‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 Finally Has A Release Date After Multi-Year Break

Now that Andor is over, we turn our attention to what Disney’s next big Star Wars project will be, and that of course, is the return of The Mandalorian after a long hiatus.

We have just learned that The Mandalorian’s season 3 release date will be March 1, 2023. If it seems like a while since season 2, you’re not wrong, as the finale was way back in December 2020. The Mandalorian himself returned in The Book of Boba Fett, including getting two standalone episodes to himself back in January/February 2022, but now his actual show is returning, after generally speaking, Boba Fett was thought of to be a big miss by Disney.

The Mandalorian season 3 appears to be heading deeper into Dave Filoni territory, focusing on heading to Mandalore itself, redemption for Din after removing his helmet, and the return of Bo-Katan and likely conflict over ownership of the Darksaber, and who truly rules Mandalore.

You really do have to watch the Book of Boba Fett Mandalorian episodes, given that Season 2 ended with Luke Skywalker taking Grogu to train him. Those episodes are an absolutely essential bridge between seasons 2 and 3, given what happens, even if you don’t want to suffer through all of The Book of Boba Fett to watch them.

The Mandalorian was delayed for so long in part due to normal COVID delays that pushed back almost all TV shows a bit, but also star Pedro Pascal filming The Last of Us for HBO, in which he serves as another well-armed protector of a youngling. That show debuts just over a month from now on January 15, 2023, and should be over by the time The Mandalorian itself comes back, I imagine.

The Mandalorian finds itself in an interesting space in the post-Andor world. It’s become something of a rallying cry for Star Wars fans that Andor is the best thing that Disney-era Star Wars has ever produced, with its grounded take on the birth of the rebellion and the oppression of the Empire. But before that, everyone was of course singing the praises of The Mandalorian, and we’ll have to see how its quality level is in season 3 here. The Mandalorian and Andor certainly are both miles above The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi, showing a severe split in quality in Disney’s TV Star Wars projects so far. More shows are coming like Ahsoka and The Acolyte, and it remains to be seen on how those will go. And what may change in the future now that Bob Iger has returned to Disney.

I’m certainly rooting for The Mandalorian season 3 to be good, but I do hope it evolves a bit past where it’s been so far, and I think it will be tough to measure up to Andor, which I do think is a level above everything else that’s come before it, The Mandalorian included.

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