Sasha Banks (Mercedes Varnado) Confirms She’s Not Returning to Star Wars: The Mandalorian for Season 3

WWE Superstar Sasha Banks (billed by her real name Mercedes Varnado) made the jump into the world of acting last year by playing Koska Reeves in two episodes of the hit Disney+ series Star Wars: The Mandalorian. The season ended with her character still alive following Mando’s encounter with Moff Gideon and Luke Skywalker’s arrival, but in a new interview with Bleacher Report’s Graham Matthews she confirmed she won’t be back for Season 3, currently set for a 2022 release. 

“First of all, thanks for trying to get that out, but I’m not on the next season,” Banks said. “But it was incredible being on The Mandalorian on Star Wars. To be on a franchise that is so huge and so loved, just look at the reception from fans outside of the WWE Universe. It was the best feeling of all time. The projection of that show was overwhelming. I legit felt like I was in a galaxy so far, far away. I felt like I was on a different planet.

“It was something I will always take with me and I took so much of what I learned from acting with them and being with so many great stars to WWE. It really helped my confidence as well when I came back from doing The Mandalorian two years ago. It was such a learning curve and something I wasn’t expecting, but now I’m in this whole new Hollywood world and it’s going amazingly. I’m so excited for the fans, and I can’t wait for my fans to see what’s next,” she added. 

In an interview with ComicBook last year, Banks talked about what it was like juggling being a WWE Superstar on top of filming the series. 

Every time I went to set, because I went straight from WWE from live national television, I would have to wake up at 5:00 in the morning, catch a flight and go straight to the trailer,” she said. “And they’re like, ‘Why do you have glitter all over your face?’ And I’m like,’”I’m sorry. I’ve been Sasha Banks.’ I would walk on set and I just be like, ‘Oh my god, I can not believe that I’m here,’ because the set was just so, so, so incredible. I literally felt that I was in a whole different galaxy, in a whole different world. I have no idea how they did that. Whoever made that set, wow! Wow, wow, wow! It’s so breathtaking. And the whole time I was there, honestly, it never set in because I went from that straight back to WWE and I couldn’t tell anybody. So I just kind of always had to live in the moment and be present in everything that I was doing.”

Banks will compete in Thursday’s Crown Jewel pay-per-view in Saudi Arabia, taking on both Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Do you think Banks will pop back up in Mandalorian after Season 3? Let us know in the comments below!