If there’s a mascot for this generation of Star Wars, it’s Din Djarin, better known as the Mandalorian. His series not only launched the world of Star Wars live-action television, but the Disney+ streaming service itself. But after five years and three seasons, The Mandalorian is graduating to the big screen; and if a star of the series is to be believed, it will stay there for a while.
During a Dragon Con panel, Giancarlo Esposito, who played the villainous Moff Gideon in all three seasons of The Mandalorian, revealed what he’d learned about the future of Star Wars in a post-sequel-trilogy world. “Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau have a new vision, continuing on with a Mandalorian movie,” he said. “My sense is that it’s all going to converge at one point or another and we’re going to have another set of… [a] trilogy, or more, of films.”
The Mandalorian and Grogu, Mando’s theatrical spinoff directed by co-showrunner Jon Favreau, is on track for a May 2026 release. Aside from that project, three more Star Wars movies are in the works, although they don’t form a trilogy. There’s the Rey sequel movie directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, the Dawn of the Jedi movie directed by James Mangold, and a future “Mando-verse” wrap-up movie directed by Dave Filoni. Is Esposito mistaking these three announced projects for a “new trilogy”?
That’s only one way to interpret his claim. The most speculative view is that Filoni’s future movie will be where this new vision will “converge,” meaning the Mando-verse concluding film won’t just put a bow on The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew, but launch a new trilogy with two as-yet-unannounced movies. It’s even possible that The Mandalorian and Grogu will be the start of this trilogy, and Filoni’s movie will be the end, meaning there will be another movie in between.
A claim of a new trilogy isn’t unbelievable, but it’s worth remembering that Esposito may not be entirely in the loop; Moff Gideon met his end at the climax of The Mandalorian Season 3. Esposito is reluctant to accept this — “I want to live!”, he said in the panel, “There was a f***ing clone. Make it true!” — so Gideon may return, but it doesn’t look like that will happen in The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Fans will always be happy to watch a new Star Wars trilogy, but it has to be earned. Making a trilogy just to make a trilogy is how The Rise of Skywalker, one of the most universally maligned Star Wars projects, happens. If The Mandalorian and Grogu and the ongoing Star Wars TV shows set up enough plot to necessitate an entire trilogy, it may return Star Wars to cinematic relevance. But if Din Djarin can’t handle the jump to the silver screen, it would be smarter to settle for his TV adventures.
