The Mandalorian And Grogu Could Usher In A Welcome New Era For Star Wars

The wait is nearly over: "Star Wars" is about to make its return to the big screen in just a matter of months. "The Mandalorian and Grogu" just got a fun new trailer, one that finally gives fans of the franchise a better sense of what this movie is actually going to be. Put simply, it looks like director Jon Favreau is taking what he did on "The Mandalorian" and making it bigger. That's probably a good idea, in light of the show's popularity. But it also could signal the start of a whole new era for "Star Wars" storytelling, particularly on the movie side of things.

It's been more than six years since a "Star Wars" film graced the silver screen in the form of the rather complicated $1 billion hit "The Rise of Skywalker." At various points in time, this wouldn't have been all that unusual. But when Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012, that seemed unfathomable. It felt very much like a galaxy far, far away was going to be in a theater near you every year, if not every other year. But there was a pretty big problem with that plan, and it was quick to reveal itself.

"The Force Awakens" was a genuinely monumental pop cultural event in 2015 because it brought more than "Star Wars" back; it also brought back the original trilogy's stars and the promise of much more to come. A year later, "Rogue One" was able to turn two lines of text into a billion-dollar hit that remains loved to this day. Then things got tricky.

Without reopening the larger conversation, "The Last Jedi" was unquestionably intensely divisive, and "Solo" bombed at the box office right after that. It turned out that making "Star Wars" movies cultural events every year wasn't tenable.

When Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4 billion, it was crystal clear from the beginning that "Star Wars" was no longer going to be an occasional thing in the broader pop cultural sphere. Instead, it was going to become more all-encompassing than ever before. On top of the video games, comic books, novels, merchandise, and animated shows that already existed outside of the movies, we were also going to get theme parks and live-action TV series. Most importantly, "Star Wars" films were going to become a regular thing.

With that, the ability to treat every "Star Wars" movie like a game-changing cultural event was never going to be possible. But much as "The Mandalorian" season 1 proved that live-action "Star Wars" could work on TV back in 2019, "The Mandalorian and Grogu" now has the chance to demonstrate that this franchise can be both effective while also not having to shoulder the weight of the world every time it steps up to plate.

That's probably a big reason why quite a few "Star Wars" movies have been canceled by Disney and/or Lucasfilm over the last decade. If these films couldn't rise to that level, especially after "Solo" bombed, it felt like giving it the green light was difficult. What this new movie represents is a chance to lower the stakes for the property as a whole and allow it to exist on new terms.

That doesn't mean "The Mandalorian and Grogu" won't have stakes or that "Star Wars" movies can't ever be massive events. It just means that they don't have to rise to that standard every single time. It wouldn't be unlike how Marvel has its solo films and "Avengers" movies, which are the true events.

That doesn't mean that "Star Wars" event movies have to be big crossovers like "Avengers" films, it just means that some will feel bigger than others. Maybe the new "Star Wars" movie trilogy Simon Kinberg is developing for Lucasfilm will be an event-level thing (or perhaps the planned Rey film starring Daisy Ridley will rise to that level).

At the same time, stuff like "Star Wars: Starfighter" can and should take the franchise somewhere different. Directed by Shawn Levy, it stars Ryan Gosling as a new protagonist, takes place in an unexplored spot on the timeline, and has no legacy characters. As such, "Starfighter" has the potential to feel fresh and exciting while also not being burdened with the expectation that it has to launch a new trilogy and "be a generational moment." It can just be, ideally, a good "Star Wars" movie, plain and simple.

Granted, "Star Wars" needs to make some changes under Lucasfilm's new leadership. President Kathleen Kennedy is out, with former Chief Creative Officer Dave Filoni ("The Clone Wars") handling the creative while Lynwen Brennan, the former President and General Manager of Lucasfilm Business, handling the executive side. Both behind the scenes and on screen, things are changing.

Granted, there was a time when any new "Star Wars" movie felt like the biggest deal on the planet, but that simply can't be the case with the beast as it exists now. That doesn't mean this franchise can't still be big, fun, and viable. It just means the way we look at it, and the way Lucasfilm looks at it, can and should shift. This is the way, as it were.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" hits theaters on May 22, 2026.