The last several episodes of The Bad Batch have been the best of the show’s second season and really put a lot of balls in the air for the audience to keep track of as it quickly reaches its two-part finale next week. Doctor Royce Hemlock was brought in as the creepy, new big bad, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech and Omega seemed to find themselves a safe haven and Crosshair finally saw the light. Though it was all pretty by the book, Episode 14, Tipping Point, did its best to redirect all the balls in the air in the same direction ahead of the season’s end.
The episode had the unenviable job of ensuring all the key players would make it to the stadium on time for next week’s dual episodes, The Summit and Plan 99. Rex and Echo’s mission to rescue wayward and discarded clones led them to encounter a ship transporting several clone prisoners and a commander who was in a huge hurry to delete any and all information concerning where they were headed and why. Echo recovered what he could which led him to Pabu where he needed Tech’s help to decrypt what he had which led the whole happy family to discover Crosshair was now a prisoner of Doctor Hemlock and had sent them a warning and now all the disparate threads are heading toward denouement. As I said, by the book… but it works.
While Hemlock’s plans for the clones are still a bit mysterious, the show overtly foreshadowed that the audience will find soon enough. During his meeting with Hemlock, Tarkin tells the doctor he expects a “full briefing at the summit.” While it’s unclear what the summit is, who will be there and where it will be held, it is clear that Episode 15 is titled The Summit which means Hemlock will likely get to monologue about his intentions for the decommissioned clones. Whatever his plans may be, Omega seems key to them and Crosshair’s warning to the rest of Clone Force 99 seems as though it will place Omega directly in harm’s way. But is Emerie Karr fully on board with Hemlock’s plans?
Though the ending of Tipping Point does its best to make it unclear if Hunter and company will put together a rescue mission for Crosshair, it wouldn’t be The Bad Batch if Clone Force 99 didn’t band together to rescue one of their own. What is unclear, however, is just what the cost will be for the group who had begun to settle in a coalesce as a family and what they’ll find waiting for them when they go up against the sheisty and crafty Doctor Hemlock.
As expected, Chapter 20 of The Mandalorian, The Foundling, did indeed continue to provide further glimpses into the tragic past of Grogu; additionally, despite its short runtime it also managed to further develop the increasingly interesting arc of Bo-Katan Kryze. The episode, written by Dave Filoni and directed by Carl Weathers, also serves as a reminder of how good fans of Star Wars have it these days. Packed with Mandalorians screaming across the sky in their jet packs while taking on a giant bird of prey, The Foundling features the kind of action fans of the original trilogy only dreamt of as children of the ’70s and ’80s.
It’s important for the audience of the series to keep in mind that, to some extent, The Mandalorian was borne of the dreams of a pair of ’70s and ’80s children. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni grew up fans of the original trilogy, playing with their Kenner toys and imagining all the stories that George Lucas didn’t have time to tell in those films. Those imaginings have grown and with age and practice in storytelling have become the foundations of a world unto itself–a world within the world they grew up adoring–where dozens of Mandalorians are training, unbeknownst to them at the moment, to take back their ancestral homeworld. That homeworld that feels so familiar, the cultural rifts that fractured it and that make Bo-Katan’s adoption by the Tribe feel so awkward, and all the mythology that goes along with it…for the most part, that’s Favreau and Filoni building an empire on a few bread crumbs.
Now a member of the Children of the Watch and, apparently, taking that privilege very seriously, Bo-Katan’s progress is the true center of the episode. Though Katee Sackhoff recently indicated that Bo-Katan might be just fine following rather than leading, the character, by her own admission, has always been good at war. And so, Bo-Katan eagerly led a war party into battle against a massive and incredibly Star Wars-y raptor to save the life of Ragnar, a Mandalorian foundling and the son of Paz Vizsla. It shouldn’t be lost on the audience that clans Kryze and Vizsla were among the most prominent and powerful of Mandalore’s past. Though Paz and the rest of the Children of the Watch never accepted Bo-Katan’s claim as ruler of Mandalore, a potential alliance between the two–and all the different twists and turns it might provide room for–will be worth watching.
Bo-Katan’s time in battle also allowed her to spend some one-on-one time with the Armorer as she replaced her shoulder pauldron. After seeing the mythosaur in Chapter 18, Bo-Katan had, until now, chosen to keep that information to herself. As Sackhoff explained in an interview, the character wasn’t entirely sure she believed what she saw and, therefore, was hesitant to share out.
She doesn’t trust necessarily what she saw. She might have thought that she imagined it. There’s so many things that she’s trying to process in her head that I don’t necessarily think that it’s something that she wants to tell anyone about right now.
Katee Sackhoff
By choosing to reveal what she saw to the Armorer while also choosing to adorn her new pauldron with the mythosaur signet, Bo-Katan is making the choice to commit to the covert…and The Way. While there’s still likely to be plenty of awkward moments, Bo-Katan has come a long, long way since she was seen pouting on her throne as the ruler of nothing.
While Bo-Katan’s journey was the meat, The Foundling also provided some potatoes by revealing a little more about how Grogu survived the massacre at the Jedi Temple following Order 66. As he’s apt to do, Filoni brought a non-canon character into the canon, this time in the form of Jedi Kelleran Beq. Played by Jar Jar Binks voice actor Ahmed Best, Beq was the host and main character of the now-canceled game show Star Wars: Jedi Temple Challenge. Beq’s rescue of Grogu gave the character a chance to show off the legendary lightsaber skills that earned him the nickname “The Sabered Hand” as he worked with some of Naboo’s finest to get youngling Gorgu off Coruscant. However, as Favreau recently indicated that he could go on making seasons of The Mandalorian forever, the episode left plenty of room to tell more of Grogu’s journey as this portion ended with him and Beq escaping into hyperspace.
The advancements to Grogu’s plot in real time are more significant, however. Having chosen to return to Din Djarin as a Mandalorian foundling, Grogu now has to learn what it means to walk The Way of The Mand’alor. And so, the episode sees Grogu begin his training by going up against fellow foundling Ragnar. Grogu uses The Force to help him defeat Ragnar in his training exercise shortly before Ragnar is picked off by the raptor. While there wasn’t much time to explore his feelings, it’s likely that Ragnar didn’t take too kindly to the defeat. While he hasn’t been developed much, Ragnar has had quite a bit of screentime which means his story–and how it intersects with Grogu’s–is certainly not done.
The Foundling certainly has all the earmarks of an episode that will undoubtedly pay major dividends down the road. For all the preemptive hand-wringing online about the episode’s short runtime, Chapter 20 of The Mandalorian may ultimately be remembered as a key chapter in the series.
As the third season of The Mandalorian approaches the halfway point, preparations for production of a fourth season are already underway. Jon Favreau has confirmed he’s written the scripts for Season 4, which is reportedly shooting this Fall, which will continue to tale of Din Djarin and his Mandalorian foundling, Grogu. But how long will that tale continue? According to Favreau, forever is on the table.
In an interview with EW, Favreau was asked how many seasons of the show he could potentially create. “I’m having a blast, and I love working with Dave [Filoni], and I love how the characters develop over time,” he said. “I also love that there are other stories now being told in that same time period, like Ahsoka and Skeleton Crew.“ Those shows, set in the same New Republic era as The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett, look set to play major roles in whatever overarching story Favreau has in mind for Grogu and Din and working with the creators of those shows has been integral to his continued enjoyment behind the scenes of The Mandalorian.
I really have been enjoying this tremendously and I love these characters and I love seeing how they’re growing together. I’ve really enjoyed working with this group of people and I love collaborating with all these different filmmakers and different storytellers, both from the directors we work with, and other showrunners like Dave and, and others like [Skeleton Crew’s] Jon Watts and Chris Ford.
Jon Favreau
Favreau further explained that his timeline for wrapping up The Mandalorian is pretty deeply tied to how much he enjoys making it and it sounds like he’s having the time of his life.
I don’t know what would make me not enjoy doing it, especially as long as the audience is connecting with these characters. This feels like a really enjoyable moment. And I love this format of telling one chapter at a time and keeping the audience guessing, but also fulfilling certain expectations.
Jon Favreau
The enjoyment of the audience and their knowledge of the goings on in the galaxy far, far away obviously carry some weight with Favreau and are taken into consideration when developing the stories that shape this corner of the Star Wars universe.
Now it feels like there’s a larger context for me to understand. Because we just knew what happened after [The Mandalorian], and we knew what happened before, and there’s a lot to draw upon from additional stories that were told outside of what’s considered official canon now, but is held very dearly to the fans who’ve been at it for decades. And so we like to take all of that into consideration.
Jon Favreau
Creating new characters and stories that continue to world build one of the most popular and successful franchises in the world on a week-by-week basis certainly wasn’t what anyone expected following the completion of the sequel trilogy, but it is what’s working best for Lucasfilm with Star Wars right now. And, more importantly, Favreau and the talented crew of collaborators he’s assembled enjoy it and keep coming back for more.
It’s a really wonderful format, and you really grow to appreciate having such a good team around you that, for each new film, you would have to assemble. But [with The Mandalorian] we get to inherit this great group of talented people that we could work with every year.
Jon Favreau
It sounds as though the tales of Grogu and Din are in good hands and will continue to be spun for the foreseeable future.
Even though it feels small sometimes, the galaxy far, far away is a vast place full of incredible characters. Not every character needs an origin story and there’s not enough time to explore the origins of them all anyway; however, since he first appeared in Chapter 1 of The Mandalorian, fans have been waiting for the origin story of The Child/Baby Yoda/The Foundling/Grogu. Through bits and pieces of that story glimpsed through the Force, it is clear that Grogu was at the Jedi Temple when Order 66 was enacted but where he came from and the details of how he escaped the massacre have been left untold. But that may be changing soon…
In a recent tweet, The Mandalorian star Carl Weathers revealed that he returned behind the camera to direct Chapter 20 of the ongoing series and shared the title: The Foundling. That’s just one of the names Grogu has been called over the course of his adventures and now that he’s chosen not to study the Force with Luke and return to the care of Din Djarin, it’s a fitting description of him again.
THE FOUNDLING is coming this week on Disney+ and is directed by Yours Truly. #TheMANDALORIAN#BePeace
While fans have been bemoaning the new episode’s reportedly short runtime (it’s rumored to run for 30 minutes and 39 seconds), the potential implications of the title and the fact that it was written by Dave Filoni may buffer some of those hard feelings a bit. Of course, it remains to be seen just how Grogu’s story will be shared since he can’t talk. So far, he’s only been able to communicate with Jedi through the Force and there weren’t any of those hanging out in the Mandalorian covert and the end of Chapter 19. Interestingly enough, actress Rosario Dawson recently indicated she was pretty hyped up for the next installment of the series, possibly teasing the return of Ahsoka Tano who has used the Force to communicate with Grogu in the past.
Judging the impact of the episode by its size wouldn’t seem to be prudent at this juncture and certainly wouldn’t fall in line with the teachings of the Jedi!
Chapter 20 of The Mandalorian will be streaming on Disney Plus at 12 AM PT on March 22nd.
Days after an interview with /Film in which he expressed his hesitation to work on a Star Wars film, writer Damon Lindelof has reportedly left the top secret project that he’d been working on for the past year. Lindelof had been co-writing the film with Justin Britt-Gibson, who has also left the project, which was expected to be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
According to Above the Line, the duo turned in a screenplay in February before parting ways with Lucasfilm, who has already brought a new writer on board, and the film still has the green light. Lucasfilm will reportedly announce the film during April’s Star Wars Celebration and reveal that it’s slated to hit theaters in December of 2025. After a recent report revealed that long-developing projects such as Rogue Squadron and the untitled Kevin Feige film were no longer on the slate, speculation ramped up that the top-secret Lindelof/Britt-Gibson/Obaid-Chinoy project was on deck for Lucasfilm. A more recent rumor indicated that the project had already found its star in Yahya Abdul-Mateen II which may lend some credence to Above the Line’s report that production on the project is currently expected to begin in February 2024.
The shockwave of Lindelof’s departure was slightly reduced by his recent admission that he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue “cooking” a Star Wars project given his admiration and attachment to the franchise he grew up on.
I will just say, that for reasons that I can’t get into on this Sunday morning, on this day, the degree of difficulty is extremely, extremely, extremely high. If it can’t be great, it shouldn’t exist. That’s all I’ll say, because I have the same association with it as you do, which is, it’s the first movie I saw sitting in my dad’s lap, four years old, May of ’77. I think it’s possible that sometimes when you hold something in such high reverence and esteem, you start to get in the kitchen and you just go, “Maybe I shouldn’t be cooking. Maybe I should just be eating.” We’ll just leave it at that.
Damon Lindelof
It’ll be interesting to follow the project and see how it develops beyond Lindelof and Britt-Gibson’s draft and if the pair are ultimately granted a writing credit for whatever version of the project hits theaters. A previous report from THR indicated that the film was expected to be set in the aftermath of the sequel trilogy and would bring back some characters from those films. That same report suggested that while Lucasfilm was moving away from its trilogy model, they were open to sequels to the Obaid-Chinoy project should it be successful. With Star Wars Celebration kicking off in just over two weeks on April 7th, fans won’t have too long of a wait to see which of these rumors is true.
Fresh off seeing their film EverythingEverywhere All at Once score big at the 2023 Academy Awards, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, aka the Daniels, have signed on the direct an episode of the Star Wars streaming series Skeleton Crew.
Skeleton Crew, starring Jude Law, will be set during the New Republic era, the same time frame as The Mandalorian, Ashoka and The Book of Boba Fett. The show wrapped filming several months ago, meaning the directing duo has been on board for some time and the news is only making the rounds now, perhaps conveniently after they were awarded the Oscar for Best Director.
With Star Wars Celebration 2023 coming up in London in April, it’s possible that some footage of Skeleton Crew may be on the way and the Daniels could be on hand. Also of note is that now that the pair is in with Disney, this will only increase the online push to see the directors helm Avengers: Secret Wars. Disney loves its corporate synergy, after all.
Fans of the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels have celebrated the live-action debuts of many of their favorite characters over the past several years. Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau have found a way to bring fan favorites like Bo-Katan Kryze, Ahsoka Tano and Cad Bane to life in their lineup of New Republic-era series The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. Sometime later in 2023, another handful will make their live-action debuts as the core characters from Star Wars Rebels, including Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ezra Bridger, are set to appear on Disney Plus in Ahsoka.
It’s been a fun time for fans as Filoni and Favreau have carried on the stories of these characters; however, the pair have also come under fire for questionable decisions about the appearance of the characters like the Grand Inquisitor and for being a bit too generous in fan service by having too many characters make the jump. In fact, Filoni has been accused of making too much of an effort to bring his animated creations to life. Filoni addressed that accusation and gave some insight into his process in an interview with The Wrap.
“Very rarely,” replied Filoni when asked if he often thinks “How can I get my cartoon characters into live-action?” “I know people think it’s the other way around, which is fascinating to me,” he continued, “but I think there’s two ways to look at that, which is that, yes, they were animated characters, but to me they’re just characters. And now I’m over here working in live-action. I’m comfortable with those characters, I know them, I like them and I like to see them around.”
It’s an interesting position for Filoni given that he created and curated the characters over a decade of animated story-telling and now has the ability to call on them to help define a new era of the galaxy far, far away. Even for Filoni, who knows the characters inside and out, brining them to live action is not without its challenges. “It changes when they’re suddenly in a different medium,” explained Filoni. “Katee’s [Sackhoff] talked about it a little bit, and the difference between performing Bo-Katan as a voice actor versus performing her physically and being present on set as her – it’s a different vibe. I’m always cautious. And Jon [Favreau] and I talk about who will we bring in? I try to do it when it makes the most sense.”
For instance, as Filoni explained, when the plot of The Book of Boba Fett called for “a gunslinger to go up against some of our characters,” Cad Bane was the obvious choice. The character’s live-action design came under fire from fans of his time in the animated series. Filoni addressed why the character’s distinct look changed a bit for his live-action debut. “I think looking at that, the first thing I think is, ‘Well, how do we do that and make it believable?’ Like the character, he’s so lean and gaunt in The Clone Wars,” explained Filoni, “and if we don’t do that, is it all CG? How are we going to portray that? If we don’t think we can do that effectively, then we shouldn’t do it.”
The reality of the situation is that in the recent social media climate, the decision to faithfully recreate Cad Bane through CGI would have taken just as much heat as the decision to change it for live-action. The criticism, however, doesn’t seem to faze Filoni. “At the end of the day, I’ve been very happy with the ones that have gone over,” he said before teasing fans with the notion that he’s not done quite yet. “There may or may not be more in Ahsoka, if that’s your thing. If you’re excited about that, I’m just saying that one might have a few more, which makes sense, by the way. As you know, I wrote it. You can’t fault me there.” Who can blame the guy?
The book ends of Chapter 19 of The Mandalorian, The Convert, left fans wondering what Bo-Katan Kryze was up to following her experience in the mines of Mandalore. The episode’s opening picked up in the aftermath of Chapter 18’s plunge into the Living Waters where she encountered a massive Mythosaur, an encounter she chose to keep from Din Djarin after asking if he had seen anything alive in the pool. Bo-Katan’s dip in the Living Waters also put her in a position she never thought she’d be in: walking The Way of the Mandalore as a member of the Children of the Watch. With her home world of Kalevala destroyed by a fleet of Imperial remnant TIEs, Bo-Katan, now washed free of her apostasy, was invited by the Armorer to remain with the covert of Mandalorians. Needless to say, it was a pretty busy day for Bo-Katan.
Did those experiences change the skeptical Bo-Katan, however? Fans aren’t so sure and much of the social media discussion after the episode centered around the character’s decision to remain mute about the Mythosaur, wondering if she intends to use the knowledge of the beast to her advantage. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Bo-Katan actress Katee Sackhoff assuaged those concerns, saying her behavior was rooted in something much less malevolent. “She doesn’t trust necessarily what she saw. She might have thought that she imagined it,” explained Sackhoff. “There’s so many things that she’s trying to process in her head that I don’t necessarily think that it’s something that she wants to tell anyone about right now.“
Part of what Bo-Katan may be trying to process is that the beliefs that Din Djarin has held dear–beliefs she called “cute”–may hold some water. According to Sackhoff, Bo-Katan’s attempts to reconcile her past with Din’s “cult” with her own past and the very recent events of her own present have given her quite a bit to ponder which is why she remained so quiet when she was accepted into Din’s Tribe.
The mistakes of her past — with Death Watch and the resulting death of her sister Satine — weigh heavily upon her, and she’s in a more vulnerable state than we’ve ever seen her before when Din brings her in. But because of the disagreements with Din’s cult in the past, the Watch welcoming her to their clan with open arms is a surprise to her. To be immediately accepted by people is new for her. She may or may not be trying to figure out if that’s a place where she should potentially stay.
Katee Sackhoff
Still, it’s hard for fans to believe that the militant Bo-Katan won’t look to weaponize her newfound friends in another attempt to avenge her sister’s death and ascend to lead the reborn Mandalore. According to Sackhoff, that’s not in the cards, however. “I truly believe at this point that she hopes someone else steps up,” Sackhoff said. “She doesn’t want the responsibility. The responsibility cost her everything,” she explained. “Leading didn’t work, so maybe fitting in will.” With more than half the season still ahead, Bo-Katan’s choice to be a leader or a follower will likely have a huge impact on the events of not only TheMandalorian Season 3 but also the shape of the New Republic.
48 hours after fans of the Disney Plus series Willow said their goodbyes to Elora Dana and the people of Tir Asleen following a trade report of the show’s cancellation, their hopes were suddenly resurrected by showrunner Jonathan Kasdan. In a lengthy message shared on Twitter, Kasdan clarified what’s quite a complicated situation regarding the future of the streaming series.
According to Kasdan, the next season of Willow, which he referred to as Volume II, has already been written and while it’s not headed into pre-production and is not scheduled to start filming over the course of the next year, it does not mean that it will not get made. However, given the fact that the second season of the series is not on the fast track, Kasdan explained that the decision was made to release the cast members to pursue work on other projects until the call for the start of Volume II comes. “If the appetite for more Willow persists, Disney, Lucasfilm and this amazing cast and crew will satisfy it,” said Kasdan.
The Disney Plus streaming series Willow, which served as a sequel to the 1988 cult classic film of the same name, has been cancelled after just one season.
The series saw Warwick Davis return as Willow Ufgood and picked up the story of Elora Danan 20 years after the defeat of Queen Bavmorda. Co-showrunner Jonathan Kasdan worked for years to get the sequel series made, having broached the subject during conversation with Davis and Ron Howard, who directed the original film, during production on Solo: A Star Wars Story.
As Deadline reported, though the series won’t continue, the IP itself remains of interest at Lucasilm; however, as Disney looks to cut back on its programming budget across the board, a second season of Willow wasn’t in the cards.
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By using our site, you consent to cookies.
This website uses cookies
Websites store cookies to enhance functionality and personalise your experience. You can manage your preferences, but blocking some cookies may impact site performance and services.
Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.
Name
Description
Duration
Cookie Preferences
This cookie is used to store the user's cookie consent preferences.
30 days
These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website.
Name
Description
Duration
comment_author_email
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author_url
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
Pinterest Tag is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
