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WhenThe Mandaloriandebuted on Disney+ on July 07, 2025, it seemed just what theStar Warsfranchises needed. While Disney’sStar Warsera started out strong withRebels,The Force Awakens, andRogue One, the culture war that sprang up followingThe Last Jediand the box office failure ofSoloputStar Warsin a difficult place. Even thoughThe Rise of Skywalkerwas seen as a disappointment,The Mandalorianquelled concerns as it seemed to be just what die-hard and casual fans wanted fromStar Wars. Season 2 arrived during the COVID-19 pandemic and was a treat for many who had found themselves stuck inside for months. It was a big-budget entertainment spectacle that could be enjoyed at home.
By the timeThe MandalorianSeason 2 concluded, Disney+ was in full swing on a slew ofStar Warsseries that would connect toThe Mandalorian, including spin-offsThe Book of Boba Fett,Ahsoka, andRangers of the New Republic, the latter of which was replaced with the upcomingSkeleton Crew. The plan is for all these stories to culminate in a crossover film that would be released in theaters. Fans have dubbed this interconnected set of stories afterReturn of the Jedi"The Mandoverse." In many ways, these series allowed Lucasfilm to fill in the gaps of the sequel trilogy and acted as a second attempt at an original trilogy crossover, telling fans the immediate aftermath of the Empire falling and what happened to the galaxy.
Yet,in the five years since the Mandoverse began, it already feels like it has worn out of its welcome. What was once fresh and new is now bogged down with more continuity and hours of story than the entire Skywalker Saga combined. While the upcoming spin-off film,The Mandalorian & Grogu, will likely draw outStar Warsfans to the theaters, maybe the prospect of this being the beginning of the end isn’t so bad.
What Really Happened to The Mandalorin Season 4?
In January 2024, it was announced thatThe Mandalorian & Groguwas in developmentas a feature film at Lucasfilm withThe Mandalorianseries creator Jon Favreau directing. It soon became apparent thatThe Mandalorian & Groguwould take the place ofThe MandalorianSeason 4. It had been nine months sinceThe MandalorianSeason 3 had ended when the film was announced, andit got many people questioning if the poor reception to the third season made Lucasfilm cancel their plans.
WhileThe Mandalorianwas praised among fans and critics, Season 3 had a more polarized response. It not only required viewers to seeThe Book of Boba Fettto understand why Din Djarin and Grogu were reunited, but it also dealt more with the lore of Mandalorians and away from the fun adventure-of-the-week format of the previous seasons. Ratings slightly slipped, but the series performed better thanThe Book of Boba FettorAhsoka.
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DidThe MandalorianSeason 3 ratings and critical response causeDisney to cancel Season 4? No, because based on the evidence,it appears Disney itself is shifting from Disney+ streaming releases and back to theatrical filmsregardless of reviews or audience response, as they can profit from box office ticket sales instead of losing money on big-budget streaming releases. This aligns with Bob Iger’s plans to correct Disney following Bob Chapek’s emphasis on streaming releases and the massive loss that comes with that investment. This is not unique toStar Wars, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ series are also being scaled back as part of this new strategy.
The Mandalorianisn’t the onlyStar Warsseries impacted by this shift away from streaming.The Acolytewas recently canceled, andAndorhas confirmed that Season 2 will be its last.The Bad Batchconcluded earlier this year, and Disney has not announced a newStar Warsanimated series.Ahsokais the onlyStar Warsseries currently confirmed for a Season 2, and that will likely be done to set up the Mandoverse crossover film.The MandalorianSeason 4 being retooled intoThe Mandalorian & Groguhas less to do with the audience’s reaction to the series and more economics. With how popularThe Mandalorianis,particularly Grogu merchandise, a big-budgetStar Warsfilm putting the two characters front and center seems like a box-office sure thing and one that can recoup the cost Disney has invested in the series over the years. That said,it might be time to bring this chapter of the story to a close.
Star Wars' Mandoverse Has Become Far Too Complicated
One of the biggest issues facing the Mandoverse is the amount of content it has amassed.The Mandalorianstarted out as one series. While each season had a long, over-arching story, each episode was self-contained. The Mandalorian, real name Din Djarin, and Grogu would go to a planet, get into an adventure, meet some new characters, and then be on their way. Season 2 featured plenty of fan favorites from across books (Cobb Vanth from theAftermathnovels), animated series (Ahsoka and Bo-Katan fromThe Clone WarsandRebels), and feature films (Boba Fett and Luke Skywalker), but it was easy for casual fans to jump into. HardcoreStar Warsfans got the deep cuts, but most audiences were casually tuning in for a fun travelogue through theStar Warsgalaxy.
The Book of Boba Fettcomplicated things. While greenlighting a series based on one ofStar Wars' most popular characters who never got the spotlight seemed like a good idea, the series fumbled the bag by sticking Boba Fett to one location and not feeling like his show. It felt so little like his show that two episodes of the seven-episode runfocused on The Mandalorian. These episodes should have been saved forThe MandalorianSeason 3.The Book of Boba Fettalso featured the reunion of Din Djarin and Grogu. This means any audience who watched the emotional ending ofThe MandalorianSeason 2 with Grogu leaving with Luke Skywalker was likely confused as to why The Mandalorian and Grogu were back together.
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Then cameAhsoka, who, despite appearing inThe MandalorianandThe Book of Boba Fett,her solo series felt more likeStar Wars: RebelsSeason 5. WhileThe Mandalorianbalanced bringing in pre-existing characters and still being new viewer-friendly,Ahsokawas so tied to the events ofRebelsthat people who didn’t watch the 75-episode animated series certainly would be lost.Star Wars: Rebelsmight be available to watch on Disney+ alongsideAhsoka, but that is a big ask for the audience.Lore became the main focus of these series and only hurt them.The MandalorianSeason 3 delved deep into the Mandalorian culture inStar Wars: The Clone Warswhile also retooling the series to fill out plot lines from the scrappedseriesRangers of the New Republic. This madeThe MandalorianSeason 3 different from the previous two seasons and had years of backstory and mythology audiences needed to remember from other series.
Chief Creative Officer at Lucasfilm, Dave Filoni, is treating the Mandoverse likeStar Wars: The Clone Wars, one giant story that jumps between different characters' points of view. That worked forThe Clone Warsbecause it was still one series, but now this is three separate live-action series with a fourth on the way. These limited episode seasons also shift focus from the title characters, with Mando taking over a good portion ofThe Book of Boba Fett. HadAhsoka,The Book of Boba Fett, and the now defunctRangers of the New Republicbeen packaged as one giantStar Warsseries with a rotating cast of characters, this might have helped it not feel so spread out and disjointed so quickly. As it stands, it feels like a lot of homework.
Star Wars' Release Schedule Is Not Working
The MandalorianSeasons 1 and 2 had a year between television series, a standard gap between streaming series.The Book of Boba Fettarrived one year later, in the last week of December 2021. YetThe MandalorianSeason 3 didn’t air until 2023, three years from Season 2. While the character did appear inThe Book of Boba Fett, it still took a long time for audiences to wait. Meanwhile,Ahsokaaired in August 2023, three years after her debut inThe Mandalorian. While it did arrive just a few months afterThe MandalorianSeason 3, it also required viewers to remember her role inThe Mandalorianand, additionally,Star Wars: The Clone WarsandRebels, which had been off the air for years.AhsokaSeason 2is not expected to air until 2026, a three-year gap between Season 1 and 2.These long gaps between seasons make it difficult to maintain audience engagement.
Below is a chart that tracks the Mandoverse series from its premiere on Disney+ to its conclusion and the number of episodes per season.
Premiere Date
Finale Date
Number of Episodes
The MandalorianSeason 1
July 25, 2025
June 04, 2025
The MandalorianSeason 2
July 21, 2025
August 11, 2025
The Book of Boba Fett
August 07, 2025
July 20, 2025
The MandalorianSeason 3
June 13, 2025
July 28, 2025
August 15, 2025
July 31, 2025
Skeleton Crew
August 13, 2025
January 2025
So far, the longest gap is betweenAhsokaandSkeleton Crew, which will amount to 14 months between series. Many viewers might not even realizethatSkeleton Crewis even connectedtoThe Mandalorian,meaning audiences might feel like they won’t see the story continue until 2026. 39 episodes have aired as of this writing, with eight more on the way. This is somehow both a lot of episodes and not enough. It certainly is a lot for someone to catch up on, but over five years isn’t enough to keep someone hooked with the gaps between entries.
By the timeThe Mandalorian & Groguhits theaters, it will have been over a year sinceSkeleton Crewended, three years sinceThe MandalorianSeason 3, and almost seven years since the series debuted. WhileStar Warsmovies before Disney had a three-year gap between films, the rarity made audiences take note of when one was coming. Even following Disney’s purchase ofStar Wars, they released aStar Warsmovie every year with a two-year gap for films in the sequel trilogy that had a spin-off film between them. This long gap is expected between films, buttelevision series risk losing audiences as the longer time passes, they will forget major storylines and plot points and move on to other series.
Star Wars Should Not Be Afraid of New
WhenThe Mandalorianbegan, it was new and exciting. The decision to set it afterReturn of the Jediand beforeThe Force Awakensopened up a whole host of storytelling possibilities with years of material. With Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford being too old to reprise their roles and Carrie Fisher sadly having passed away, the creators would need to craft new exciting characters or give lesser-known characters the spotlight. At first, that is exactly what they did: they created new characters like Din Djarin, Grogu, and Fennec Shand while also expanding roles for characters like Bo-Katan, Boba Fett, and Ahsoka.
Yet the series seems stuck in a rut. Ironically, as the Mandoverse has grown, it has also shrunk. Every conflict is seemingly centered on the same core group of characters, and the main motivation to tell stories is to eitherexplain elements fromThe Rise of Skywalkeror set up an adaptation of Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn novels, but with the Mandoverse characters in the lead roles. While it has been fun to see characters like Cobb Vanth, Black Krrsantan, and Hu-Yang be brought to live-action,the franchise has primarily focused on bringing in previously established characters instead of creating new ones. However,Skeleton Crew,thankfully, will change that. They’ve even squandered the pre-existing characters as they could have put some together to center them as the leads ofRangers of the New Republic, but instead, they scrapped the series afterLucasfilm fired Gina Carano.
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They wouldn’t even let age stop them, as they have nowdigitally de-aged Mark Hamill twiceto return as Luke Skywalker. It now feels like the Mandoverse is sticking with what fans know, sometimes giving them the tiniest morsel, like featuring Cad Bane for less than five minutes of screentime inThe Book of Boba Fett. This stands in sharp contrast to series likeAndorandThe Acolyte, which have pushedStar Warsin new directions. Despite all thecontroversy surroundingThe Acolyte,its decision to explore the High Republic era, which was only seen in novels and comics, madeStar Warsfeel fresh againwith new characters and settings. Series likeAndorhave also shown thatStar Warstelevision can be more than entertaining; it is deep, thoughtful television on par with anything on HBO, Netflix, or Prime Video.
Maybe this is why shifting from Disney+ series to feature films might be the best course of action for the Mandoverse. If they want to make looseadaptations of The Thrawn Trilogy, it is better to make it a movie rather than a television series. They can zero in and eliminate a lot of the padding that has filled up the streaming series likeAhsokaandThe Book of Boba Fettand makeStar Warsfeel big again. It can be a trilogy set between the original and sequel, bridging the gap and making for an even more epicStar Warsviewing experience. The Mandoverse has been fun, but after its feature film, it might be time to say goodbye to this era ofStar Warsfor a few years and try something new.
Then, after it is all over,Star Warscan explore a new era of its series. Films like the upcoming Rey movie andJames Mangold’s first Jedi Knight moviewill takeStar Warsto unexplored moments in the timeline with exciting possibilities. That doesn’t mean it is the end for the Mandoverse, either. Maybe it hasn’t overstayed its welcome, but it just needs some time away to make audiences nostalgic, and then these characters can be revisited.TheStar Warsfranchise is streaming onDisney+.
