The Mandalorian and Grogu is featured in the latest issue of Empire, and some of the new stills included in the magazine have now surfaced on social media.
For the most part, they're pretty standard shots. However, there's one that's receiving a lot of attention among Star Wars fans. As you can see below, Grogu is shown caged and in the possession of Jonny Coyne's unnamed Imperial Warlord.
He was first seen among the remnants of the Empire meeting with Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian "Chapter 23: The Spies," and is rumoured to be one of The Mandalorian and Grogu's main villains.
There's always a chance this is a misdirect, of course, and one possibility is that Din Djarin has allowed Grogu to be captured—The Child is a Mandalorian foundling now, after all—so they can bring this Imp in for the New Republic. That seems the most likely possibility, and it will be interesting to see if The Mandalorian and Grogu decides to tackle the Empire's transition into The First Order.
While the prevailing theory is that these Imperial remnants eventually become the sequel trilogy's main villains—Gideon's apparent attempts to clone Emperor Palpatine seemed to confirm that—tie-in material has suggested The First Order was formed in the Unknown Regions.
Din will once again remove his helmet in the upcoming movie. During a recent interview, filmmaker Jon Favreau said, "It’s a tricky thing, because you want to see his face, but the archetype is that of the helmet. How do we find a way to do it without undermining everything that we developed about the Mandalorian Creed?"
While he stopped short of revealing what this development means for Din's story arc, the filmmaker confirmed the twist means Pedro Pascal spent a lot more time on set in costume. "You’ll see [Pedro] in the armour, both with and without the helmet. He’s a pretty physical performer. So we pushed a little further than we have in the past, as far as what he’s doing, helmet-off."
Pedro Pascal chimed in to say, "When we got to that part, all I can say is that it made perfect sense, and it was what I was hoping would be the reason. If I were to pitch something, I would say, 'The only thing that makes sense is...' And that’s exactly it. He filled that blank. I said immediately, 'Jon, that’s exactly what I was hoping to hear!'"
In The Mandalorian and Grogu, the evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu.
Directed by Jon Favreau, the movie also stars Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White and is produced by Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Ian Bryce, with music composed by Ludwig Göransson.
The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives in theaters on May 22.