Din Djarin and Grogu sitting in the cockpit of an N-1 Starfighter in The Mandalorian
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Sean Morrison
Published 53 minutes ago
Sean is a senior writer for ScreenRant and has been writing about new TV releases since December 2023. He has received multiple advance screenings of popular shows and ideated his own coverage read by hundreds of thousands of readers.
Sean is a self-published author of a Western novel. Sean has also written award-winning opinion pieces related to local politics while getting his Bachelor's degree in journalism.
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It's been over two full years since The Mandalorian season 3 ended, and fans are still wondering what happened to the fourth season of Star Wars' first and most popular show. The Mandalorian is one of the best and most popular Star Wars shows ever made. It's been hugely important to the franchise, especially after the divisive Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Din Djarin has essentially become Star Wars' poster boy.
So, renewing the show should have been a no-brainer, but The Mandalorian season 4 is still nowhere to be found. There are a few mitigating factors, of course. The Mandalorian season 3 had a marked decrease in quality, after all, and Pedro Pascal has become a superstar, which may limit his ability to play Din. There's quite a bit more to it than that, however, so let's investigate why The Mandalorian season 4 still hasn't happened.
Why The Mandalorian Season 4 Hasn't Happened
Din Djarin and Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) take a moment to confer with the bartending droid in the background.
The burning question is why hasn't The Mandalorian season 4 happened yet. Unfortunately, there are a few answers to that question. According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Mandalorian season 4 was put on the backburner after the Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild strikes of 2023. Those strikes ground Hollywood to a halt, and during the delay, Lucasfilm and Disney reportedly decided to prioritize a movie over a new season of the show.
That movie, of course, is The Mandalorian and Grogu, which is set to debut on May 22, 2026. The Mandalorian and Grogu will tell the next chapter of Din and Grogu's story, picking up where The Mandalorian season 3 left off. Presumably, Disney and Lucasfilm want to wait to see how the movie performs with critics and audiences before deciding what to do next with The Mandalorian.
The Mandalorian season 3 and The Book of Boba Fett also likely contributed to season 4's delay. As previously mentioned, there was a noticeable decrease in quality in season 3. Many fans didn't appreciate that Din and Grogu were reunited in a different show, that Din rejoined the Children of the Watch, or that Bo-Katan Kryze overshadowed Din. Lucasfilm and Disney may have delayed season 4 as a response to that backlash.
The Mandalorian Season 4 Script Is Written
Din Djarin and Grogu together in The Mandalorian
Adding to the uncertainty surrounding the show is an interesting detail. Despite the upcoming movie, Jon Favreau has already written the script for The Mandalorian season 4. In an interview that took place before the release of The Mandalorian season 3, Favreau confirmed that he had already written season 4. As he explained, he needed to know where the story was going so he could build it and other Star Wars shows toward that point.
"[The Mandalorian] season 4? Yeah, I've written it already. We have to know where we're going to tell a fully-formed story. We had mapped it out, Dave [Filoni] and I, and slowly you just write each episode. So I was writing it during post-production [of The Mandalorian season 3]. Because all of it has to feel like a continuation of one full story. And then [Filoni] is doing Ahsoka, which I'm producing with him, but he's the writer/showrunner on that. So, to understand what's happening on other shows or even Skeleton Crew, they all take place in the same Star Wars time period, so there's a lot more things that we need to keep in mind and stuff that we've built up to in previous seasons of The Mandalorian as well."
Favreau's interview took place almost a full year before The Mandalorian and Grogu was announced, however, so it's not clear how the movie has impacted season 4's script. Presumably, some of the plot points and ideas that would have been a central focus of The Mandalorian season 4 are now going to be incorporated into The Mandalorian & Grogu, which means the show's script may need to be rewritten.
Even that isn't clear, though, as Favreau recently told Empire Magazine that he had "[The Mandalorian] season 4 on my desk," (via ComicBook). Favreau also went on to note that the script for The Mandalorian & Grogu is different from typical TV scripts, which may mean the movie is a wholly new, larger adventure, and that The Mandalorian season 4's script is still usable. For now, it's impossible to tell.
Is The Mandalorian & Grogu Movie Replacing Season 4?
There is an elephant in the room when it comes to discussing The Mandalorian season 4. The obvious assumption is that The Mandalorian & Grogu is effectively "replacing" The Mandalorian season 4, but it's not clear if that's correct or not. In reality, it seems more likely that The Mandalorian & Grogu is something of a test-run for the franchise and Star Wars as a whole.
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Posts 4 By Molly Brizzell Dec 13, 2024If The Mandalorian and Grogu turns out to be a big hit, Lucasfilm may decide to make more movies in lieu of new seasons of The Mandalorian. Alternatively, The Mandalorian and Grogu could reignite interest in The Mandalorian after the lackluster third season, which may be reason enough to renew the show's fourth season. Finally, if it does poorly, Lucasfilm may decide to give Din and Grogu a rest to focus on other projects entirely.
The harsh truth of the matter is we simply don't know if The Mandalorian and Grogu is replacing The Mandalorian season 4. Disney and Lucasfilm are playing their cards close to the chest, and until we get an official confirmation or cancellation, we simply don't have enough information. We likely won't know the fate of The Mandalorian season 4 until June 2026 at the earliest, after the movie is released.
Star Wars Is Prioritizing The Big Screen Again
Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver) holds back a bowl of snacks from Grogu.
There's one larger, real-world consideration in the delay of The Mandalorian season 4. Disney and Lucasfilm are prioritizing Star Wars movies over new and returning TV shows. There are currently at least seven upcoming Star Wars movies in some stage of development, including The Mandalorian and Grogu, Star Wars: Starfighter, Rey Skywalker's New Jedi Order movie, and several other rumored projects.
Meanwhile, there's only a handful of upcoming Star Wars television shows on the horizon. There's Ahsoka season 2, which is expected to premiere in late 2026, the recently announced animated series Maul: Shadow Lord, and a new season of Young Jedi Adventures. There are also a few unconfirmed but likely upcoming shows, such as a new Tales of... animated series and Star Wars: Visions season 4.
Upcoming Star Wars Movies
Title
Release Date
The Mandalorian and Grogu
May 22, 2026
Star Wars: Starfighter
May 28, 2027
New Jedi Order
TBD
Dawn of the Jedi
TBD
Simon Kinberg Trilogy
TBD
The decrease in upcoming Star Wars shows and particularly live-action shows is part of a larger strategy by Lucasfilm. Star Wars is moving away from TV and focusing on film. The list of upcoming projects is proof enough. Lucasfilm has seemingly lost confidence in the ability of Star Wars TV shows to produce money, especially with their high budgets and low up-front revenue.
Lucasfilm's change in focus may have even contributed to the decision to delay The Mandalorian season 4. Currently, Din and Grogu are still some of the most popular and recognizable characters Disney has created in Star Wars. It's entirely possible that Lucasfilm and Disney delayed The Mandalorian season 4 specifically so Din and Grogu could make Star Wars' return to theaters after nearly seven years more profitable.
Will The Mandalorian Season 4 Ever Happen?
Din Djarin hands the Darksaber off to Bo-Katan Kryze on Plazir-15. Axe Woves lingers in the back.Image via Disney+
All this leads to the central question at hand: will The Mandalorian season 4 ever happen? Once again, the answer is rather uncertain. There are plenty of scenarios where season 4 never happens. If The Mandalorian & Grogu is a big hit, Lucasfilm may decide to make more movies and table the show. If it's a big flop, Lucasfilm may decide to abandon The Mandalorian altogether.
There are also some scenarios where the show does return. If The Mandalorian & Grogu reignites fan interest in Din and Grogu, Lucasfilm may decide to capitalize on the popularity with a new season. They could also do a fourth season of The Mandalorian specifically to set up another movie. Disney may also order a fourth season to help its streaming service gain and retain subscribers.
If I personally had to guess, and this is pure speculation, I would say that The Mandalorian season 4 will eventually happen. It's the perfect story to be an "adventure of the week" show, it already has a huge fanbase, and Disney isn't going to completely give up on its most popular Star Wars streaming show. Even if Lucasfilm continues focusing on movies, I think The Mandalorian has enough clout to continue after The Mandalorian and Grogu.
One thing is certain about The Mandalorian, however: we will get at least one more chapter in Din and Grogu's story. Regardless of how it performs, The Mandalorian and Grogu will show Din and Grogu on a new adventure and push the story forward further than The Mandalorian season 3 did. Even if we don't get The Mandalorian season 4, we'll still have The Mandalorian & Grogu.
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