BERLIN, GERMANY – MAY 04: The Mandalorian, Grogu and Pedro Pascal attend the “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” Berlin fan celebration at Uber Platz on May 04, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Gerald Matzka/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives in cinemas and IMAX on May 22, marking the first Star Wars theatrical release since The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. For casual viewers who haven’t kept up with the Disney+ series, or longtime fans who want a refresher before the lights go down, here is everything you need to know.
Who Is The Mandalorian?
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 22: Pedro Pascal attends the photocall for Disney’s “The Mandalorian” Season 3 at Picadilly Circus on February 22, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Din Djarin, played by Pedro Pascal, is a bounty hunter who wears the distinctive armour of the Mandalorian people, a warrior culture with a strict code of honour, best known to casual Star Wars fans through Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back.
The story takes place after the fall of the Galactic Empire (the period depicted in the original trilogy ending with 1983’s Return of the Jedi) when the Rebellion has become the fledgling New Republic and Imperial remnants still threaten peace across the galaxy.
Djarin is not a soldier or a hero in the traditional Star Wars mould. He is a pragmatist, a lone operator who lives by a code but supports himself through work that at times does require bending it.
Who Is Grogu in The Mandalorian?
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 07: Kathleen Kennedy, Pedro Pascal, Jon Favreau, ‘Grogu’ and Sigourney Weaver attend the “Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu” UK Fan Event at Cineworld Leicester Square on May 07, 2026 in London, England. (Photo by Lia Toby/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Grogu, also known as “Baby Yoda” since the moment he appeared on screen in the very first episode of The Mandalorian in 2019, is a Force-sensitive alien of the same species as Jedi Master Yoda, though the two share no established connection beyond their appearance. He is a foundling, a child without family who, under Mandalorian tradition, becomes the ward and responsibility of whoever takes him in. In this case, it was Djarin. What followed across three seasons of the Disney+ series is, at the heart of it, a story about an unlikely father and son finding their way to each other across a dangerous galaxy.
Grogu was briefly taken to train with Luke Skywalker, but in The Book of Boba Fett — a spinoff series that functions as a bridge between The Mandalorian seasons two and three — he made a decisive choice.
Luke presented him with two options made tangible through physical objects, the first being Yoda’s lightsaber, representing the path of the Jedi, and the alternative a suit of beskar armour delivered by Din Djarin, representing the Mandalorian path. Grogu chose the armour, and with it, chose his father. He gave up Jedi training to live as a Mandalorian, and that choice defines who he is going into the film.
What Happened In The Previous Mandalorian Seasons?
Season one established the central relationship. Djarin was hired to capture Grogu, chose instead to protect him, and spent the season evading those who wanted the child, including remnant Imperial forces with unknown intentions for his blood and his Force abilities.
Season two was about Djarin’s quest to return Grogu to the Jedi, which brought him into contact with some interesting figures. There was Bo-Katan Kryze, a Mandalorian warrior seeking to reclaim her people’s home planet, as well as Ahsoka Tano and, ultimately, Luke Skywalker himself, who arrived in the season finale to take Grogu for training.
The season ended with Djarin removing his helmet so that Grogu could see and remember his face before departing with Skywalker, which was an act that broke the Creed of his sect, the Children of the Watch, who hold that a Mandalorian must never remove their helmet in the presence of another living being.
Season three shifted focus to Mandalore itself, the Mandalorian homeworld long thought uninhabitable. Djarin sought formal religious absolution for removing his helmet, which required bathing in the Living Waters on Mandalore to be cleared by the Armorer, the spiritual leader of his sect.
The season built toward the full reclamation of the planet and a final confrontation with Moff Gideon, the Imperial officer who had been hunting Grogu since the beginning. Gideon was killed when a Mandalorian ship was crashed into his base, with Grogu using the Force to shield Djarin and Bo-Katan from the resulting explosion, per multiple episode recaps. In the season’s closing moments, Djarin formally adopted Grogu , with the Armorer renaming the child Din Grogu and designating him Djarin’s official Mandalorian apprentice. Aww.
The two then settled on Nevarro with a home, a plot of land set aside for them by Greef Karga, and an arrangement to take occasional missions for the New Republic.
Where Does The Mandalorian Film Pick Up?
Per the official synopsis on StarWars.com, the Galactic Empire has fallen and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the New Republic works to protect the peace the Rebellion fought for, Din Djarin and Grogu have been enlisted to assist. They are now taking missions from a New Republic contact, Colonel Ward, played by Sigourney Weaver.
Drawing on material confirmed through trailers and the Star Wars Celebration Japan presentation last year, the specific mission driving the film involves the New Republic enlisting Djarin and Grogu to rescue Rotta the Hutt (you would know him as the son of the deceased crime lord Jabba) in exchange for intelligence from the Hutt clan on a New Republic target.
The Hutt Twins, who previously appeared in The Book of Boba Fett, return as antagonists and are heard threatening Djarin directly in the final trailer, “You will suffer, then it will be his turn.”
Per StarWars.com’s CinemaCon trailer breakdown, the film is positioned as a coming-of-age story examining Grogu’s growth alongside his adoptive father, captured in the line: “The old protect the young, and then the young protect the old.”
Who Else Is In The Film?
Sigourney Weaver makes her Star Wars debut as Colonel Ward, a former Rebel Alliance X-Wing pilot now commanding the New Republic’s Adelphi Rangers in the Outer Rim. Her mention of revenge in the trailers suggests a personal stake in the campaign against the Remnant, per Rotten Tomatoes’ pre-film breakdown.
Jeremy Allen White, the Emmy-winning star of The Bear, voices Rotta the Hutt, in what Deadline described as a notably sized role rather than a cameo. Per Empire’s May 2026 cover story, White spoke both English and Huttese in the role and took inspiration from Jabba’s voice in prior Star Wars media. In an IGN interview, Favreau compared the character to Adonis Creed from the Creed films, someone living in the enormous shadow of a famous parent.
The character was last seen as an infant in the 2008 animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars film, where he was nicknamed “Stinky.”
Martin Scorsese voices an Ardennian fry cook. Steve Blum returns to voice Zeb, the fan-favourite character from Star Wars Rebels, per Rotten Tomatoes. Dave Filoni, the show’s co-writer and executive producer, also reprises his recurring role as New Republic pilot Trapper Wolf.
Who Made The Mandalorian Film?
The film is directed by Jon Favreau, who created The Mandalorian and has shepherded it since its debut. He co-wrote the screenplay with Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor. Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, Ian Bryce, and Karen Gilchrist produce alongside Favreau. Ludwig Göransson, acclaimed Academy Award-winning composer behind the original series score, returns to score the film. The original motion picture soundtrack will be available digitally from May 15, with a vinyl release on June 5.
Do You Need To Watch The Mandalorian Series First?
The film will probably make more sense, also hit harder emotionally, if you have. Per Favreau himself in multiple interviews, the film was specifically designed to be less reliant on prior series knowledge than the show, in order to accommodate audiences who hadn’t watched it. But the relationship between Djarin and Grogu; what each has sacrificed to be with the other, and what it cost, has been built across three seasons and several spinoff appearances.
All three seasons of The Mandalorian are currently streaming on Disney+. For those without the time, seasons one and two are the essential viewing. Season three adds significant context around the Mandalorian culture and the meaning of the film’s title, ‘the Clan of Two’ but the emotional foundation is largely in place by the end of season two.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu opens in cinemas and IMAX on May 22, 2026.