The Mandalorian has usually been what his name implies: a solitary guy, the only one of his kind bouncing around the galaxy as a bounty-hunter-turned-adopted-dad. But in Season 2 and The Book of Boba Fett, the Mandalorian became more like a Mandalorian. Season 3 is doubling down on this, as trailers show whole crowds and battle scenes with multiple Mandos scrambling around what is, presumedly, Mandalore.
Could these ensemble scenes include a character we thought was written off? Several signs point to yes.
The Bespin Bulletin recently reported on some new t-shirt designs for The Mandalorian, which featured several Mandalorian helmets. These included one for Koska Reeves, the character played by Mercedes Varnado, aka former WWE Superstar Sasha Banks. Reeves appeared as one of Bo-Katan Kryze’s henchmandos in Chapter 11, “The Heiress,” and then again in the huge showdown in the Season 2 finale.
This seems like a minuscule leak at first blush. We know there will be a whole bunch of Mandalorians in Season 3, so why does a t-shirt featuring five of them matter? The answer lies behind the scenes. In an interview with Bleacher Report, Varnado denied ever returning to The Mandalorian, saying:
“I'm not on the next season, but it was incredible being on The Mandalorian on Star Wars. To be on a franchise that is so huge and so loved, just look at the reception from fans outside of the WWE Universe. It was the best feeling of all time. The projection of that show was overwhelming. I legit felt like I was in a galaxy so far, far away. I felt like I was on a different planet.”
That doesn’t sound like someone who’s being coy about possibly coming back to the Star Wars universe. Could this t-shirt just be an homage to her Season 2 appearance as one of the few recognizable helmets in the show so far?
But there’s another wrinkle to this story: after her appearance in “The Heiress,” Varnado made it clear to ComicBook.com that it would be the last appearance of Koska Reeves, saying, "Well, I can only hope that the fans get to know more, I'm only in this episode. It's awesome but we can only hope for more stuff.”
Apparently, her “hoping” worked, because she appeared again only two episodes later. Maybe her wrestling experience makes stretching the truth in the press for the drama of it all a habit but, much like Andrew Garfield’s casual misleads, her lies about her character erased the trust fans have in her to be honest about her role.
Hopefully, Koska will appear in The Mandalorian Season 3, as she’s one of five Mandalorians we’ve seen in live-action so far, yet we know almost nothing about her. It’s fun to speculate, but we still have no clue how she factors into the story beyond the fact that she’s always at Bo-Katan’s side.
The Mandalorian Season 3 premieres March 1, 2023.
