Not much has been said regarding the fate of The Mandalorian season 4 ever since Star Wars announced 2026's The Mandalorian and Grogu, but this recent update from showrunner Jon Favreau makes things look grim for the future of the TV show. The Mandalorian led the charge of Star Wars' current run of live-action TV shows in 2019, easily becoming the most successful addition to the franchise ever since it was purchased by Disney.

This made it easy for Star Wars to greenlight as many seasons as the storytellers sought to tell, and 4 seasons were a part of that original initiative following the show's initial success. However, plans began to change in 2023, after The Mandalorian season 3 received mixed reviews and the Hollywood strikes put a pause on most, if not all, productions. Though viewers have remained hopeful that The Mandalorian season 4 could still be a possibility, its fate seems quite dubious now.

What Jon Favreau Has Said About The Mandalorian Season 4

The Movie Is Their Current Focus

The reason why hopes for The Mandalorian season 4 have stayed alive for so long has everything to do with what Jon Favreau has said regarding The Mandalorian season 4 in recent years. It was only 2022 when The Mandalorian season 4 scripts had already been written.

The Mandalorian and Grogu has seemingly thrown a wrench in those plans, as it's been rumored (though never confirmed) that the movie is simply a reworked version of these same scripts. The most recent update from Favreau at Star Wars Celebration Japan this year has made it even more likely that this is indeed the case. Speaking to Collider, Favreau insisted the movie is their current focus, not season 4.

Jon Favreau: Right now, I'm focusing on the feature because we still have another year of the story. You discover so much as you edit a film and put it together with visual effects. Right now we're really locked in on the big screen story that's coming.

Favreau's answer is rather noncommittal, which is similar to the response his co-collaborator, Dave Filoni, offered to this same question just a few months ago. It does, however, also cast quite a shadow of doubt upon the fate of The Mandalorian season 4. Neither creator is willing to say no to the possibility of season 4 just yet, but it seems very likely where all of this is truly heading.

The Mandalorian Season 4 Seems Unlikely Given The Movie Focus

They Wouldn't Go From The Big Screen Back To The Small Screen

As it stands, it would make little sense for The Mandalorian sub-franchise to return to TV after hitting the big screen. Movies can often guarantee more success; if The Mandalorian and Grogu manages to break the $1 billion mark at the box office, which it has a very strong chance of doing, then it would make little sense for them to simply return to their original streaming format on Disney+, where it's typically harder to make that same kind of profit.

It would also mess with the flow of the storytelling. The Mandalorian season 4 would be continuing on from The Mandalorian and Grogu's story, which means anyone who's watching the TV show without seeing the movie in between seasons 3 and 4 would be utterly lost at what happened between those two installments, similarly to what happened with The Book of Boba Fett between seasons 2 and 3 - though to a much more extreme degree.

The Mandalorian Season 4 May Only Happen If The Mandalorian And Grogu Isn't A Hit

It's A Safe Backup Option

Of course, there is a reason why neither Favreau nor Filoni will just outright say no to The Mandalorian season 4. Star Wars is keeping their options open; should The Mandalorian and Grogu not be the hit movie the franchise thinks it will be, then they can fall back on Disney+ and the TV show again. It's, quite honestly, the smart approach, giving them a way out with this iconic story if the big screen simply doesn't end up suiting them.

This seems unlikely to happen, given the overall popularity of Din Djarin and Grogu as characters alone, but it's still not a bad idea to keep the possibility of The Mandalorian season 4 alive for now. In any case, there's no reason to shut down the idea of doing an additional season for such a successful property. Even if the movie does do well, by keeping season 4 an option, Star Wars has the opportunity to explore something fun with the TV show should they wish to.

The Mandalorian Season 4 Not Happening Risks Losing One Of The Best Things About It

Its Episodic Adventures Are A Big Part Of Its Charm

As exciting as the movie is, especially for long-time fans of The Mandalorian, the reality of season 4 never happening is still a grim one. The Mandalorian gained acclaim from its episodic structure, which gave the story the freedom to take the audience on different interconnected adventures each week. The Mandalorian seasons 1 and 2 are both perfect examples of this. One week, we're in Mos Eisley, and the next, we're aboard a New Republic prison ship - yet it all ties together and makes sense.

It's more difficult to have these standalone adventures within the cohesive narrative of a feature film.

It was the epitome of a Western that takes place in Star Wars, particularly season 1, and that's something that inevitably gets lost in translation with a movie. It's more difficult to have these standalone adventures within the cohesive narrative of a feature film, as the shorter length and the constant storytelling doesn't have much room for jumping around quite as much. This, however, doesn't have to necessarily be the case for The Mandalorian and Grogu.

At Star Wars Celebration Japan, star Pedro Pascal told me, representing ScreenRant, that The Mandalorian and Grogu is "one of the greatest adventure movies that has ever been made." It's clear, then, that the heart of adventure is at the center of this movie, along with the relationship between Din Djarin and Grogu. It may not be following its initial format of having weekly episodic adventures, but the journeys these two will go on may indeed invoke that same feeling.

Whatever the case, The Mandalorian season 4 no longer seems to be on the drawing board - or is at least shelved quite high up for now. Lucasfilm overall seems to be pivoting towards more movies than TV shows, with the likes of Shawn Levy's Star Wars: Starfighter, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy's New Jedi Order, and James Mangold's Dawn of the Jedi movies all currently in development. The Mandalorian season 4 is being kept as an option, but will less than likely ever see the light of day.

The Mandalorian and Grogu movie hits theaters May 22, 2026.