved to be a very self-contained narrative, far away from any major cameos from other Star Wars movies and TV shows, surprise twist villains, or (for the most part) a significant connection to and influence on the larger franchise. Interestingly, this has very unexpected implications for what comes next after The Mandalorian and Grogu, be it a sequel movie, The Mandalorian season 4, or the end of Din Djarin and Grogu's time on screen.

The Mandalorian And Grogu Left The Door Open For The Story To Continue

As mentioned, The Mandalorian and Grogu didn't really do much to disrupt the larger franchise, for better or worse—and the mixed Rotten Tomatoes scores suggest that, already, there are divided opinions on whether this was for better or worse. The story focuses primarily on Din Djarin's efforts to rescue Rotta the Hutt, Jabba's son, and find information on Coyne so that he can turn him into the New Republic to get information out of him. It seemed as though the movie might expand to include larger threats to the New Republic, perhaps even Thrawn.

However, in the end, the story was a fairly straightforward one. The villains were the Twins—Jabba's cousins, who have been seen before in Star Wars—with help from the bounty hunter Embo. Outside of those three characters (and the Imperials Din was turning in, although they didn't end up playing a substantial role in the movie's core narrative arc involving Din), the movie doesn't attempt to affect this era of the Star Wars timeline in a more substantial way.

While some may find that disappointing, and certainly, there's already been chatter to that effect, it does mean one thing: The Mandalorian and Grogu left the door completely open for both Din Djarin and Grogu (along with other characters in The Mandalorian and Grogu, like Zeb Orrelios or Rotta) to return in a new story. Din and Grogu both end the movie still together, still with the New Republic, and no doubt ready to continue this work.

Now, whether Star Wars will bring them back is a different question, but it feels almost impossible that audiences will never see them on screen in a new story again. After all, Disney was willing to spend millions on the movie and make it Star Wars' first return to the big screen with a new theatrical release in seven years. Clearly, The Mandalorian is a critically important and lucrative Lucasfilm property, so odds are, the fans will definitely see them again—but will that be in a sequel movie or The Mandalorian season 4?

A Sequel Movie May Depend On Reception—Which Is Currently Mixed

The Mandalorian and Grogu 2, while far from announced, is certainly not off the table. In fact, given that The Mandalorian has already made the jump to the big screen and proven itself worthy—at least in Lucasfilm's eyes; fans can debate this amongst themselves—of major theatrical releases, it might make the most sense for this to now be a movie franchise moving forward. However, that may depend in large part on reception of the movie, both in terms of reviews/ratings and earnings at the box office.

At present, The Mandalorian and Grogu has one of the lowest Rotten Tomatoes scores of any Star Wars movie, with a 61% critics score. Granted, audience scores are not yet in, and it's safe to assume they are going to be at least a bit higher. Even so, this isn't a great record for the movie, obviously. The box office is another matter, and while the outcome remains to be seen following opening weekend, the fact that The Mandalorian and Grogu is a Star Wars movie alone means the odds are high for a box office success.

But will that be enough for Lucasfilm to justify a follow-up movie? It's difficult to say. If the movie makes a lot of money, is much better received by audiences than it has been by critics, and does enough to make Disney happy as Lucasfilm's parent company, maybe. However, and this was a true shock coming out of this movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu's conclusion feels like it best sets up The Mandalorian season 4, which had previously been tabled.

Shockingly, The Mandalorian Season 4 Feels Most Likely

Because The Mandalorian and Grogu feels so self-contained and has actually been accused of feeling like multiple episodes of The Mandalorian smashed together to make one movie, it would be very easy to transition back to a streaming show—something that seemed out of the question the second The Mandalorian and Grogu was announced. It seemed, to many, that this movie announcement meant the show was over.

Yet, with Din Djarin and Grogu ending up in relatively the same place that they were at the end of The Mandalorian season 3, it would actually be quite seamless to bring them back to the small screen. What's more, depending on how the movie ultimately performs with audiences and at the box office, this might end up being the smartest choice Disney could make with the property.

This would truly make The Mandalorian a unique project within the larger Star Wars franchise. The closest Star Wars would have come to something like this is Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which began as a movie and then dovetailed into a seven-season show. However, that is still a pretty far cry from having a primarily TV show-based branch of the franchise that is disrupted between seasons 3 and 4 with a full-fledged blockbuster movie.

At the same time, Disney does seem to be steering away from streaming shows, not only with Star Wars but also with other major properties like Marvel. This comes after years of streaming shows dominating both franchises, which occurred concurrently with the COVID-19 pandemic and the years of fallout that followed. With this new shift away from streaming series, perhaps Disney won't want Din Djarin and Grogu to go back to the small screen.

Of course, Disney is also a wildly unpredictable company, so only time will tell what becomes of these beloved characters following The Mandalorian and Grogu. For now, though, The Mandalorian season 4 really does feel like the most likely outcome.