Jeremy Allen White joins Pedro Pascal, the adorable ‘Baby Yoda,’ and Sigourney Weaver in the highly anticipated film directed by Jon Favreau.
I’m a Star Wars fan. I gobble up everything in its universe—films, series (I’m still mad The Acolyte won’t be getting a second season. We need more of Manny Jacinto!), and even video games. I love the franchise and will always do. I’m guilty, however, of playing favorites. And when it comes to the Star Wars universe, The Mandalorian is closest to my heart.
You can’t blame me—after all, nobody can resist the incredibly adorable Grogu (Baby Yoda for most of you) and the endearing Pedro Pascal, even if we hardly see his face as he plays the titular Mandalorian (only three times in the series, to be exact). Their strong bond never fails to make me feel nice and warm inside.
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So when it was announced last January 9 that director Jon Favreau is working on a feature-film adaptation of the series, I got so psyched I squealed. My favorite dad-son tandem is finally getting their own movie—never mind the agonizing wait (it’s expected to hit theaters on May 22, 2026)—they deserve this! We fans deserve this!
Jeremy Allen White joins the cast
Pedro Pascal will of course reprise his role as Mando, and voice actor David Acord will most likely return to voice Grogu—even if it’s just all adorable cooing and babbling. It has also been confirmed that Aliens star Sigourney Weaver is part of the cast in an undisclosed role.
The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau, as previously mentioned, will direct the big screen adaptation. “I have loved telling stories set in the rich world that George Lucas created. The prospect of bringing the Mandalorian and his apprentice Grogu to the big screen is extremely exciting,” Favreau shared in a January 2024 statement released by Disney.
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One of the biggest and most recent casting news is Jeremy Allen White joining the film. The Bear star will voice Rotta the Hutt, the son of the ignominious and hateful villain Jabba the Hutt. So there will be two babies in the film, though it remains to be seen if baby Rotta will be as irresistibly cute as Grogu is.
It was also recently announced that a minor role from the series will be making a comeback in the film, presumably with a bigger role this time. Deadline reported last Tuesday, Dec. 10, that Jonny Coyne will be reprising his role as Imperial Warlord. The character is part of the hologram Shadow Council in episode 7, season 3 of The Mandalorian in which he and other Imperial ranking officials meet with the villainous Moff Gideon played by Giancarlo Esposito.
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Plot still under wraps
Production is tight-lipped about the film’s plot. Maybe we can glean clues from how the third season ended: Mando officially adopting Grogu. Perhaps the newest and only other member of the Din family is going to be Djarin’s Mandalorian apprentice in the movie? Well, your guess is as good as mine.
All we know so far is that The Mandalorian and Grogu will be the first Star Wars feature film since The Rise of Skywalker (Episode IX) concluded the sequel trilogy in 2019, a month after The Mandalorian debuted on Disney+. Throughout its three-season run (we expect more seasons!), the series was a hit with critics and audiences alike.
Since then, Lucasfilm has been focused on its Star Wars streaming-series offerings. So far we have The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi (stellar performance from Ewan McGregor!), Andor, Ahsoka (which has a second season in development), The Acolyte, and the ongoing Jude Law headliner The Skeleton Crew.
The Mandalorian and Grogu will be the first movie adaptation of a Disney+ series from this universe, and US Weekly says it’s a great way to jumpstart the franchise’s next theatrical phase. It also comes after last year’s news that Donald Glover’s Lando Calrissian spinoff will now be a movie instead of a series.
May 22, 2026 is still far off. For now, I’ll rewatch all three seasons of The Mandalorian, as I await the time when I can already watch The Mandalorian and Grogu on the big screen, while eating out of an overpriced Grogu popcorn bucket.
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