Star Wars is not a franchise that likes to let the past die. And nor should it... to a degree. There's a rich history and legacy that deserves to be celebrated, but that needs to be carefully calibrated with pushing forward and doing new things. Occasionally, it achieves a level of balance that would make Thanos proud, such as with Andor. Sometimes, it leans more towards the old, relying on familiar faces, worlds, and concepts, rather than embracing change, like with The Rise of Skywalker. And as Lucasfilm prepares for the release of the first Star Wars movie since 2019, it again needs to find the perfect equilibrium.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is the movie tasked with bringing Star Wars roaring back to theaters. It's a smart, if safe, choice, given the popularity of the TV show it's spawned from. But among the reveals in the first trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu, what was also notable was that it was bringing back some parts of the show that could perhaps otherwise have been left behind. And much like that's nothing new for Star Wars as a whole, it's more specifically a trend that's been happening with The Mandalorian across the past four years, for better or worse.
The Mandalorian Season 2 featured multiple turning points for the series, introducing characters such as Bo-Katan Kryze, Ahsoka Tano, and even Luke Skywalker. They also contributed to bigger points in Din Djarin's arc: him questioning the Way of the Mandalore, which he had religiously followed as part of the Children of the Watch, and with that, removing his helmet to say goodbye to Grogu, who went off to train with Luke to potentially become a Jedi.
They were some of the most emotional moments of the series, but were very swiftly reversed... and not even in Mando's own show. Instead, The Book of Boba Fett saw Din and Grogu reunite, with the Child choosing his found father over Luke and training in the ways of the Force. That show, followed up by The Mandalorian Season 3, also reversed Din's arc when it comes to the Way. Instead of changing, he doubled back down and sought redemption for removing his helmet in front of another person.
The Mandalorian and Grogu's reversals are a little more minor in comparison, but still carry significance. There's the return of the Razor Crest, the ship that was blown up in Season 2 and replaced by the N-1 Starfighter, and the pulse rifle that Din had lost with it. To be clear, these are new versions, not miraculous retcons, but the intent is otherwise the same: that the bounty hunter is going back to what's familiar, and the movie is using the same iconography from the show's peak years.
To a degree, The Mandalorian and Grogu bringing back the Razor Crest and pulse rifle is frustrating. Even though it is just a ship and a weapon, and so not necessarily that deep, this could've been the chance to find something new. Introduce new concepts, a new ship, a new weapon; Din is someone who should be adaptable, after all, and so him being able to find these things that work would suit his character.
At the same time, you can argue that it's human nature to seek familiarity. The Razor Crest was his home, the pulse rifle the trusted tool of his trade, so you can see why he'd go back to them. And in particular for the ship, he did need something bigger than the N-1, which is not at all suited to bounty hunting missions.
What makes them worse, though, is that it continues the pattern from The Book of Boba Fett onwards, and those changes are far more egregious, at least in terms of how they were done. Reuniting Din and Grogu makes sense, and not just from a cynical out-of-universe perspective wherein they're far more valuable to Lucasfilm as a pairing. They are, essentially, father and son; it's a strong bond that can still be explored in more depth. And sometimes it's only with saying goodbye or losing something that you realize how much you don't want it, or them, to be gone.
That's all fine, and could've allowed for some fitting thematic and emotional resonance, if not for the fact that it was so quickly and haphazardly done in a different show, and then The Mandalorian Season 3 just had them be reunited as if it'd never happened. There was an opportunity to properly develop that story, to have it last longer and really highlight the impact of their separation and, ultimately, decision to reunite, but it was done in a way that meant it carried absolutely no weight.
The same is true for Din's arc of removing his helmet and following a different path. This really felt like the core direction of his character, and while sometimes growth and development is not linear, and an arc can include deciding you want to stick to the thing you've always known and reaffirm your faith, as it were, none of that came across. Instead, it felt much more like a decision that was made simply because Pedro Pascal was too busy, and thus there were extremely limited opportunities to have Mando out of his helmet, and the story was hastily written around that.
Hopefully, The Mandalorian and Grogu can address some of that. We can already expect Pascal to appear, as a photo was shown of him on set in the costume, sans helmet, at Star Wars Celebration Japan earlier this year, and that could tie back into his overall character arc. But there's also a sense of the movie going a bit back to basics, after Season 3 was divisive and because this cannot afford to fail, which means it might try to simply play the hits. Again, the ideal will be a balance between these things, but it remains to be seen which way it'll go.