The good news is that The Mandalorian season three has started filming – but the bad news is that it will be some time before we actually see Din Djarin back on Disney+.
Mando took a bit of a break while several other spin-offs are busy filming, including Ewan McGregor’s return to the franchise in Obi-Wan Kenobi.
However to tide us over until then we have The Book of Boba Fett – which recently received a bad-ass new trailer.
Several characters from The Mandalorian are rumoured to pop up in the spin-off series, though their identities have remained a secret for now.
However it definitely won’t be Gina Carano’s ex-Rebel bruiser and Republic Marshal Cara Dune, with LucasFilm revealing the recurring character won’t return after “abhorrent” social media posts from the actor.
Very little else is known however about The Mandalorian season three however, with Lucasfilm keeping their cards very close to their chest.
However with spin-offs such as Ahsoka on the way also, star Pedro Pascal has hinted that there could be more crossovers going forward.
“They are in the expansion of this world, where there are so many unexpected surprises and timelines that are going to be dealt with,” he told IndieWire.
“If the character were to cross over into these worlds, it will be utilised in a way that isn’t meant to be expected. I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise of whether or not characters from the show we already know are crossing over.”
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For now, read on for everything you need to know about The Mandalorian season three.
The Mandalorian season 3 release date
The Mandalorian season three has been subject to all sorts of production and release date rumours, but is currently filming and will likely be released in mid-to-late 2022.
In December 2020, The Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau appeared on Good Morning America to clarify a few things about the future of Star Wars on television.
Among them, he announced that spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett is currently in production and will be the next live-action Star Wars show to land on Disney Plus (arriving in December 2021).
However, he added that filming on The Mandalorian season three will begin shortly after the Boba Fett show wraps, suggesting Din Djarin could return in early 2022.
This was backed up by a listing on book industry marketing platform Edelweiss+ that was later shared on the Star Wars Leaks subreddit, which was promoting a ‘Screen Comix’ graphic novel about Boba Fett. The associated blurb included the line: “Season 3 of The Mandalorian premiers on Disney+ Spring 2022.”
However star Pedro Pascal revealed during Variety’s Actors on Actors in June 2021 that season three had not yet started shooting, likely due to Pascal’s commitments to filming HBO’s video game adaptation The Last of Us.
Collider has also reported that the Obi-Wan Kenobi series instead took over the Los Angeles stage used for the Star Wars shows after The Book of Boba Fett finished filming, and that production would last several months.
In August 2021 Giancarlo Esposito gave us hope when he revealed that season three would begin filming “soon”, with Greef Karga actor Carl Weathers then announcing at Steel City Con that filming would begin in September, and that he would once again be directing an episode.
Sure enough, Weathers later confirmed that he began work on the Disney+ series on 13th October 2021.
Mandalorian, season #3 begins for Yours Truly, on tomorrow. Greef Karga will be back on Disney+. #BePeace
— Carl Weathers (@TheCarlWeathers) October 12, 2021
If you’re keen to catch up on past seasons, then you’ll need a subscription to the streaming service. Sign up to Disney+ now for £7.99 per month or £79.90 for a full year.
The Mandalorian season 3 cast
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There have been little confirmed details about the cast of The Mandalorian’s third season, but one may assume that Pedro Pascal will return in the title role.
The series has seen a revolving door of guest stars since its first season, but the likes of Carl Weathers’ Greef Karga and Bill Burr’s former Imperial Mayfeld have each enjoyed multiple appearances, so it seems possible these characters in particular could be back in future stories.
Weathers has since confirmed that he will be directing an episode yet again, and has also hinted that his character Greef will be returning also.
Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen have also made several appearances as the legendary Boba Fett and sharpshooter Fennec Shand respectively, but it seems less likely they’ll return now that they’re being spun off into their own Disney+ series (aka The Book of Boba Fett).
When asked about a potential return to The Mandalorian in season three by Digital Spy, Wen said she was unsure about Fennec’s status on the show.
“I don’t know. You’ll probably find out before I do,” she said. “You guys have your feelers out on everything. I mean, come on, I didn’t even know I was shooting The Book of Boba Fett, so you’re asking the wrong person.”
The same can be said for Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano, who debuted as a guest star in The Mandalorian season two to universal acclaim from fans and critics, before her own solo show was quickly given the green light.
Still, while we don’t know exactly who will be returning we do know one actor who won’t be – recurring guest star Gina Carano, whose character Cara Dune will not be returning to the Star Wars universe following controversial posts Carano made on social media.
“Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” a Lucasfilm representative said in February 2021.
“Nevertheless, her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities are abhorrent and unacceptable.”
The Mandalorian season 3 plot
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The Mandalorian season two’s finale gave us some big hints as to what we might expect from season three, with the most notable being the break-up of the series’ central duo. Read our full The Mandalorian review for in-depth finale details.
At the end of the episode Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) arrives to take Grogu/Baby Yoda for training, and after an emotional farewell (which saw Mando take his helmet off) Din is left standing alone, The Child taken to an unknown future.
This seems to suggest that Mando and Baby Yoda will be separated for at least part of the next series as the latter continues his training – but given the popularity of the character and his centrality to the show, it seems unlikely that they’ll be kept apart for too long.
Who knows? Maybe we’ll even see some more of digital Luke Skywalker as he trains Baby Yoda, assuming Mark Hamill is one board for more adventures in a galaxy far far away.
!["Luke]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2020/12/Mark-Hamill-Mandalorian-c4cc2b6.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Mark")
In the meantime, Pascal’s Din Djarin might have his own issues to attend to. In the finale he bests Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) in combat and takes the Darksaber – a legendary Mandalorian weapon held by the ruler of the planet Mandalore – to give to Katee Sackhoff’s Bo-Katan Kryze, who had been hunting it for a while.
Unfortunately, as Moff Gideon gleefully revealed she needed to win the Darksaber in battle to claim it, with Bo-Katan unable to take it from Din despite his entreaties unless she fought him first. This tension was quickly punctured by the arrival of more Dark Troopers and Luke, but we’re betting we haven’t seen the last of the Darksaber tussle in The Mandalorian. Who knows? Maybe after all this time we’ll finally visit Mandalore itself, which has as of yet not appeared in the Disney+ series.
And there’s at least one more thread left dangling, after Moff Gideon reveals that he already took Baby Yoda’s Force-friendly blood prior to the team’s arrival. Where did the blood go? If not Moff Gideon, who’s using it, and for what? Is it linked to Snoke and the return of the Emperor in The last Skywalker, or is there some other insidious purpose?
Somehow, we think The Mandalorian season three will lead us to find out.
Is there a trailer for The Mandalorian season 3?
Not just yet. Expect to see our first look at the next season when the show is closer to release.
The Mandalorian is available to stream on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney+ now for £7.99 per month or £79.90 for a full year. Check out our list of the best movies on Disney Plus and best shows on Disney Plus, or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.