Star Wars is returning to theaters in 2026 with The Mandalorian and Grogu, but why is that happening instead of The Mandalorian Season 4? Six years ago, we had two major turning points for Lucasfilm’s flagship franchise. The Rise of Skywalker was released, ending a mixed sequel trilogy in divisive fashion and becoming the rare movie that makes $1 billion at the box office and still seems commercially disappointing. Around the same time, Disney+ was launched as the Mouse House pushed into streaming, with The Mandalorian as its biggest, shiniest offering.
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The series was unquestionably a success. It had strong reviews and fan acclaim, Grogu (or Baby Yoda) became a viral sensation, and it launched multiple spinoffs, serving as proof of concept for live-action Star Wars TV shows, something not even George Lucas had made. Now, though, things are changing. Normally, you’d expect The Mandalorian Season 4 to happen – something that, at one stage, it was planned to do so. Instead, we’re getting The Mandalorian and Grogu, and it’s part of a much bigger shift within Star Wars and, more broadly, Disney.
Star Wars (& Marvel) Are Pivoting Away From Disney+
Back in February 2023, just before The Mandalorian Season 3 premiered, Jon Favreau revealed that the scripts for Season 4 had already been written. However, with multiple strikes hitting Hollywood later that year, there was more time to re-evaluate plans, and Disney, in particular, re-assessed the state and value of its streaming output. This came amid mixed performance from various shows and movies, with the once bulletproof MCU showing cracks in part because things were being stretched too thin across theatrical releases and Disney+.
Since then, there’s been a clear pivot away from streaming. It will still be a part of the franchises, especially on the animated front, but it won’t be what dominates. In terms of live-action, the focus is very much on quality over quantity, and re-establishing these brands as theatrical ones. That’s extremely necessary with Star Wars, given it has been so long since the last movie was released, but it’s evident in what’s upcoming.
The only live-action show currently planned is Ahsoka Season 2. On the movie slate there are dates for The Mandalorian and Grogu and Star Wars: Starfighter, plus myriad other films in various stages of development, including a New Jedi Order movie with Daisy Ridley, James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi film, and Dave Filoni’s event movie that will serve as the culmination of the New Republic story.
However, it’s notable that The Mandalorian and Grogu is the first of these to happen. After what happened with the sequels, plus the failure of Solo, Lucasfilm cannot afford to get Star Wars movies wrong. It needs something that’s going to be a hit, and so it’s using something with a built-in audience. There’s already a proven fandom, including people who have started growing up with the show. There are two beloved characters in its title, with lots of merchandising opportunities that come with it. It’s probably the safest bet Lucasfilm has for the franchise, so it makes sense this is the launchpad for Star Wars movies.
Could The Mandalorian Season 4 Still Happen?
So, with The Mandalorian and Grogu happening, does that mean the door is firmly closed on Season 4? As it stands, officially, it hasn’t been ruled out, but it does seem very unlikely to happen. It would certainly be surprising if the series were to make the leap to the big screen and then simply revert to being a TV show. Favreau himself was asked about this at Star Wars Celebration Japan, telling ComicBook: “Can’t really speak to that right now. Right now, I’m focused on the film, and that’s gonna be coming out Memorial Day of ’26.”
If The Mandalorian and Grogu is a box office success, then that’s something Disney will want to capitalize on. And that means sequels, not TV shows. If there are hundreds of millions of dollars to be made from turning this into a viable cinematic franchise, then that’s what is going to happen. And on the flip side, if it flops, then there’s not going to be much call for it to go back to being a TV series. It’s more likely that, if it hits, we get other offshoots, whether that’s in live-action or animation, and full-length series or things like Grogu shorts aimed at kids (not dissimilar to the I Am Groot series). Either way, while we should never say never with Star Wars, it’s hard to imagine The Mandalorian finding the way to Season 4.
The Mandalorian and Grogu will be released on May 22nd, 2026.
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