The Mandalorian Season 4 is officially happening, but given how conclusive the Season 3 finale felt, some viewers understandably feared the worst for the future of the Star Wars series.
The latest season of The Mandalorian ended on April 19, and the finale seemed to wrap up three seasons worth of storylines to date. However, back in May 2022, showrunner Jon Favreau already confirmed that he was already writing the fourth season.
When he shared the news, Favreau also teased that there were more crossovers in the future of Din Djarin and Grogu. "As Dave [Filoni]'s doing Ahsoka, it's very much informing the writing that I'm doing for season four," he said.
With Filoni planning to direct a new Star Wars movie set in the New Republic era that'll serve as the culmination of all the stories to date, it makes sense that the third season of The Mandalorian wrapped up all loose ends. No further details have been revealed about Filoni's movie, so it might take a while before it's released in theaters. According to rumors, the movie event is still a few years away, and probably not before the release of The Mandalorian Season 4.
But when is The Mandalorian Season 4 coming to Disney+? And what will happen next? Here's everything you need to know about The Mandalorian Season 4, but before you scroll down, here's a friendly warning that there are major spoilers ahead for the Season 3 finale.
The Mandalorian Season 4 Potential Release Date
Even though we know that The Mandalorian Season 4 is coming to Disney+, Lucasfilm and Disney haven't officially confirmed a release date yet.
The first season premiered in November 2019, and Season 2 premiered in October 2020. However, the third season was delayed until March 2023, and it looks like Season 4 will take more than a year (from the previous season's conclusion) to arrive on Disney+.
Due to the writers' and actors' strikes in Hollywood this year, production may have been delayed from its September 2023 start date (via Deadline) even though the scripts are reportedly done.
"I know that Jon has written the scripts. I know he's excited about continuing to tell stories in this world, and so when and how that happens, considering everything, we'll see," executive producer Rick Famuyiwa said during an interview with Deadline. "It's certainly coming, I just don't know exactly when."
In another interview with Collider, Famuyiwa talked more about the production process of Season 4. "I'd be shocked if they just stopped making them at this point.
"But yeah, I think that just the way shows come together, and the process around the shows, I know that they're deep into starting the prep and the pre-production process. Now exactly when it goes to lens and things start to shoot, I don't know…"
While the writers have already ended their five-month strike, after the union reached an agreement with the studios, the SAG-AFTRA actors' strike is not over yet. If the actors union reaches an agreement with the studios before the end of 2023, it's likely that The Mandalorian Season 4 will begin filming as previously planned, so we could expect it to premiere on Disney+ in 2024, probably around Q4.
We will update this page with a specific premiere date once Disney and Lucasfilm officially announce it.
The Mandalorian Season 4 Plot
The finale of The Mandalorian Season 3 felt more like the show's final season than something that set up the story for the next season.
After the defeat of Moff Gideon, Din Djarin adopted Grogo as his son, and because of this, Grogu is now Din Grogu and the apprentice of a Mandalorian. The duo went back to Nevarro, where Greef Karga gave them a cabin outside of town to reside in. The third season concludes with Din Djarin and Grogu settling in their new home.
The fourth season has a relatively clean slate to start off from, and we can expect the series going forward to build to Dave Filoni's upcoming Star Wars movie.
After the announcement at Star Wars Celebration, Filoni talked to Variety about what will connect all the Star Wars series on Disney+ to date into the film.
"On a base level, I would just say the coming conflict, the growing idea that the empire wasn't as defeated as a lot of people want to believe and that the remnant is out there," he said. "We saw that from the very beginning with The Mandalorian and how Gideon was plotting. There are always people that are willing to undermine something that the Republic is trying to build and put back on its feet.
Filoni added: "I grew up with a lot of stories in the expanding universe that were exploring what happened after Return of the Jedi. There has been this, for fans, idea that there was a new Republic and a remnant Empire and the conflict persisted after Return of the Jedi, even though the heroes won and were more in control. What did that control look like?
"And since Force Awakens is 30 years on out from Return of the Jedi, we have room then to tell another story. That's what I'm coalescing into this time period."
The Mandalorian Season 4 Cast: Who will return?
Din Djarin and Grogu are still alive at the end of The Mandalorian Season 3, so expect Pedro Pascal reprise his role in Season 4. Other heroes also suvived the finale, and now that Mandalore is back in the control of the Mandalorians, it's likely that we will see more of Emily Swallow as The Armorer, Simon Kassianides as Axe Woves, and Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan Kryze among others.
Other potential returns in the fourth season include Amy Sedaris as Peli Motto, Carl Weathers as Greef Karga, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Carson Teva. However, they haven't been confirmed yet.
Giancarlo Esposito will likely not return as Moff Gideon, considering that his character burned to death.
Will The Mandalorian Season 4 be the last?
According to Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian Season 4 will not be the end of the main show.
"I think the beauty of this is that it's a middle chapter of a much larger story," Favreau told Total Film (via DenofGeek). "And though we'll have resolution over time with these characters, I think that how these characters fit into the larger scope and scale, but it's not like there's a finale that we're building to that I have in mind.
"Quite the contrary, I love for these stories to go on and on. And so these characters potentially could be with us for a while, and I really love telling stories in their voice, and I love the way the adventures unfold and I'm looking forward to doing much more."
Assuming that the fourth season doesn't wrap things up, Favreau seems to hint that there are many more adventures ahead for Din and Grogu on Disney+ (and presumably in movie theaters).
Is there already a trailer for The Mandalorian Season 4?
Unfortunately, Star Wars fans will probably have to wait for months before Lucasfilm and Disney release the first teaser trailer for The Mandalorian Season 4. Even though Jon Favreau has been writing the next season since May 2022, it hasn't started filming yet, so it'll probably take a while before we see any new footages from the upcoming season.
Of course, we will share the trailer here once it's officially released.
The first three seasons of The Mandalorian are available to stream on Disney+.
