Things That Will Definitely Happen In The Mandalorian Season 3 - Looper Staff Predicts
The long wait is just about over. Season three of Disney+'s flagship hit "The Mandalorian" will finally grace our screens this week, after a lengthy wait (for context, season two dropped before the pandemic even began). After a brief appearance during "The Book of Boba Fett" that reunited sweet baby Grogu and the titular Mandalorian, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), fans have been gearing up for this long-awaited third installment. So, what's bound to happen in season three of "The Mandalorian?"
That's anybody's guess, but it probably won't come as a shock to you, dear reader, that the Looper staff has plenty of guesses. Ahead of the season three premiere, a handful of writers sat down and tried to figure out what showrunner Jon Favreau and his little space gang have up their sleeves for this beloved series' next set of adventures. From possible apparel choices to homages galore to potential cameos, here's what the Looper staff thinks will happen in the third season of "The Mandalorian."
Nick Staniforth - Grogu says his first words
Given that last season it took a dead-eyed Hamillgram to reveal Baby Yoda had a name, we can only hope that this one ends with something regarding the pea-colored sprog which sticks. We don't mean to be rude. We respect all space creatures, great and small, but the nickname of Baby Yoda will outlive the warranty on Mando's beskar armor, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. That is unless, Baby Yo sorry, Grogu steps up and does so himself, and this season is the perfect time to do so.
While he's not referred to as Baby Yoda in the series, the common use of "squirt," "kid," or "little guy" should be getting a bit annoying for him now. The only way to end it all is if he speaks up and says his first word or ten. He's growing up now, after all. We've seen him play with human kids that are five or six years old in past episodes, and if he's the same species as Master Yoda — one that lives for 900 years — shouldn't he be throwing in a "Mama," "Da-da" or "Man-do" by now? We're not asking him to pay for fighter fuel or top up the parking meter yet. It'd just be nice for him to chat with Mando occasionally, you know?
Should this happen, the show could go so many different directions, with Grogu getting a voice of his own. Given that he's spent so long with Mando, would he sound more cohesive than the broken sentence spewing Jedi Master that looked after Luke ("do anything, you never let me!") Could we be thrown a curve ball in whichever star voices him? Less Jacob Tremblay and maybe more Jason Statham? Danny DeVito? Kevin Hart? It'd undoubtedly mix up the dynamic that's already being teased for this season, with Grogu becoming a more powerful presence than before and maybe putting even his surrogate father figure in his place. After all, if there's one thing "Star Wars" is lacking, it's tense family relationships.
Nina Starner - Grogu will keep being a perfect little baby
I'm going to level with you. I like "Star Wars" generally, but I am not as deep into the lore as many of the franchise's most ardent fans — or really at all, honestly. That's fine with me, but it does mean that my viewing of "The Mandalorian" is a little more simplistic than that of some of my colleagues on this very website. I'll freely admit that I shy away from covering stuff like "The Mandalorian" because the prospect of getting a small "Star Wars" fact wrong on Al Gore's internet is pretty intimidating. With all of that said, my prediction is the only one here that will definitely come true.
I don't know what it is about Grogu, a creature I'm still stubbornly calling Baby Yoda because it's cuter. Maybe it's the huge eyes or the floppy ears or the little squeaky noises or the teeny-tiny hands that do little grabby motions sometimes. Whatever it is, I love him like he's my own child, and based on the merch sales, I'm clearly not alone. Baby Grogu Yoda is going to be a perfect little angel baby in season three of "The Mandalorian." He's going to be a tiny little nugget of cuteness that I want to take into my arms. He's probably going to eat something, cutely. I bet he'll be cute while Din is holding him. It's all but guaranteed that he'll toddle around while also being cute. He'll absolutely do something that elicits a high pitched noise from me because I just love him so much. To be perfectly blunt, "The Mandalorian" should release two different cuts of each week's episode: one with the plot and the stuff that happens, and then a different, shorter one that's just a clip show of Grogu being cute for dingbats like me. Thanks in advance, Jon Favreau!
Tom Meisfjord — Pedro Pascal starts wearing shorts to work
It's 9:30 on a Friday morning, and a hundred and fifty extras have been milling around uncomfortably on the set of "The Mandalorian" for a little over two hours. Their makeup is starting to melt. No one is happy.
Least chipper of all is director Jon Favreau, whose normally unflappable poker face displays a panicked, rapid-fire spectrum of emotions when the sound stage door slams open. In walks Pedro Pascal, staring at his phone, adorned in a Mandalorian helmet, a Mandalorian chest piece, Mandalorian vambraces and gauntlets, and a pair of knee-length khaki cargo shorts."Hey, Pedro Pascal," chirps Favreau in the falsetto sing-song of a man who would really rather not argue right now.
"What?" replies Pedro Pascal, not looking up from his phone.
"Great to have you here, buddy. Say uh, what's that you're wearing?"
"What?" repeats Pascal.
"You've got..." begins Favreau.
"Did you see this?" asks Pascal curtly, holding up a glowing review for HBO's "The Last of Us."
"That's great, buddy, but..." attempts Favreau.
"'The Last of Us,'" interrupts Pascal. "They really like me on this," he continues. "Yeah, they say they really like the way that they can see my face the whole time."
"Okay, but..."
"Seems like they think that it's more fun to watch actors act when they don't have fifty pounds of metal on their heads."
"The helmet isn't fifty pounds," Favreau says for maybe the hundredth time. "Hey, listen..."
"It's actually fifty pounds minimum," states Pascal.
"Listen, Pedro Pascal. What are you wearing, buddy?" entreats Favreau, who is already behind schedule, pointing to Pedro Pascal's shorts.
"It's Friday," says Pascal. Favreau gestures, confused.
"It's casual Friday?" Pascal clarifies indignantly.
"That's not really something that we do here," says Favreau, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"Yeah, well," says Pascal, throwing an empty Big Gulp at Favreau's torso, "maybe it should be."
"But it's..." begins Favreau.
"We do casual Fridays on 'The Last of Us' and people love that show," says Pascal, pushing past the director. "Are we shooting this thing or what?"
Pauli Poisuo - Digitally deaged Han Solo makes a cameo, Harrison Ford spends several weeks telling every talk show host how much he hated it
"The Mandalorian" has been on an apparent quest to feature as many cool "Star Wars" cameos as Mandalorianly possible since its very beginning. From introducing new characters to bringing in Expanded Universe ones and returning movie favorites à la Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison), the show has seemingly hedged its bets between telling an original story and running a franchise highlights reel.
Harrison Ford has been on an apparent quest to revisit as many of his old roles as humanly possible for a good while now. From "Blade Runner 2049" to the upcoming attempt to make people forget that he already made a fourth "Indiana Jones" movie, the actor has seemingly hedged his bets between new roles in "1923" and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and revisiting his career highlights reel.
It's not hard to imagine these two trajectories aligning, and Ford revisiting his most famous role once more while he's at it. After CGI Horror Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill, sort of) became a recurring character, Han Solo is the remaining major original trilogy figure whose actor is still alive and who hasn't turned up in "The Mandalorian" yet. So, it wouldn't be all that shocking if a certain Corellian makes an unnaturally smooth-faced appearance near the end of the show's third season.
Now, Ford's a delightfully testy guy who campaigned for Han Solo's death since "Return of the Jedi," so the real value of the cameo will likely be the interviews after the episode is out. "Yes. Played him. Again," Ford would manage to spit out, scowling at Jimmy Fallon as the host utterly fails to lighten up the mood by comparing the de-aging technologies between "The Mandalorian" and "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." Now, that's proper entertainment.
Also if he turns up Chewie will probably be there, which would be neat.
Kieran Fisher - The Mandalorian will continue to steal ideas from Akira Kurosawa movies
The "Star Wars" universe wouldn't be what it is today without the films of the legendary Akira Kurosawa. When George Lucas was mapping out the galaxy far, far away all those years ago, he was heavily inspired by "The Hidden Fortress," which tells the story of peasants who find themselves caught up in the middle of a war between provinces. Lucas liked the idea of telling a story from the point of view of lowly characters in larger-than-life situations, and that's how C-3PO and R2D2 were born.
"The Mandalorian" is a return to the roots of "Star Wars" in many ways, and Kurosawa's influence can be spotted in a couple of episodes. "Chapter 4: Sanctuary" sees Mando (Pedro Pascal) save a farm village from raiders, and it's basically an unabashed tribute to "Seven Samurai." Season 2's "The Jedi" echoes the plot of "Yojimbo," which sees Toshiro Mifune's samurai character sport a manbun and manipulate warring businessmen for his own gain. Furthermore, "Yojimbo" inspired "The Mandalorian" from the outset, as Jon Favreau told Pascal to watch Kurosawa's masterpiece when he gave him the part.
The first two seasons of "The Mandalorian" are proof that this series loves honoring Kurosawa, and Season 3 will be no different. Mando epitomizes the spirit of the warriors who populate some of the Kurosawa's best works, so it makes sense to give him similar types of adventures. If they want to take it one step further, though, they should have Pascal rock a manbun and bring this hairstyle back for good.
Mike Bedard - Everyone's just kind of going to forget who Cara Dune was
As the kids say, Gina Carano fumbled the bag. She had a sweet gig playing Cara Dune on the first two seasons of "The Mandalorian," and for whatever reason, saw it fit to post a series of controversial statements on social media, from spreading false voter fraud conspiracies to mocking people wearing masks during a pandemic. Rather than doing what any sane person would do and shutting up, she doubled down and compared being a modern-day Republican to being a Jew during the Holocaust, at which point Disney fired her from appearing in any future "Star Wars" projects.
That means, despite Cara Dune being an ally to Din Djarin in "The Mandalorian," she won't be popping up in Season 3. There are naturally a few ways the show could go about explaining her absence. A cue card could show up on-screen, saying how she died on her way back to her home planet, but I'm willing to bet they'll go the "That '90s Show" route and avoid mentioning any existence of a controversial former castmate.
Greef Karga will be back, who's normally part of the proceedings with Cara and Din, but he'll probably just chat with Din about Baby Yoda and avoid mentioning Cara at all, like how a family at Thanksgiving dinner will avoid mentioning that one uncle who started a cult in the Pacific Northwest, ending in a gunfight between state troopers (not that I'm speaking from personal experience). Currently, there are conflicting reports on whether Lucasfilm will recast Cara Dune at some point in the future, so avoiding her at all costs in Season 3 can free up any old explanation later on in the series if they decide to have Lucy Lawless play Cara going forward.
Rick Stevenson - We finally get some Old Republic flashbacks
What's tired? The New Republic. What's wired? The Old Republic. "The Mandalorian" keeps diving deeper and deeper into the "Star Wars" sequel era with each passing season, which is... fine? If you're into that? I mean, "The Last Jedi" was a heck of a movie (please don't come for me), but some of us still have the bitter remains of that "Rise of Skywalker" taste in our mouths. So obviously, the solution is a video game from 2003.
It's not just wishful thinking, I promise — it actually makes sense. From the trailers, it looks like Season 3 really focuses on Mandalorian culture and lore, with Din and Grogu even venturing back to Mandalore itself to perform a sacred cleansing ritual. Guess you shouldn't have taken that hat off, Dad. Anyway, it's the perfect opportunity to explore some of the planet's history — not just the Death Watch era during the Clone Wars, or the Great Purge, but the Mandalorians' ancient wars with the Jedi.
Din has the Darksaber now, which is a symbol of the two groups' longstanding feud. And with him trying to rebuild some of Mandalore's strength, there's a good chance we'll need a canonical refresher on the planet's warrior past. It's the perfect opportunity for some flashbacks to the Old Republic era.
Show us Tarre Vizsla forging the Darksaber. Show us some Jedi vs. Mandalorian battles. Please, Disney? We've waited so very, very long, and I fear people are beginning to give up hope that Bioware's Xbox RPGs will ever be made canon again. It'll be the first game's 20th anniversary this year. Doesn't that count for something?