The Mandalorian & Grogu has a lot riding on it. Not only is it the next major Star Wars movie (making it the first theatrical release since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker), but it is also the next chapter in The Mandalorian’s story, possibly replacing the show’s now-abandoned Season 4. So it not only has to continue the legacy of the original series, but also Star Wars as a whole.
Thanks to a new look at Star Wars Celebration Japan, we now know this movie will continue the story of yet another section of Star Wars lore, with the appearance of a character from Rebels.
According to attendees of the Mandalorian & Grogu panel at Star Wars Celebration Japan, one of the first-look images showed Din Djarin walking side by side with Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios, the purple Lasat character from Rebels. It’s not the first time we’ve seen him in live-action: Season 3 Episode 5 of The Mandalorian, “The Pirate,” showed New Republic pilot Carson Teva air out his sorrows at a cantina along with Zeb.
Many fans thought this was going to be the start of Zeb playing a bigger role in the live-action side of Star Wars, but in the two years since then, he hasn’t appeared again. Even Ahsoka, which premiered only a few months after The Mandalorian Season 3, didn’t include an appearance from Zeb, despite including the rest of the surviving Rebels main characters.
Because Ahsoka happens at the same time as The Mandalorian Season 3, Zeb’s cameo acted as a proactive explanation for why he didn’t appear in Ahsoka: he became a pilot for the New Republic and therefore was stationed elsewhere.
Now, we see that that scene didn’t just set up Zeb’s absence in Ahsoka, but his upcoming presence in The Mandalorian & Grogu. It’s a great way to represent the Rebels crew in the movie without interfering with the upcoming Ahsoka Season 2, and it shows the state of the current New Republic from a familiar face.
Dave Filoni may be directing a big Mando-verse crossover movie later, but that doesn’t mean The Mandalorian & Grogu can’t include some legacy characters as well. If Zeb is too busy to reunite with his old friends, at least he’s making some new ones.
