One of the biggest events on the 2026 movie calendar has to be the release of The Mandalorian & Grogu. The film will mark the first big-screen Star Wars adventure since the release of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, and after many false starts for the film side of the franchise, it looks like we’ll finally return to a steady stream of content with Star Wars: Starfighter and the new Daisy Ridley-led film seemingly moving forward.
Beyond the short term, little is known about what Lucasfilm is planning for Star Wars on the big screen. However, a new rumor claims that there’s a plan to put together several Star Wars movies into a new storyline that is taking inspiration from The Mandalorian. It’s an idea which is certainly intriguing, but one that I’m not convinced is the right way to go.
How The New Star Wars Movies Will Take Inspiration From The Mandalorian
The rumor comes from serial scooper Daniel Ritchman (via SFFGazette) a guy who, while he doesn’t have a perfect track record, has certainly been right in the past. According to him, the plan is for the Daisy Ridley-led film, which will see Rey as a Jedi Master, set approximately 15 years following the events of Rise of Skywalker, to be the first of a series of films set in the same period. Each one would introduce new characters and stories, which would ultimately lead to a major “event” film that would bring characters back from the past.
This sounds very similar to the upcoming Star Wars movie set to be directed by Dave Filoni that we know is coming. The Mandalorian launched a franchise on Disney+ that led to spinoffs, including The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka. In addition to next year’s The Mandalorian & Grogu, we know there are plans for another movie that will act as a culmination of the “Mandoverse” that will see the heroes from all the various shows come together.
Star Wars’ Reported Plan Could Work, But I’m Not Convinced
Since it appears that all of the projects associated with this new part of the Star Wars franchise are being planned as big screen films, the idea seems like it might be more similar to Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe than it would be to The Mandalorian. That concept was absolutely successful, so it’s understandable why Star Wars might be eyeing such a thing.
However, while I’m not entirely against this as a concept, I am a bit concerned about such a plan being hammered out now, as there are a lot of reasons that it might not be the way to go. At least, not right now.
First off, even the MCU is currently struggling. It’s unclear if audiences are just done with the cinematic universe concept, or if there’s a specific problem with this universe, but considering that most attempts at serialized storytelling on the big screen have failed to do as well, there’s no guarantee that Star Wars fans, or movie fans in general, are looking for this.
Beyond that, Star Wars' track record on the big screen has been a problem. While all things seem to be moving in the right direction now, we’ve seen numerous planned Star Wars movies fall apart before they even made it in front of cameras. If that happens here, your major project could collapse, or at the very least, see such significant delays between chapters that the audience loses interest.
It also needs to be said that we have yet to see The Mandalorian & Grogu, or Dave Filoni’s big “Mandoverse” event movie. Especially given the state of theaters, we can’t guarantee those movies will be big successes. If they’re not, for whatever reason, then they clearly shouldn’t be used as models for other projects.
I’m excited to see the new Star Wars on the big screen, and anything that expands the galaxy far, far away in a way that introduces new stories, characters and worlds is ok with me. I’m not against building a cinematic universe (cinematic galaxy?), but I’m far from sure now is the right time to do it.
