This morning Lucasfilm and Disney launched the first official trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu, the long-awaited first Star Wars film to hit theaters since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. Though the clip stored particulars concerning the movie’s story very near its chest, it was full of Easter eggs and references to Star Wars‘ previous… and nonetheless gave us a couple of little hints about what to anticipate for the titular Mandalorian and his younger ward.
The trailer opens with a really acquainted ship flying throughout a shoreline: an ST-70 assault ship, higher identified to viewers as the identical class of gunship as the unique experience of Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), the Razor Crest. In fact, the Crest was destroyed within the climax of The Mandalorian season two, resulting in Din piloting a Naboo N-1 Starfighter during the events of season three. It appears to be like like in time for Mandalorian and Grogu, Din’s both gotten a brand new ST-70 or in some way managed to rebuild the Crest from what was left of its stays on the planet Tython. The three yellow stripes on the highest of its hull no less than pay a pleasant homage to his transient Naboo experience.
It’s price stating as nicely that the gunship is flying in direction of what appears to be like like Adelphi Base, the New Republic outpost first seen in season three. Constructed on the planet Adelphi (duh) within the Outer Rim, the station is dwelling to Captain Carson Teva (Paul Solar-Hyung Lee) and a gaggle of New Republic Rangers, who Din allied with within the climax of season three to let the Mandalorian grow to be an unofficial unbiased contractor for the New Republic.
We get to right away see a few of that contract work within the subsequent shot, as Grogu and Din spy on a constructing surrounded by Imperial Stormtroopers. Mandalorian and Grogu is ready in roughly 9-ish ABY (After the Battle of Yavin), so we’re nonetheless solely about 4 years after the formal finish of the Galactic Civil Battle on the Battle of Jakku in 5 ABY. With Moff Gideon out of the best way after his demise on Mandalore, we all know there are nonetheless loads of different Imperial Warlords in present operation that can seemingly kind a serious antagonistic a part of this film (certainly one of them, the returned Grand Admiral Thrawn, will as a substitute be the main focus of Ahsoka season two and the eventual Dave Filoni New Republic vs. Imperial Remnant film, first introduced at Star Wars Celebration Europe in 2023).
Grogu begins investigating sewers with the assistance of a little bit Anzellan pal. We all know there’s a small cadre of Anzellan engineers (the species launched in The Rise of Skywalker with Babu Frik) who work on Navarro, the world Din and Grogu retired again to after the occasions on Mandalore in season three, so this seemingly takes place there.
Again on Adelphi, Din and Grogu have a tense assembly with a New Republic liaison, performed by the iconic Sigourney Weaver. Whereas we don’t know the character’s identify but, we do know she is a part of the senior command at Adelphi Base—imagery first proven at Star Wars Celebration Japan earlier this yr confirmed Weaver sporting a New Republic flight swimsuit, so we might even see her in motion sooner or later within the film, as a substitute of simply disapprovingly holding her snacks from Grogu.
Would it not be Star Wars with out a seedy cantina? Would it not be Star Wars with out a combat in that cantina? Who can say, however The Mandalorian and Grogu is clearly unwilling to ponder in any other case.
Our first intriguing creature glimpse of the trailer sees a sinister-looking alien emerge out of waters in an underground cave (is that this linked to what Grogu and the Anzellan have been investigating earlier?). That is, in fact, a traditional Star Wars alien: an Amani, a species first seen with the bounty hunter Amanaman in Return of the Jedi. Whether or not that is Amanaman himself or one other Amani stays to be seen. Whether it is, are there nonetheless probably bounties out on Din or Grogu?
The Razor Crest takes flight, pursued by three fighters. It’s very onerous to see what these ships are, however they match the final form (and velocity!) of TIE Interceptors.
After a fast shot of Grogu swimming (which actually appears to be like prefer it’s from related scenes because the Amani footage, additional probably tying these two collectively), we get a equally quick shot of motion starring a really fascinating determine: Zeb from Star Wars Rebels (voiced by returning star Steven Blum) partaking in close-quarters fight with stormtroopers together with his Lasat honor guard bo-rifle.
We already knew Zeb’s post-Rebels standing from Mandalorian season three, the place we briefly saw him stationed at Adelphi Base as a New Republic pilot, however footage screened to audiences at D23 last year confirmed him having a extra concerned position on this film.
After one other shot of Grogu hanging out with the Anzellans is adopted by an intriguing shot for alphabet fighter nerds: Din jetpacking as much as a U-Wing in New Republic livery. They have been launched in Rogue One and seen extra not too long ago in Andor season two, and this marks the primary clear time we’ve really seen U-Wings aligned with the New Republic (a couple of appeared in The Rise of Skywalker‘s climactic battle, but it surely was unclear as to whether or not they really used the New Republic paint job).
We then reduce to an enviornment the place gathered crowds, together with Din and Grogu (the previous uttering one of many two strains of dialogue in the entire trailer, a easy “Spectacular”), roar in celebration as we pan over to a very muscular Hutt yelling from the world’s flooring. We could know who that is, and it’s a completely wild one: we already knew that The Bear star Jeremy Allen White was becoming a member of Mandalorian and Grogu and that he could be enjoying Rotta the Hutt.
The son of Jabba, Rotta was first launched within the 2008 animated Clone Wars film that kicked off the beloved animated sequence, the place the youngling Rotta (largely referred to as “Smelly” in that movie by newly launched padawan Ahsoka Tano) was the sufferer of a kidnapping extortion plot by the Separatist-backed Ziro the Hutt in an try and scuttle negotiations between Jabba and the Galactic Republic. May this be Rotta all grown up? Is that this what he was doing as a substitute of taking up his father’s crime syndicate on Tatooine, resulting in the occasions of The E book of Boba Fett?
Whether or not that’s Rotta or no matter occurs within the enviornment, issues seemingly go rapidly in opposition to Din—this subsequent shot of him battling two hulking droids is ready someplace affiliated with the Hutts: that image on the wall behind the droids is the symbol of the Desilijic clan, which Jabba (and Rotta, by beginning) was a part of, making it much more seemingly that that is a part of Rotta’s operation.
We additionally reduce to the world to see that, sooner or later, Din begins wrestling with an enormous reptilian creature. That is, once more, one other Star Wars Easter egg: the creature is definitely a Mantellian Savrip. Hailing from the planet Ord Mantell, a Savrip was famously used as one of many holographic creature pieces in dejarik, the chess-like technique sport seen being performed by Chewbacca and R2-D2 in A New Hope. This marks the primary time we’ve really seen one of many creatures within the flesh in Star Wars‘ present canon!
The trailer crescendoes with Din flying out of an exploding Imperial AT-AT, letting it crumple and fall over a precipitous cliff edge. Followers at Star Wars Celebration Japan bought an prolonged model of this scene, which sees Din infiltrate the walker and dramatically take out its whole crew of snowtroopers earlier than detonating the car from the within.
The trailer ends again with Grogu and the Anzellans, this time preventing off one other creature: a big, one-eyed sewer rat. Grogu shoots the rat in its monoeye with a inexperienced paint dart, seemingly utilizing the wrist gauntlet he was given whereas coaching with the Mandalorian covert in season three. Appears to be like like Din’s been maintaining together with his classes! That offers us our second line of dialogue in the entire trailer, as one of many Anzellans tells Grogu, “Good shot, child.” At the least it didn’t sound like a curse this time?
Though our first official have a look at The Mandalorian and Grogu is full of nods to Star Wars issues we already know, when it comes to actually telling us issues concerning the movie, it’s very threadbare. It is a vibes-based glimpse on the film that’s nonetheless eight months away, so there’s little in the best way of specific details about the plot or the characters or, nicely, something actually aside from the expectation that Mando will shoot some Imperials and Grogu might be cute and do cute issues.
That is likely to be sufficient for some, however as Lucasfilm prepares to take Star Wars again away from the world of TV that it’s largely sat in on Disney+ for the previous half-decade—off the again of the large success of The Mandalorian in the first place—it would take a bit greater than realizing references and a well-known vibe to intrigue folks (particularly whereas dad or mum firm Disney is going through a lot of public scrutiny over its controversial determination to censor Jimmy Kimmel within the face of threats from the Trump administration and right-wing teams).
We’ve bought loads of time to be taught extra about The Mandalorian and Grogu (and for Disney to resolve the disaster it presently faces), nonetheless, forward of its arrival in theaters Might 22, 2026.
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