The Mandalorian and Grogu: Star Wars returns to cinemas in May

The last time I went to the cinema specifically for a Star Wars film, I came out with that feeling of not quite knowing what had just happened. It was Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker — and nobody in the room seemed sure what they had seen. Since then, Star Wars has migrated almost entirely to streaming, with The Mandalorian as the high point of that whole phase. Now, on 22 May, Din Djarin and Grogu arrive on the big screen. And I can say quite calmly that it's the first time in many years I've been genuinely excited about what's coming.

From TV to the big screen — a transition that makes sense

The Mandalorian premiered in 2019 as Disney+'s launch product. It was an enormous gamble: Star Wars in space-western format, with a protagonist whose face stays hidden and who barely speaks. It worked in a way few expected. Baby Yoda — Grogu, excuse me — became a cultural phenomenon before the first episode had even finished buffering.

The decision to take that duo to the cinema isn't a favour Lucasfilm is granting the fans. It's a correct reading of the market: this is the part of Star Wars people love most today. It isn't nostalgia for the original trilogy, it isn't the controversial sequel trilogy — it's Din Djarin carrying Grogu on his back across planets that look like they came out of a Sergio Leone western in space.

What the trailers show (without too many spoilers)

The final trailer, shown at CinemaCon in April, made it clear this was built for the big screen. The visual scale is blockbuster: large battles, multiple planets, mercenary droids and colossal creatures. The plot picks up where the series left off — the Empire has fallen, the New Republic is trying to keep order, and Imperial remnants led by Janu (Jonny Coyne) threaten to reignite a war.

Din Djarin and Grogu enter the mission as the pairing Lucasfilm knows works: a warrior of few words and a creature that communicates more through expression than dialogue. The trailer also shows the two taking on the Hutts, which opens the door to one of the film's most curious pieces of casting.

The cast nobody expected

Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin is a given. But Sigourney Weaver entering the Star Wars universe as Ward, an agent of the Republic Rangers, is the kind of casting that makes you look twice. Weaver has a screen presence few actors of her generation still hold — and in a universe that needed weight and credibility, that matters more than it might seem.

The other curious name: Jeremy Allen White, of The Bear, voicing Rotta the Hutt — Jabba's adult son. It's the first time the character appears as an adult in canon. Choosing someone with White's intensity for a Hutt is already a statement of intent about the film's tone.

The weight of the franchise's recent mistakes

Star Wars has been through some complicated years. The sequel trilogy divided opinion permanently. Obi-Wan Kenobi was uneven. Andor — one of the best things Lucasfilm has produced in decades — stayed buried on streaming without the recognition it deserved. The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives carrying the weight of having to work on a big screen, with a blockbuster budget, for an audience that has learned to distrust promises from the Force.

But there's one detail that gives me confidence: Dave Filoni is producing. Filoni is the person who understands Star Wars better than anyone after George Lucas — he built The Clone Wars into one of the best things in the whole franchise, and gave depth to characters the original films had barely developed. If anyone knows how to treat these characters with the care they deserve, it's him.

Why I'll be in the queue on 22 May

It isn't blind nostalgia. It's that Din Djarin and Grogu are, for now, the best characters Star Wars has produced in the post-Lucas era. The relationship between the two — a silent warrior and a creature that communicates through the Force and through expression — is the most emotionally honest thing the franchise has managed to create since Han Solo. And that, in a cinema, with Dolby sound and an enormous screen, is going to be different from anything you followed at home.

Star Wars has always been a collective experience. It's no accident that the strongest memory of the franchise for anyone who was 10 years old in the 80s is a packed cinema, not a VHS tape. This duo deserves that reunion with the big screen.

Conclusion

If you haven't seen the trailers yet, they're worth looking up before 22 May — not because they reveal everything, but because it's hard not to get excited about what they show. To get further into the mood before release, take a look at the post I wrote here about Star Wars Day — it has a good dose of franchise history to warm up the engines. The entry for The Mandalorian and Grogu on our Rei dos Filmes gathers the cast, synopsis and trailer. And if you go to the cinema on opening day, tell me in the comments what you made of it.