The Mandalorian, season 3: Everything we know so far

By Rick Marshall Updated December 21, 2020

Season 2 Recap Sizzle | The Mandalorian | Disney+

Disney’s The Mandalorian has quickly become one of TV’s biggest hits over its first two seasons on Disney+, managing to dominate headlines and break streaming records while turning Baby Yoda (aka Grogu) into the Star Wars saga’s latest (and arguably most adorable) icon.

Recommended Videos

Season 2 of The Mandalorian concluded December 18, and the question now becomes: What’s next for Din Djarin and his Force-wielding traveling partner? Official details about the show’s next season remain scarce, of course, but there are some things we do know — and plenty we can speculate on — as we look to the future of The Mandalorian.

(The following article will include discussion of plot points from The Mandalorian season 2 finale, so consider this a spoiler warning.)

The Mandalorian on Disney+ — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Premiere date

During the Disney Investor Day presentation held in December, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy announced that the “next chapter in the story of The Mandalorian” would be available on the Disney+ service “for Christmas 2021.” While that was initially interpreted as the premiere date for season 3 of the series, a post-credits scene in the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian has made that premiere date for season 3 less certain.

The aforementioned scene from the season 2 finale revealed that a new series, The Book of Boba Fett, will premiere in December 2021. That left many fans wondering whether they’d need to wait considerably longer for season 3 of The Mandalorian — or if a third season was even planed for the series.

Several days after The Book of Boba Fett announcement, Lucasfilm concept designer Paul Bateman indicated on Twitter that season 3 of The Mandalorian was indeed happening, and that the third season of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett each have different shooting schedules (debunking speculation that The Book of Boba Fett would replace The Mandalorian going forward).

Totally different shooting schedule BFFC ;)

— Paul Bateman (@PaulRMQ) December 18, 2020

The first trailer

There’s no indication when the first trailer for The Mandalorian season 3 (or The Book of Boba Fett) will be released, but if Disney keeps to a similar schedule as season 2, fans will likely have quite a while to wait before the first footage from the next season emerges. The first trailer for season 2 of The Mandalorian premiered September 15, 2020 — just a month and a half before the season’s October 30 premiere.

The Mandalorian on Disney+ — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Returning cast

At this point, the only cast member certain to return for season 3 of The Mandalorian is series star Pedro Pascal, who will continue to play the man under the mask (except when it’s one of his stunt doubles, of course). Given the events of the season 2 finale, however, we might have seen the last of everyone’s favorite egg-eating, Force-wielding, 50-year-old infant, Baby Yoda (aka Grogu).

With Disney’s initial announcement of two spinoff series from The Mandalorian, it’s reasonable to expect Rosario Dawson to make another appearance in the show’s third season as Ahsoka Tano before (or during) her transition to her own series. With the season 2 finale also serving to announce the mysterious project The Book of Boba Fett, there’s reason to believe we haven’t seen the last of Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett in one way or another.

Other likely candidates to return for the show’s third season include Gina Carano as Cara Dune, Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon, Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand, and Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan Kryze.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The story

Nothing is known for sure about where season 3 of The Mandalorian will take Din Djarin and his allies — and enemies — as the show continues.

In September, Giancarlo Esposito — who plays series villain Moff Gideon — hinted at a much wider galaxy to explore in the third and fourth seasons of The Mandalorian, as well as the likelihood that some of the show’s biggest questions might finally be answered.

“We’re living in a universe that is huge and [that has] so much to explore,” he told People magazine. “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.”

The Mandalorian — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The first two seasons of The Mandalorian are available on the Disney+ streaming service.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…

Entertainment

Fantastic Four: Everything we know about the MCU movie

A close up of Alex Ross's cover for Fantastic Four #1.

In 1961, writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby created the Marvel Universe as we know it with Fantastic Four. As envisioned by Lee and Kirby, the group included Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Susan Storm/Invisible Girl (Sue later renamed herself Invisible Woman), Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/The Thing. The team was transformed and given superhuman abilities due to exposure to cosmic rays on an unauthorized space flight. But in the face of adversity, the FF decided to band together to protect the Earth. And they soon found themselves as the harbinger of a new age of heroes that included Spider-Man, Hulk, the Avengers, and the X-Men.

While Roger Corman did make a Fantastic Four movie in the '90s, it was never officially released. Instead, 20th Century Fox brought Fantastic Four to the big screen in 2005, and followed that up with a sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, in 2007. A Fantastic Four reboot was also released in 2015. But in 2019, Disney officially acquired the entertainment assets of 20th Century Fox, which included the rights to make another Fantastic Four movie.

Entertainment

All the things we want to see in The Mandalorian season 4

Din Djarin flying while holding onto Grogu.

Lucasfilm and Disney+'s flagship Star Wars series The Mandalorian finished season3 with less fanfare than the first two outings. Overall, the season still earned a generally positive reception, but its comparatively more mixed bag of episodes was tough to ignore.

It certainly didn't suffer from the same intrusive problems as The Book of Boba Fett, and its last two episodes felt like more what fans expected. Even so, the story had more of an identity crisis when it came to its overarching narrative. Couple that with the more episodic stories that didn't use their time wisely, and there are several things fans might hope to see in the inevitable season 4.
A more focused main storyline

Entertainment

Want to enjoy the Star Wars TV shows more? Watch the cartoons, already!

Ahsoka Tano prepares for battle in an episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I’m pretty nerdy about a lot of things: turntables, vinyl records, barbecue, Game of Thrones, and yes, Star Wars. To a fault, I can be hard to shut up once my string is pulled, and lately, much of my blathering has been focused around a couple of Star Wars TV series -- The Mandalorian and the upcoming Ahsoka, the latter of which I am super-excited for. But I’ve had a few conversations about these shows with friends recently that have been driving me nuts. The latest involved me gushing over a live-action cameo of the animated Star Wars: Rebels series character Zeb Orrelios in season 3, episode 5 of The Mandalorian. My friend exclaimed that he had no idea who Zeb was and that he'd never watched "that cartoon," and here we are.
But a couple of notes before I continue: First, I know that Star Wars: Rebels and its precursor, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, are “cartoons.” Second, I’m aware that I’m a grown man. The point is, I’m often amazed to learn that, for those and other reasons, many people have avoided these excellent animated Star Wars series -- and this is a mistake. Much of what happens in The Clone Wars and Rebels has direct ties to shows such as The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, and especially Ahsoka, as they introduce incredible characters and crucial backstories. Do you need to watch them to know what's going on? No. You don't even need to watch every episode to get a better understanding of the live-action shows: We have great essential episode guides for Clone Wars and Rebels to set you up. But time and again I’ve been rewarded with excitement, a better understanding of characters and plotlines, and a more satisfying cathartic payoff because of watching these "cartoons." Plus, they’re just really good.
And whether you’ve just started watching The Mandalorian or are, like me, waiting eagerly for Ahsoka in August, here are a few good reasons you should take the next few months and get caught up on some of the best cartoons you’ll ever see.
Note: There are Mandalorian spoilers ahead.
Ahsoka Tano gets her due

Making her live-action debut in season 2 of The Mandalorian, Ahsoka Tano began her journey as Anakin Skywalker's tenacious young Padawan, and her adventures throughout seven seasons of the animated Clone Wars made her one of the most exciting and loved Jedi characters in the Star Wars universe. Not only does she endure betrayal through Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader, but her arc connects her to the warrior Mandalorians when she helps Bo-Katan Kryze liberate the planet Mandalore from occupation. The series concludes when Darth Sidious issues Order 66, which triggered the betrayal and extermination of the Jedi, aligning the show with the film Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith.