By George & Josh Bate
The first new Star Wars movie in seven years is now in theaters, treating fans to an action-packed adventure starring the galaxy’s favorite father-son duo.
But amidst all the battles, deception, conflicts, and more, The Mandalorian and Grogu features tons of cool Easter eggs, hidden details, references, and more to admire.
Below is Every Easter Egg, Hidden Detail, and Reference in The Mandalorian and Grogu.…
The Imperial warlord at the beginning of the film previously appeared as a member of the Shadow Council in The Mandalorian Season 3. The credits reveal that the character is named Commander Barro. He is played by Hemky Madera, who can also currently be seen in HBO’s Euphoria.
It is unclear if the snow planet featured at the beginning of the film is Hoth. The same planet seemingly was the setting of Star Wars’ Super Bowl ad a few months ago, which featured Tauntauns, a species native to Hoth. We’ll have to wait for a Visual Guide for confirmation that Star Wars returned to Hoth in the movie.
Din Djarin takes out bad guys from the shadows in a manner reminiscent of Batman.
A full-scale AT-AT was built for use in the film. Dave Filoni can be seen in the cockpit of the vehicle in the picture below.
AT-ATs first appeared in The Empire Strikes Back. The initial inspiration for the vehicles came from H.G. Wells’ tripods in The War of the Worlds and the prehistoric mammal Paraceratherium.
The one-take sequence of Din Djarin taking out the soldiers aboard the AT-ATs resembles the famous hallway sequences from Daredevil, which were also captured in one take.
Grogu and Din Djarin are picked up on the ice planet by Garazeb ‘Zeb’ Orelios. Zeb is a Lasat, who first appeared in Star Wars Rebels. In 2023, Zeb made his live-action debut in The Mandalorian Season 3, where it was revealed he works for the New Republic. Steve Blum returned to voice the character for the movie.
Zeb picks up Din Djarin and Grogu in a U-Wing. This type of ship first appeared in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
The logo for the film that appears on screw is in the same font as the series, rather the logo that features in promotional materials.
The music beat that accomplishes the title of the chapter being revealed in each episode of The Mandalorian kicks in when the words “and Grogu” appear on screen.
Pedro Pascal is credited first in the film, making him the first Latino actor to ever receive top billing in a Star Wars movie.
Pascal becomes the 8th actor to receive top billing in a live-action Star Wars movie, after Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Felicity Jones, and Alden Ehrenreich.
Jeremy Allen White is credited second, making it the first time a voice actor receives such prominent billing in a Star Wars film. The actor known for his role in The Bear voices Rotta the Hutt.
Lateef Crowder and Brendan Wayne are credited third and fourth respectively. It’s nice to see the two receive such prominent billing as they are in the Mandalorian suit for most of production.
Din Djarin, Grogu, and Zeb return to Adelphi Base. This is a New Republic base first seen in The Mandalorian Season 3.
At Adelphi Base, a myriad of ships can be spotted, including a Y-Wing.
There are also several R2 units roaming around the station.
BD units can also be spotted at Adelphi Base. BD units first appeared in the video game Jedi: Fallen Order.
One of the pilots for the New Republic on the base is a Rodian, the same species as Greedo from A New Hope.
Behind the Rodian, an eagle-eyed Star Wars noticed an astromech droid being lowered into an X-Wing that looks suspiciously like R2-D2. Could this be Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 on Adelphi Base? See for yourself.
Sigourney Weaver makes her Star Wars debut in the film as Colonel Ward. Weaver was already an icon of science fiction, having had roles in Alien, Ghostbusters, Avatar, and Galaxy Quest.
Ward gifts Din Djarin with a new Razor Crest. This is the same model of ship that was destroyed by Imperial forces in Chapter 14: The Tragedy of The Mandalorian.
In the background of the New Republic base, a blue-skinned Twi’lek can be spotted. This rare subspecies is known as Rutian, the most notable member of which is prequel era Jedi Aayla Secura.
Din Djarin promises to take out all of the bad guys in Colonel Ward’s deck of cards. In the “Aftermath” novels by Chuck Wendig and “The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire” by Chris Kempshall, it is revealed that the New Republic created and circulated an adapted sabacc deck with each of the 76 cards featuring the last known image of a wanted Imperial fugitive. Some of the Imperial fugitives on the cards include Rae Sloane, Brendol Hux, and Enric Pryde. This is based on the real life Most-Wanted Iraqi Playing Cards, which the U.S. government used to track down high value targets during the Iraq war.
Ward wants Din Djarin to find Rotta the Hutt for the Hutt Twins. Rotta is Jabba’s son, whose first and only other appearance was as a baby in The Clone Wars movie from 2008. In that film, Ahsoka Tano gave him the nickname ‘Stinky.’
The Hutt Twins, meanwhile, are siblings of Jabba the Hutt. They first appeared in The Book of Boba Fett, where they were kicked out of Tatooine after Boba Fett assuming control of Jabba’s former criminal empire.
Din Djarin and Grogu visit the Hutt Twins on Nal Hutta. The planet, which is the homeworld of the Hutts, was first depicted in The Clone Wars episode “Hunt for Ziro.” The design of the planet is inspired by George Lucas’ idea and sketches of how he envisioned the world.
The Hutts have hired the Droid Gotra as security. The Droid Gotra was a group that supported droid rights and was originally formed by a a group of repurposed battle droids with grievances against the Empire for abandoning them after the Clone Wars. The Droid Gotra was originally set to appear in the canceled video game Star Wars: 1313, but was first mentioned in the novel Tarkin by James Luceno.
The Hutt Twins’ compound shares almost identical architecture to Jabba the Hutt’s palace from Return of the Jedi.
Din Djarin tells Grogu that the Hutts have been involved in criminal activities for 1000s of years. This is consistent with information from the High Republic publishing initiative, which depicted Hutts as key figures during the clash between the Republic and the Nihil.
The Hutt sigil can be seen on the walls of the Hutt Twins’ lair.
The hologram of a young Rotta resembles the young Rotta depicted in The Clone Wars movie. Jon Favreau hand-painted the practical model. Rotta’s aunt and are uncle are indeed right – he did have a growth spurt.
The planet Shakari was based on prohibition-era Chicago. Rather than alcohol being the substance that is illegally circulated throughout the city, Shakari has an illegal salt trade. The most prominent inclusion of salt in a Star Wars to date was in The Last Jedi, in which the surface of the planet Crait was made of salt.
Martin Scorsese voices the Ardennian fry cook Hugo Durant. Scorsese’s character is a relative of Rio Durant, an Ardennian smuggler voiced by Jon Favreau in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Hugo Durant has big, bushy, dark eyebrows, just like Martin Scorsese does in real life.
The big egg that Hugo Durant uses to cook with is a mudhorn egg, which previously featured in from Chapter 2: The Child of The Mandalorian.
Speaking of chefs, Roy Choi is credited as ‘Creative Culinary Consultant’ on the film. Choi is a famous Korean-American chef known as the creator of the Korean-Mexico taco truck Kogi. Choi also worked with Jon Favreau on the Netflix cooking series The Chef Show.
Rotta the Hutt fights in a gladiator match that has a Dejarik board as the floor. Dejarik is the holo chess that characters throughout Star Wars, beginning in A New Hope, can be seen playing. Din Djarin later mentions the term ‘Dejarik’ by name.
During the gladiator match, Grogu is eating the kind of popcorn that can be purchased at Galaxy’s Edge.
Rotta the Hutt isn’t the first Hutt to have a six pack. Bokku the Hutt in the Darth Vader comic was one of the first to prove not all Hutts are as out of space as Jabba.
Jon Favreau has compared Rotta to Adonis Creed, the character played by Michael B. Jordan in the Creed trilogy. Both Rotta and Adonis struggle to grapple with the legacies left and expectations established by their fathers.
The henchman that Din Djarin confronts in the bar is an Iktotchi, the same species as the prequel era Jedi Saesee Tiin.
The henchman is named Hogsbreth and is played by Matthew Willig. Willig played 14 seasons as an offensive tackle in the NFL before transitioning into a successful acting career with notable roles as Little Chino in Dexter and Lash in Agents of SHIELD.
One of the thugs at the salt bar appears to a Pkorian. This red-skinned species was first identified in the novel Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade. The lead character Iskat Akaris is a member of the Pkorian species.
The brawl in the salt bar has tons of similarities to the tea house shootout scene in John Woo’s 1992 action classic Hard Boiled. Watch the iconic opening scene of the movie here.
An advertisement on the streets of Shakari translates to an advertisement for the Halcyon Legacy, the Starcruiser that served as the basis for the now shut down Star Wars hotel.
Janu (later revealed to be named Janu Coin) is played by English actor Jonny Coyne. Janu Coin and Jonny Coyne sound an awful lot a like.
Janu Coin previously appeared as a member of the Shadow Council in The Mandalorian Season 3.
Janu Coin has a bird-like creature that resembles and acts similar to Salacious B. Crumb from Return of the Jedi.
Mando greets Rotta with the traditional Huttese greeting, “Die wanna wanga.” This greeting is spoken by Bib Fortuna, C-3PO, and Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi.
When Rotta is strangled by one of the creatures in the gladiator match, he sticks out his tongue just like his father Jabba does when strangled by Leia in Return of the Jedi.
A baby Rodian (the same species as Greedo) can be spotted during the chase for Rotta the Hutt.
A sign above a monster’s head during the chase sequence translates to “Weathers Apollo.” This is a tribute to the late Carl Weathers, who played Greef Karga in The Mandalorian and directed two episodes of the show.
The head of a nexu can be seen on a wall in Janu’s home. A Nexu appeared in Attack of the Clones as one of the creatures that attacked Padmé, Anakin, and Obi-Wan. The head of a nexu is also seen on the wall of Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities at Galaxy’s Edge.
Din Djarin tells Janu, “I can bring you in warm, or I can bring you in cold.” He first said this line in Chapter 1 of The Mandalorian to the Mythrol. He later said this again in Chapter 5 of The Book of Boba Fett to criminal Kaba Baiz.
Zeb uses a staff similar to those used by General Grievous’ Magnaguards while fighting against Janu’s stormtroopers.
Zeb tells Din Djarin that he is “not a meknek.” Meknek is a profession introduced in The Acolyte that Osha occupied. Osha working as a Meknek came from an idea about R2 units either not being invented yet or not being prevalent yet, which made organic beings undertake risky jobs.
Din Djarin uses the word “hell” in the film. Uncle Owen was the first to use this term frequently used in the real world. Han Solo and Osha Aniseya are other characters who said the word.
There’s tons of cool cameos at the Adelphi Base once Din and Grogu drop off Janu. Among the New Republic soldiers on the base are Sash Ketter (played by Obi-Wan Kenobi director Deborah Chow), Jib Dodger (played by Rick Famuyiwa, who directed several episodes of The Mandalorian), Dok Suri (played by Lee Isaac Chung, who has directed episodes of The Mandalorian and Skeleton Crew), Lieutenant Blick (legendary Star Wars concept artist Doug Chiang), and Trapper Wolf (played by Dave Filoni).
Filoni’s character wears a cowboy hat just like he does in real life.
Din Djarin and Grogu go back to their home in Nevarro that they are seen occupying at the end of The Mandalorian Season 3.
In the background of Nevarro, you can spot the lava river that IG-11 sacrificed himself on in the finale of The Mandalorian Season 1.
Din Djarin still has his N-1 Starfighter, in addition to his new Razor Crest. He really is the dad that drives the minivan and has a sports car on the side, isn’t he?
Mando keeps several blurrgs on his property. This two-legged reptilian beast first appeared in the 1985 television film Ewoks: The Battle for Endor before appearing in canon for the first time in The Clone Wars episode “Liberty on Ryloth.” Blurrgs also appeared in live-action canon for the first time in the first episode of The Mandalorian.
Mando getting his Razor Crest modified to fly faster was inspired by a similar scene in George Lucas’ American Graffiti, according to director Jon Favreau.
The bounty hunter Embo hunts down Din Djarin on Nevarro. Embo first appeared in The Clone Wars.
Embo was previously accompanied by an anooba named Marrok in animation. In the film, he is joined by another anooba named Keibu.
Grogu eats blue cookies in the film that resemble the cookies he ate in Season 2 of The Mandalorian. They also resemble The Mandalorian and Grogu limited edition blue Nilla wafers that were released as a tie-in product for the film.
Grogu is greeted by the same group of Anzellans that appeared in The Mandalorian Season 3. They are all voiced by Shirley Henderson, who is known for playing Moaning Mrytle in the Harry Potter movies.
The names of the four Anzellans are: Bai, Clang, Keeto, and Minch. The latter is a particularly interesting name as Yoda’s original name in The Empire Strikes Back was Minch Yoda.
As second-unit director of the film, Dave Filoni oversaw the puppet unit on the film.
Din Djarin’s decision to let Rotta the Hutt almost identically parallels his actions in The Mandalorian. In Season 1, Din Djarin takes on a job to collect Grogu, only to eventually betray his employer upon realizing that his bounty is innocent. Din Djarin does the exact same thing in The Mandalorian and Grogu with Rotta the Hutt.
Upon Embo capturing Din Djarin, The Mandalorian and Grogu inverts the structure of the Disney+ series by having Grogu save Din Djarin, rather than vice versa.
Although Embo is not referred to by name in the film, Mando calls him by his species – Kyuzo. The name of the species was taken from one of the character names in Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai. The design of the species was inspired by alternate designs for Neimodian warriors by Sang Jun Lee for Revenge of the Sith.
In the woods of Nal Hutta, Grogu uses a cane, just like Yoda does.
Ludwig Göransson’s track that accompanies Grogu’s time alone on Nal Hutta is titled “Grogu’s World.” Contrary to what fans may have thought ahead of the film though, this track does not indicate that the film takes us to Grogu’s homeworld.
The Hutt Twins evidently know much about the Children of the Watch lore given that they recognize Din Djarin is betraying his creed by showing his face.
Rotta the Hutt is subject to a mind-flaying device similar to the one the Empire uses on Doctor Pershing in The Mandalorian Season 3.
Din Djarin falls into a pit with a massive creature below the Hutts’ throne, just like how Luke does in Return of the Jedi.
Pedro Pascal got to use some of his skills as a former competitve swimmer to film the scene in which he falls into the Dragon Snake pit.
Din Djarin uses the curse word “Dank Farrik.” This term was introduced in The Mandalorian and has been used by a number of characters.
Some of the Droid Gotra that hunt Din Djarin down are repurposed battle droids, super battle droids, tactical droids, and K-2 units.
Grogu creates a small cave for Mando. Yoda also habitates in a cave in The Empire Strikes Back.
The creature that gives Grogu the medicine to heal Din Djarin is voiced by Stephen McKinley Henderson, a terrific actor known for his roles in Dune and Civil War.
The Hutt Twins dispatch Amani after Din Djarin. This flat-headed reptilian species was originally introduced in Jabba’s Palace in Return of the Jedi.
Legend of visual effects Phil Tippett used his expertise in stop motion to bring the massive droids outside of the Hutt’s lair to life.
Grogu meditates on a tree, a skill he possibly learned from his training under Luke Skywalker.
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee makes a cameo appearance as Carson Teva in the film. Teva previously appeared in The Mandalorian Seasons 2 and 3.
Din Djarin, Grogu, and Rotta the Hutt jump from the Hutt base in a manner similar to the iconic cliff jump scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The model of the Red Jammer Y-Wing used in the film was taken from Lucasfilm archives. It was originally made for the first Star Wars movie and was used as a reference for the full Y-wings in A New Hope but has never been used on screen until now.
Rotta the Hutt expresses his desire to joining the New Republic. Years ago, Disney announced a Rangers of the New Republic show that was eventually scrapped following Gina Carano’s exit from the franchise. Could Rotta the Hutt lead a reworked Rangers of the New Republic show? We’d certainly watch.
The credits of The Mandalorian and Grogu use the same blue font and star-filled background as other Star Wars movies.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is the first Star Wars movie in history to not feature a lightsaber.
J.J. Abrams, director of The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker, receives as special thanks in the credits. Maybe this is because Abrams created Babu Frik and Anzellans play a sizable role in The Mandalorian and Grogu….?
Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) also receives a special thanks in the credits. Wright made a cameo in The Last Jedi as an unnamed Resistance soldier.
Guillermo del Toro is also thanked in the credits as he helped design and conceptualize the Hutts in the movie. del Toro was once working on a Jabba the Hutt movie and has never been afraid of expressing his love for Jabba.
Taika Waititi is also thanks in the credits. Waititi directed Chapter 8: Redemption of The Mandalorian, voiced IG-11 and IG-12 in the series, and is currently working on an untitled Star Wars movie.
C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels voices an air traffic controller in the film.
Unreal Engine was used as a key tool in pre-production. Unreal Engine is a 3D computer graphics game engine available on GitHub. Unreal Engine 5 been used for a number of games over the years, including Dead By Daylight, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, Fortnite, and The Witcher IV.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is the first Star Wars film in history in which the lead character’s name is not spoken aloud. While Pedro Pascal’s character is called ‘Mandalorian’ and ‘Mando,’ he is never referred to as Din Djarin in the movie.
The Mandalorian and Grogu breaks the record for the fewest number of unmasked non-human characters with dialogue in a Star Wars movie. Only nine unmasked non-human characters utter dialogue in the film.