Will 'Mandalorian and Grogu' bring excitement back to Star Wars? I rewatched the show to make my best guess

To varying degrees, and with the exception of Acolyte, I've mostly been a fan of the Disney+ Star Wars shows. But I'm excited that Star Wars is going back to where it belongs: the big screen.

The Star Wars universe is vast and ever-expanding. While the TV shows can serve a good purpose by telling focused stories that play a part in the grander machinations of the Star Wars universe (Andor and Kenobi are the best examples of this), the movies are bigger than that. They are broad, sweeping, fast-paced fly-bys that reinvented their respective movie genre by convincing audiences that this universe exists on its own, with its own rules and its own history as we get high-level glimpses of it in action.

The Mandalorian is quite the exceptional show that tries to do both at the same time. If any show is primed for a big-screen adaptation, it's this one. Nerdy tangent: the original script for Kenobi also was written for the big screen as a movie trilogy, then eventually was condensed into the one season we got (with an opening for a Season 2, of course); I liked Kenobi far more than the rest of the Internet, but it wasn't without its problems.

Should I have a new hope (see what I did there?) for the first Star Wars movie in seven years? The Mandalorian Season 1 captures that hard-to-describe Star Wars feel. Mando journeys to multiple planets, encounters new species and monsters, saves a small village from pillagers, outwits another bounty hunter gunning for him, and escapes and defeats a remnant Empire garrison led by Moff Gideon, who possesses the Darksaber and wants to capture "The Child," known to the masses at the time as Baby Yoda (his real name is Grogu, which obviously isn't really a spoiler anymore). It had elements of that serialized "threat of the week" structure, but it built upon itself by the end in clever, yet simple and organic ways. It was a near-perfect season that tied the characters and disparate storylines together cohesively. Season 2 certainly had some of that broadness in its story-telling structure working in its favor, but it started going down a path that explored previously established corners of the galaxy in depth (mostly from The Clone Wars and Rebels), building out the Mandalorian culture and setting up the tension between the two intra-Mandalorian factions and the impending war along the way. It wasn't an overwhelming level of nerdiness for those who hadn't watched the previous related content. Season 3, however, doubled down and crossed that threshold of alienating non-core fans, shifting focus away from Din Djarin and onto Bo Katan and more of the already established stories and lore from several other mediums.

So the million-dollar question is which direction will the movie go?

In an era of streaming TV, cinematic universes, spin-offs/sequels/franchises, and a plethora of blogs masquerading themselves as nerdy news sites (that built themselves on copying each other's work) that try to expound on what every last little Easter Egg in every movie might mean, it isn't totally unfair for Disney to expect its audience to have watched the three Mandalorian seasons before going into the movie. But will that be all Mandalorian and Grogu will build on? Heck, the trailer alone has revealed several Hutt characters that were in shows like The Book of Boba Fett and The Clones Wars. So there seems like there will be homework for everyone to do before or after seeing the movie if they want to engage at a deep level. Speaking of the Hutts, I wonder how they took the news of their uncle's demise. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some relic from the wreckage of Jabba's sail barge that Luke and company destroyed early in Return of the Jedi.

To give hope to fans on the other end of the spectrum who know little to nothing going into the movie, the end of Season 3 served as a nice clean break from the overall story arc. Djarin and Grogu are chilling on Navarro, ready for freelance work from the New Republic. It's the perfect reset needed to allow the movie to start its own arc without needing to continue any major storylines from other shows.

The bigger monkey wrench to all this is what is happening in other shows, and what that all might mean in grander scheme right now, especially with President Kathleen Kennedy on her way out and Dave Filoni ready to take the reigns as Chief Creative Officer for Star Wars.

One of Filoni's babies, Ahsoka, really opened up the Star Wars universe in a new way by revealing a new galaxy entirely, bringing Thrawn back to the main Star Wars galaxy, and setting up what I think will turn into an origin story for The First Order, which we see in full force during the sequel trilogy. Rewatching the last episodes of Mandalorian Seasons 2 and 3 was a good reminder of how many times Giddeon and other Imperials blatantly divulged their plan to usher in a "new order" for the galaxy, begging the audience to associate that with the sequel trilogy. There are 30 years in between the end of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Rey, Ben Solo, The First Order, The Resistance, none of that is around. Yet, the seeds in several stories that connect to the sequel trilogies have already been planted. The Empire is a shell of its former self, but it's still around. Scientists want to find Grogu for their immortality program (which will explain how Palpatine returns in Rise of Skywalker). With Moff Gideon gone, however, the remnants of the Empire will need a new leader. This is where Thrawn enters the chat.

This all might sound like too many expectations are being set for this movie, but The Mandalorian and Ahsoka take place at the same in the Star Wars timeline, so it only makes sense to connect them all eventually, right? Regardless of how you feel about the sequel trilogy, it would be kind of cool to see the transition unfold.

The problem with this is the same problem Star Wars has had for a long time. Rather than moving the universe forward to stories to which we do not know the ending, a lot of Disney's projects, plot threads, and geeky moments all seem to simply serve as a way to justify something else that has already happened in the Star Wars universe. Palpatine returning in Rise of Skywalker is one of the most meme-ified moment in the sequel trilogy, but I suspect Disney would be lame enough to spend time explaining how the Empire made that happen, as if somehow that will justify the decision to bring him back and will retroactively amend the sour taste in Star Wars fans' mouths after the brilliant "Somehow Palpatine returned," line.

Don't get me wrong, filling in gaps can be cool if done right, but unless Tony Gilroy is involved like he was with Rogue One and Andor, that probably won't work well.

Despite all the possibilities, my biggest fear is that Mandalorian and Grogu won't do any of that; rather, I predict Disney will just go the opposite direction and give us a movie that feels like an isolated, extended episode of the show. Djarin probably will lose Grogu again and will need to fight off another villain or creature of the week, with no implications to what's coming next and no effects on the current era during which these Star Wars projects take place. With the aforementioned leadership change within Disney, I wouldn't be surprised if Mandalorian and Grogu ends up being one-off side story that doesn't really lead into anything else. At most, I'd guess they may just elude, in the simplest ways, to what might be coming in future projects (Thrawn has to show up eventually, right?).

Another angle I fear won't turn into a strong storyline is the maturation of Grogu. Look, everyone loves Grogu, right? He's adorable, he eats things he shouldn't, and he occasionally does some cool Force stuff that surprises and delights. He and Djarin have a strong bond. But unless Luke becomes a much bigger focus of the story, Grogu likely will be the only Force sensitive character of significance. And he is still a baby by his species' standards. He's not going to wield a lightsaber. Grogu isn't around in the sequel trilogy, so it's hard to be optimistic that Grogu could have a significant role in the plans beyond serving as a character for kids to latch onto.

I'm not saying Mandalorian and Grogu is dead in the water already. I am optimistic it will be fun time. But I doubt this is going to reinvigorate the franchise. As long as it's a good movie that is faithful to the Star Wars universe, I'd be okay with that as of now.

With all of that rambling out of the way, here is what I'm predicting we will see or not see in the movie:

More of the same: This movie is poised to feel like a longer episode of the show. They won't have nearly the time needed to truly begin fleshing out the open-ended storylines of Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett, or Ahsoka, even though that's what most hardcore Star Wars fans want at this point (give us the Heir to the Empire already!). The fact is they kind of have their hands tied with this one. They can't guarantee the people who will see the movie have seen all the shows (especially because the show's viewership numbers are not strong with the Force at all). So they mostly need to stay away from that, which means no Mandalore development, no Thrawn, probably not even Luke Skywalker (I really hope I'm wrong about all of this, though).

Allusions to the Sequel Trilogy: Disney constantly produces Star Wars content while on the backfoot. Instead of moving the story and franchise forward, they just end up wasting time justifying something about their sequel trilogy. I wouldn't be surprised if we get mentions of the new weapon we see the First Order used at the end of The Force Awakens. I also wouldn't be surprised if Exegol - the planet on which Palpatine returns - is mentioned. Seeing Snoke come back would be cool, at least.

No Ahsoka or Thrawn: The end of Ahsoka got me hyped that eventually we will see everything in the Star Wars timeline truly feel connected. Thrawn undoubtedly will serve as the main enemy, while Ahsoka and possibly Luke Skywalker will be heroes for the New Republic. But I would be shocked if any of that comes to fruition in Mandalorian and Grogu.

Cool gadgets: In the Season 2 premiere, there's a scene in which Mando stays calm while a fresh group of small alien gangsters seemingly have him cornered, but he quickly launches a well-timed volley of tiny seeker missiles from his gear to wipe out of his foes in two seconds. I want more of that. I want big-budget tricks and slick, new weapons that give me the same feeling I had when the first seismic charge detonated in space after Jengo Fett attacked Obi-Wan in Attack of the Clones.

Better action scenes: There were a few action scenes here and there that were explosively fun, but I painfully felt the constraints of a TV show budget many times. The actors move too slowly, the impact of each swing of a blade, saber, or other melee weapon is muted and sluggish, and the lack of zip from the cinematography and editing really struggled to hide how fake and empty the sets were during these crucial scenes. The music also felt lackluster in most of these scenes.

Some little things to remember going into the movie:

-Din Djarin adopts Grogu in the Season 3 finale in the scene at the pool of the Living Waters. Djarin names Grogu his apprentice.

-The Mandalorian clans seem to be united, with Bo Katan leading the charge into a new Mandalorian age.

-Mando's Razor Crest ship was blown to smithereens near the end of Season 2, but he ends up with a hybrid Naboo fighter ship made just for him.

-Zeb, one of the main characters in the show Rebels, made a cameo appearance in the finale. And with Season 1 of Ahsoka long completed (and Season 2 apparently due next year), it would make sense if more Rebels characters briefly appear in Mandalorian and Grogu, especially if they are building up to something bigger in a crossover-like event that involves Thrawn. My guess is characters like Zeb or Hera Syndulla will appear just long enough to hint at what they'll be doing in the next show they appear in.