Here we are, less than one week away from the third-season premiere of Lucasfilm’s live-action series The Mandalorian on Disney+. And as usual, I’ve got a list of demands– sorry, I mean hopes and wishes for characters, locations, and concepts I’m crossing my fingers will show up sometime over the next two months’ worth of Star Wars content.
So without further ado, I present to you my list of ten things from previous Star Wars media that I’d love to see in The Mandalorian season 3. (Note: I’m not including anything we already know is in the season from the trailers, such as Peli Motto, Anzellans, and Bo-Katan Kryze. I hope it goes without saying that I’m also excited to see those things again.)
1 – Boba Fett and Fennec Shand – I think this one’s kind of a no-brainer, but I’m including it anyway. We know Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and little Grogu will be visiting Tatooine once again, and considering a big chunk of The Book of Boba Fett was devoted to continuing the narrative of The Mandalorian, I hope this series is thoughtful enough to return the favor. Who wouldn’t enjoy seeing actors Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen return to these roles again?
2 – Mon Mothma – This is my big prediction for who Captain Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) is talking to in the trailer. It only makes sense that Mothma would be present as a key figure in the fledgling New Republic around this era in the timeline, and what better way to have Genevieve O’Reilly play an aged-up version of the role in more Star Wars content after her appealing, captivating turns in Rogue One, Star Wars Rebels, and– especially– Andor?
3 – Cobb Vanth – Sure, the gunslinging marshal of Mos Pelgo was gunned down by bounty hunter Cad Bane in The Book of Boba Fett, but a last-minute scene in that series’ finale revealed that he had survived and was healing up in a nice Bacta bath. I don’t see why Timothy Olyphant’s convalescing character couldn’t pop up to help out Din Djarin once again at some point over season 3’s forthcoming eight episodes.
4 – Mount Tantiss – From The Rise of Skywalker we know that the Empire (and eventual First Order) had been working on a cloning program for some time in order to preserve and reinstate the reign of Emperor Sheev Palpatine. That idea has been expanded upon in the animated series Star Wars: The Bad Batch and also hinted at in The Mandalorian season 2, so I think it would be pretty cool to visit the clandestine location where this secret project is actually going down. Mount Tantiss, on the planet Weyland, is where the cloning project was relocated after the destruction of Kamino, and we caught a glimpse of it in The Bad Batch. How neat would it be to see it in live-action?
5 – Migs Mayfeld – Rewatching seasons 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian this past week, I was reminded of what an impressive, fairly unexpected performance actor/comedian Bill Burr gave in his role as an ex-Imperial sharpshooter turned criminal. Mando and Cara Dune set Mayfeld free from imprisonment at the end of the episode “The Believer” as thanks for his help in retrieving Grogu, so it’s possible he may turn up again as a free man this time around.
6 – An Explanation for Cara Dune’s Absence – I don’t have a huge problem with Cara Dune not being around anymore, considering the behind-the-scenes commotion that led to actress Gina Carano’s departure from the series. But I would like to see the show acknowledge and explain Dune’s absence, especially since the second season made such a big deal of her becoming a marshal for the New Republic. This would have likely paid off in the announced spinoff series Star Wars: Rangers of the New Republic, but Lucasfilm has been tight-lipped about the status of that project.
7 – Ahsoka Tano and/or Grand Admiral Thrawn – Speaking of backdoor pilots from The Mandalorian season 2, the episode The Jedi introduced us to Rosario Dawson’s take on former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, and then she was spotted hanging out with Luke Skywalker in The Book of Boba Fett. I’m going to assume they’ll want another appearance here in season 3 to further set up Tano’s quest for Grand Admiral Thrawn (heck, it’d be pretty sweet to see him too) in the upcoming Disney+ series Star Wars: Ahsoka.
8 – Batuu and/or the Halcyon Starcruiser – I asked for this from The Book of Boba Fett and didn’t get it, so I’m reiterating my request this year. I’d be totally fine with / actually really excited by the corporate synergy on display if the planet Batuu from Disney Parks’ themed land Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, or the Halcyon Starcruiser from Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser at Walt Disney World, showed up in one of these series. It doesn’t necessarily have to be here in The Mandalorian, but come on. Please give me Dok-Ondar and his Den of Antiquities in live-action storytelling.
9 – A Helmetless Din Djarin – I think we all understand by now that a major advantage of the “helmet on” policy Din Djarin and the Armorer’s Mandalorian sect (The Children of the Watch, as we learned it was called) was not needing actor Pedro Pascal to be on set all the time. He was free to pursue other projects, show up every once in a while when Mando took his helmet off, and record his voice-over later on in the process. But now that Pascal has starred in a season’s worth of the post-apocalyptic zombie drama The Last of Us on HBO, I think it’s high time for Djarin to remove his helmet on a semi-permanent basis. I understand why he keeps it on for fights, but he’s already broken the code and become an outcast, so why is he sticking to those outdated rules? Let’s give Pedro some serious face time this year.
10 – Han Solo – Okay, this one is by far the most out-there entry on my wish list, but my feelings on this idea at this point are “Why not?” I think we can all agree that the digital technology used to bring a younger Luke to life was vastly improved for The Book of Boba Fett, and Harrison Ford seems poised to prove he can play a much more youthful version of himself in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, so I’d say it’s Han’s time to shine in this post-Return of the Jedi period of the larger Star Wars timeline.
The Mandalorian season 3 premieres Wednesday, March 1st, exclusively on Disney+.