While The Mandalorian and Grogu is bringing Star Wars back to the big screen, originally, the plan was to continue the story on Disney Plus in The Mandalorian season 4.
Creator Jon Favreau has revealed that this season of TV would have helped set up Ahsoka season 2 and focused more on Grand Admiral Thrawn, though the film is very much a standalone adventure. When we met with Favreau in London to discuss the new film, we asked why he decided to make such a self-contained tale – and whether this change in plan affected Ahsoka season 2.
"I'm not sure to what extent [it affected Ahsoka season 2] – you'd have to ask Dave Filoni how, because he's been very closely in step with what we're doing," Favreau tells us. "He was one of the producers, one of the writers on this. He directed second unit, puppet unit specifically. But I had written a season 4 that did tie in to what had happened, more so to what happened before."
The first season of Ahsoka ended with Thrawn escaping back to the main galaxy (inadvertently with a stowaway Ezra Bridger, too), while Ahsoka Tano and Sabine Wren were left stranded on Peridea.
"And when you're telling a season of television as a story, you can operate under the assumption that you have a lot of time to play things out," Favreau continues. "You can introduce characters and weave them in and out, and you can also reference things that have happened in the previous three seasons and other series.
"When you're doing a movie, especially when it's the first movie in seven years, this is a different type of experience," he says. "You have to connect with the throughline for those fans who've been with it since the beginning. I mean, that's your core. That's why I get to do what I do, and those of us who are making it are in that group. But Star Wars is also about bringing new people into the Star Wars community, and by telling a story that was self-contained, you can drop in in the middle of the story."
As Favreau explains, this philosophy was inspired by George Lucas himself and the Star Wars creator's approach to the original film. "But you have to be aware, much like George Lucas was in Episode 4, we were in the middle of an adventure, but when he first told that story, he was dropping us into the middle of a cliffhanger, Saturday afternoon matinee, like he grew up with. And you have to make that legible, then you have to make a complete story in those two hours.
"Because when you go to the movie theater, and you bring somebody with you who's curious about it, as a Star Wars fan, you want to have them have a great experience too," he adds. "And then once the bug bites them, then you bring them in, and then you start showing them everything that surrounds it, and they understand how much respect all the storytellers have for the overall arc of the story."
Ahsoka season 2 will be released in early 2027, while The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives this May 22.
In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming Star Wars movies and shows for everything else the galaxy far, far away has in store.
For more from our interview, see Favreau on bringing Star Wars back to the big screen and Grogu's Jedi journey.
