The Mandalorian Season 4 Was Meant to Launch Ahsoka Season 2 — All About Grand Admiral Thrawn

written by Craig Ellison

April 22, 2026 5:42 pm

The Mandalorian Season 4 Was Meant to Launch Ahsoka Season 2 — All About Grand Admiral Thrawn — Image credit: Legion-Media

Jon Favreau shuts down talk that The Mandalorian and Grogu cannibalized season 4, revealing the shelved arc was designed to launch Ahsoka season 2 with Grand Admiral Thrawn at its core.

If you were gearing up for another season of The Mandalorian, you’re not alone—and you were almost right. Jon Favreau had already finished scripts for all eight episodes of season 4, but then Disney hit the brakes and veered straight into movie territory with The Mandalorian and Grogu. There’s plenty of internet chatter about whether the film is just those lost TV scripts stitched together, but it turns out: nope, not exactly.

What Would The Mandalorian Season 4 Have Been?

Favreau recently told SFX Magazine that season 4 wasn’t just going to be more wandering from planet to planet. The story was set to tie directly into Ahsoka season 2 and (because this is modern Star Wars) get deep into the ongoing saga with Grand Admiral Thrawn. Basically, Mandalorian season 4 was ready to keep building out the current Star Wars TV-verse.

'You can’t just take those scripts and turn them into a movie. There were a lot of characters, it assumed you’d watched the whole show, and it was teeing up what was happening moving into the second season of Ahsoka. It was about Grand Admiral Thrawn and following the larger storyline [of this era of the Star Wars timeline],' Favreau explained.

He went on to say he basically ended up tossing those scripts and starting fresh for the movie. The goal? Make sure anyone—yes, even someone who’s never seen the show—can get what's going on. The main thread that did survive is Grogu training to be Din Djarin’s apprentice, which, let’s be honest, is hands-down the biggest draw for a lot of people anyway.

So while the film keeps that tough-warrior-and-cute-kid dynamic, it tries to stand alone as its own thing. Favreau wants longtime fans to spot those broader Star Wars universe connections, but not at the expense of just letting newcomers enjoy a standalone popcorn-movie adventure.

How Confident Is Disney About the Mandalorian Movie?

Here’s where things get… complicated. Industry insiders have tagged The Mandalorian and Grogu as 'something of a question mark' at Disney HQ. While Baby Yoda memes have blanketed the world, there’s doubt this story is enough of an event for the general audience—the kind of people who probably still call Grogu 'Baby Yoda' out loud in public.

It probably didn’t help that the movie’s Super Bowl ad—a huge, expensive spotlight—went for a parody old-school feel (complete with Sam Elliott doing voiceover) and Din and Grogu being pulled on a sled by Tauntauns. Strange choice for a launch when they could’ve just dropped the actual trailer then and there (which we finally got a week later).

What’s Next for The Mandalorian—and Star Wars?

The Mandalorian and Grogu: Set after the fall of the Empire, the New Republic is picking up the pieces and hiring Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu to handle scattered Imperial troublemakers. That’s the official logline.
Release Date: The movie hits theaters May 22. Get your Baby Yoda merch ready.
More Star Wars: There’s also Star Wars: Starfighter on the calendar next year if you want even more pew-pew.

In short: The Mandalorian movie isn’t just TV scripts on the big screen, and whatever you thought of the Super Bowl ad, there’s still a good chance for solid Jedi-and-bounty-hunter fun. We’ll see if this attempt at expanding the galaxy really lands, or if Star Wars fans will be left wishing for those lost TV episodes instead.