‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ teases new footage at Star Wars Celebration

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TOKYO — After more than five years away from the big screen, fans in Japan got their first look at next year’s Star Wars adventure, The Mandalorian & Grogu.

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Director Jon Favreau was joined onstage at Star Wars Celebration by co-writer Dave Filoni and stars Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver, along with an animatronic Grogu and several BDX droids from Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge, during the biennial event.

A sizzle reel played exclusively for attendees saw an AT-AT walker preparing for battle when the Mandalorian (Pascal) cuts his way inside and starts shooting and stabbing his way through a group of snowtroopers as he marches towards the cockpit in an action-packed one shot.

Weaver’s mystery character also made an appearance remarking on Mando’s “messy” handiwork and reminding him he works for her. Other highlights in the brief clip included more high-flying battle scenes, Grogu using his powers and swimming under water, and our first look at Jeremy Allen White as Jabba’s son Rotta the Hutt in a fighting arena.

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Favreau also showed off behind the scenes imagery, including a photo of Pascal in character with his helmet off and a shot of Mando and Grogu on a snowspeeder.

The Mandalorian launched in November 2019 on Disney+ and centred on the relationship between Pascal’s Din Djarin, AKA the Mandalorian, a bounty hunter who becomes the protector of Baby Yoda, AKA Grogu.

The series came about following a pitch from Favreau, who set his story five years after the events of 1983’s Return of the Jedi — in between the fall of the Empire and the rise of the First Order.

“The idea of that world after Return of the Jedi and what would happen and what sort of characters would survive … You have vestiges of the Empire. You have only the strong surviving. You have chaos taking over the galaxy,” Favreau said at the time.

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Favreau added that setting the show during a time period that hadn’t been touched by other Star Wars films allowed him to explore “smugglers, scum and villainy.”

Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said that the “flagship show” proved to be a hit because it focused on the deep bond that formed between Mando and Grogu. “We all really understand that parental dynamic, and I think that’s what really resonates,” she said. 

“It feels like we’re playing,” Favreau said of directing the upcoming spinoff which follows Mando and Grogu in a new adventure. “It’s the funnest job you’ll ever have.”

With the reel being played on a big screen shipped over to Japan from the United States, Favreau said the film will utilize larger cameras and full-scale models to take advantage of Imax screens.

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“Because we’re getting into a big screen film, we wanted to build nice tall sets,” Favreau said.

“I won’t lie, it looks great,” Filoni teased.

The Mandalorian & Grogu will be the first new Star Wars film since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, and Favreau said that fans can expect to see familiar faces from the show.

Weaver wouldn’t say much about her new character but said her journey to the Star Wars universe started after a Zoom call with Favreau and Filoni.

“When I watched it, I fell in love with all the characters, but especially this man,” she said, patting Pascal’s shoulder. “Of course, Grogu stole my heart.”

After its debut in 2019, The Mandalorian helped launch a new wave of Star Wars storytelling on the small screen that has included such shows as Ahsoka and The Book of Boba Fett. Pascal said he wasn’t surprised the series was a hit.

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“I’ll never forget the first day I got to sit down with Jon and Dave in the writers’ room and they showed me wall-to-wall story illustrations of the first season of Mandalorian without even understanding who they wanted me to play. I remember just seeing the greatest visual storyboards I had ever seen and knowing that people were going to lose their minds,” he said with a grin.

“I’ve never had to be with the same people for such a long amount of time,” he later joked. “It’s been six, seven years. You won’t leave me alone.”

The teaser came as Kennedy announced the expansion of the franchise on the big screen with a new trilogy from X-Men scribe Simon Kinberg, a Star Wars film directed by Taika Waititi, James Mangold’s dawn of the Jedi movie, the return of Daisy Ridley as Rey in a film helmed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter with Ryan Gosling set to star.

The Mandalorian & Grogu hits theatres on May 22, 2026.

mdaniell@postmedia.com

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