Ever since The Mandalorian Season 2 (“Chapter 16: The Rescue”) ended with the epic return of Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker, Star Wars fans have been clamoring for details about Season 3 of Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni’s hit series.
In the Season 2 finale, Skywalker swooped in with his X-wing to rescue bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), Grogu, Cara Dune (Gina Carano), Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff), Koska Reeves (Sasha Banks), and Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) from certain doom onboard Moff Gideon’s (Giancarlo Esposito) Imperial starship.
Then, many Mandalorian stars returned in The Book of Boba Fett, setting up the basis for the third season of the popular Disney+ Original show.
Filoni’s episode, “Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger,” in particular, orchestrated the returns of Skywalker (CGI Mark Hamill/Graham Hamilton) — who officially interacted with his father’s Padawan, Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), for the first time — Grogu himself, and Marshal Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant).
Most Star Wars fans online were thrilled, calling the installment a “fever dream.”
Djarin had previously made his return in Bryce Dallas Howard’s aptly titled, “Chapter 5: The Return of the Mandalorian.”
Speculation about when the third season of the series will debut has run rampant, with initial reports indicating a December 2022 or early 2023 release date. Then, however, actor Giancarlo Esposito (Moff Gideon) indicated that Star Wars fans could expect the show as early as this summer.
Now, Star Wars has confirmed to Vanity Fair when exactly The Mandalorian Season 3 will debut — and it appears the the original speculation was correct. Per the magazine’s online article, “Season three of The Mandalorian returns in late 2022 or early 2023.”
Although Favreau and Filoni have remained characteristically tight-lipped about the third season of The Mandalorian overall, we do know that Pascal, Esposito, Katee Sackhoff (Bo-Katan Kryze), and Carl Weathers (Greef Karga) will all return, and that filming has reportedly wrapped.
Furthermore, it is expected that the ongoing Darksaber storyline will play a key role in the show.
Djarin currently wields the black-bladed weapon after winning a battle against Paz Vizsla (voiced by Jon Favreau) in The Book of Boba Fett. Both Kryze and Gideon, however, also have their sights set on the ancient Mandalorian blade.
Djarin and Grogu will likely stage their return to the former’s home world, Mandalore, so the beskar-clad bounty hunter can attempt to atone for breaking “the Way” and removing his helmet by visiting the “living waters” under the planet’s destroyed mines.
