By George & Josh Bate
Moments after Star Wars: Starfighter was officially unveiled at Star Wars Celebration, The Mandalorian and Grogu panel kicked off, revealing all sorts of new info about the upcoming Star Wars film (in addition to an exclusive trailer!).
Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Jon Favreau were on the Celebration Stage to discuss The Mandalorian and Grogu. Kennedy began by talking about the successful run of Disney+ series the franchise has had, ranging from The Mandalorian to Obi-Wan Kenobi. However, Kennedy noted that Star Wars began on the big screen and will always exist on the big screen. By the time The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters in May 2026, it will have been five years since the last Star Wars film The Rise of Skywalker released.
Jon Favreau then spoke about Star Wars’ inextricable connection to Japan and Japanese culture. “Star Wars is so inextricably connected to Japan,” Favreau remarked. “It feels like coming home. As you know, our show The Mandalorian was very much inspired by….what George [Lucas] was inspired by…especially the films of [Akira] Kurosawa and samurai films.”
Favreau and Filoni then presented a new image from The Mandalorian and Grogu that you can see below.
The shot shows Grogu on Din Djarin’s shoulder as the two stand in an orange cantina. The trailer shown at a later portion of the panel showed Din beat up some bad guys in this very cantina.
In detailing what it was like to make The Mandalorian and Grogu, behind the scenes stills from the film were shown to the crowd. Check out those images below….
One of the images shows Dave Filoni in the cockpit of an AT-AT, the massive walkers that very appeared in The Empire Strikes Back. Favreau revealed at the panel that the team actually built an interior and exterior AT-AT set, which was extraordinary to behold.
Another shot from the film was shown, which depicted Din and Grogu walking alongside Zeb. The Star Wars Rebels favorite made his live-action debut in The Mandalorian Season 3 and footage from D23 2024 confirmed that Zeb will appear in The Mandalorian and Grogu. Favreau joked that Zeb couldn’t be here today, but that other ‘actors’ from the film could be.
At this point, Favreau welcomed a group of Anzellans onto the stage. Anzellans, which are the same species as the adorable Babu Frik in The Rise of Skywalker, featured in The Mandalorian Season 3 and will appear again in The Mandalorian and Grogu. A shot from the movie below was revealed to the crowd and shows a group of Anzellans in Grogu’s pram.
After Favreau escorted the Anzellans off the stage, the one and only Sigourney Weaver came on the stage (alongside Pedro Pascal). Weaver is a big name in the sci-fi world, with iconic turns in Alien and Ghostbusters, but this is her first adventure in a galaxy far, far away. Weaver stated that she did not originally watch The Mandalorian series on Disney+. However, after a Zoom meeting with Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, she watched the show and “fell in love with all the characters, especially” Pedro Pascal as the lead character.
Pictures of Sigourney Weaver behind the scenes of The Mandalorian and Grogu were shown to the Celebration Stage crowd and can be seen below.
An overjoyed Pedro Pascal spoke about the day he was approached to play The Mandalorian. When asked by the panel hosts if he knew it was going to be a big hit, Pascal candidly and humorously answered, “Yes.” Pascal walked the crowd through his first day seeing all of the show’s concept art with his likeness and stated that he knew fans would love it and connect with his character.
The other titular character – Grogu – then came on stage! Cradled carefully in the arms of Jon Favreau, Grogu had the crowd going crazy as the puppet moved its head and cooed to the crowd.
The crowd enthusiasm continued when new pictures of Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin in The Mandalorian and Grogu were shown to the crowd. Check out the pictures below.
The pictures (hopefully) suggest that Pascal will be shown unmasked in The Mandalorian and Grogu after not revealing his face for the entirety of Season 3.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Star Wars Celebration without some exclusive footage. And Favreau and company did not disappoint. We enjoyed the footage shown exclusively at D23 in 2024 of the movie but were blown away by what we saw at Star Wars Celebration Japan. Keep reading for a detailed description of the footage.
Footage Description….
The footage begins inside the cockpit of an AT-AT. An Imperial commanding officer tries to hide his nerves with outward confidence as the camera pans over to behind the cockpit. Here, various Snowtroopers are preparing for battle – handling weapons, fixing their armor, etc.
Suddenly, the door at the back of this small hanger area begins to light up and Din Djarin breaks through. What ensues is an epic fight sequence that reminded us of those iconic hallway scenes from Daredevil and Daredevil: Born Again. The Mandalorian disposes of the bad guys using all sorts of creative tricks, concluding by shooting something hanging from the ceiling and watching it crush a Snowtrooper to death.
All of the footage described to this point unfolded as a continuous take. The action was meticulously crafted and definitely had a cinematic scale.
After that, the footage shifts to an exterior shot of three AT-ATs walking along a massive snowy cliff. The last of the three AT-Ats then blows up, likely due to what Mando and Grogu were up to. The dynamic duo are then seeing flying away using Din’s jetpack in a shot that looks extremely similar to a shot from Chapter 14: The Tragedy.
The footage then cuts quickly to lots of different things. Sigourney Weaver’s character is seen recruiting Din and Grogu for a mission. They sit at a dinner table with a snack in front of them. Grogu tries to use the Force to get the snack but is interrupted by Weaver’s New Republic leader.
The footage shows Grogu swimming in a body of water. It was adorable.
It also shows Grogu face off against a mouse droid. Grogu holds out his hand and uses the Force to crush the mouse droid to pieces. A wheel then spins away from the mouse droid and Grogu humorously steps aside to let the wheel go past him.
The footage concluded with a shot of a gladiator arena occupied by Rotta the Hutt! The little stinker from The Clone Wars movie has grown up and put on some muscle. The back of Rotta is shown as the Hutt holds his arms up to a roaring crowd.
The Mandalorian and Grogu footage was stunning to say the least. It really feels like a Star Wars movie and dispels any concerns about the Disney+ series taking the leap to the big screen. Honestly, we can’t think of a better film for Star Wars to come back to movie theaters with. The Mandalorian and Grogu are the most popular characters of the franchise right now and a large-scale movie centered around them makes complete sense.