Celebrating Star Wars Day, Disney has released a four-episode “sneak peak” at The Mandalorian and Grogu on Disney+. This year’s Star Wars Day is easily the most exciting in years, with Maul – Shadow Lord coming to an explosive end and the promise of a new movie hitting theaters within weeks. Spinning out of the hit Disney+ TV show, The Mandalorian and Grogu marks Star Wars’ return to the big screen after seven years. It’s a very different kind of film, simply because it isn’t part of the Skywalker saga. It doesn’t even have the loose connections of Solo and Rogue One.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Available on Disney+, a new four-episode “sneak peak” includes the opening scenes from The Mandalorian and Grogu. Rather than the traditional opening crawl, the movie has a static title card akin to Solo. Here’s the text:
“The evil GALACTIC EMPIRE has fallen.
Ex-Imperial Warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy, plotting the Empire’s return.
The fledgling NEW REPUBLIC has begun to reunite the galaxy.
In the Lawless Outer Rim, THE MANDALORIAN and his young apprentice GROGU work to hunt down these Imperial fugitives…”
This isn’t the only unusual thing about this film. Star Wars movies have traditionally opened with shots of large spacecraft flying over planets or in space (inspired by the first film’s opening scene). Instead, The Mandalorian and Grogu kicks off on the surface of a snow planet in the much-touted AT-AT combat scene. Capital ships are notably absent from this planet.
Star Wars Has Made the Right Call With The Mandalorian & Grogu
Rogue One never had an opening crawl, and the decision split the fandom in 2016; at the time, Lucasfilm explained it was about differentiating the Skywalker saga from the anthologies. Solo adapted, with the same kind of approach we’re now seeing with The Mandalorian and Grogu. Given Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan have taken over as Lucasfilm’s co-presidents, it’s nice to see this continuity. It also inevitably raises the question of whether we’ll see a Star Wars opening crawl again; Simon Kinberg is working on a new trilogy, and a crawl would therefore confirm those films were really Episodes X to XII.
Meanwhile, the lack an Imperial Star Destroyer (or any equivalent capital ship) is also smart. It signifies the state of the galaxy at this point in the Star Wars timeline; neither the Imperial Remnant nor the New Republic really has a vast fleet. Din Djarin is operating on the “Lawless” Outer Rim, taking on missions for Sigourney Weaver’s Colonel Ward, and he’s neutralizing Imperial warlords like Morgan Elsbeth who have likely taken over single planets. This isn’t the age of Star Destroyers and open warfare – yet.
At first glance, this may seem like a relatively low-key Star Wars movie. But recent marketing has focused on The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s importance, teasing galactic stakes. Most viewers assume this is really the first shot in a new galactic war, with the Empire building its forces up in the shadows. Imperial strategist Grand Admiral Thrawn returned from exile in Ahsoka Season 1, and we know Ahsoka Season 2 will feature capital ship combat between Thrawn’s forces and the New Republic military. The Mandalorian and Grogu may be a lot more significant than some think.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Courtesy of TOHO Animation -
Courtesy of Crunchyroll -
Image Courtesy of MAPPA -
Image Courtesy of Studio Pierrot -
Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
