While Tatooine is one of Star Wars’ most frequently visited planets, the franchise’s next movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu, looks as if it’s endeavoring to visit two planets that haven’t been seen on-screen in 45 years. Continuing the story of The Mandalorian TV show, The Mandalorian and Grogu movie will take place just over five years after the events of Return of the Jedi. Because of this, there’s an opportunity for overlap between the original Star Wars trilogy and this movie.
Details about the movie, however, remain тιԍнтly under wraps – aside from a few official reveals. The Mandalorian has embraced original trilogy crossovers before, specifically by visiting places such as Mos Eisley on Tatooine, and now it seems as if the movie will follow in the show’s footsteps. There are two planets from The Empire Strikes Back that the upcoming movie could visit, both of which haven’t been seen on-screen since that movie first hit theaters in 1980.
Quick Links
-
Bespin Will Be Included In The Mandalorian Movie’s Storyline At Galaxy’s Edge
- This Mission Could Take Inspiration From The Movie
-
The Mandalorian Movie Has Also Teased H๏τh In Exclusive Footage
- A Snow Planet With Snowtroopers And AT-ATs…
-
Will The Return Of These Empire Strikes Back Planets Shrink The Galaxy?
- I Don’t Think The Tatooine Effect Applies Here
Bespin Will Be Included In The Mandalorian Movie’s Storyline At Galaxy’s Edge
This Mission Could Take Inspiration From The Movie
The first planet is Bespin, which houses the famed Cloud City that’s run by none other than Lando Calrissian. More details about The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s story addition to the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge attraction, Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, have come to light recently, including official concept art that depicts a Razor Crest – presumably Din Djarin’s – flying alongside the Millennium Falcon towards Cloud City. While this experience isn’t meant to replicate events from the movie, it does seem to at least align with the movie’s story.
The Mandalorian and Grogu and this new addition to Smuggler’s Run both debut on May 22, 2026, which seems to further indicate connections between the two of them.
If this is truly the case, then it seems as if Bespin could somehow be a part of The Mandalorian and Grogu movie itself. This would indeed make sense with what we know of the movie’s story so far; the Imperial Remnant would no doubt seek to seize as much of Cloud City’s supply of tibanna gas as possible to gain control over hyperspace travel as a means of bringing the Empire back into control. As a contracted bounty hunter for the New Republic rangers, Din Djarin could be commissioned to stop them.
The Mandalorian Movie Has Also Teased H๏τh In Exclusive Footage
A Snow Planet With Snowtroopers And AT-ATs…
Bespin, however, isn’t the only planet from The Empire Strikes Back that could potentially be making its return in this movie. In exclusive footage shown to the audience at 2024’s D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, Din Djarin and Grogu were on a mission on a snowy planet that looked too familiar to not be H๏τh, especially once a sH๏τ of AT-ATs was revealed on that same world. Of course, H๏τh isn’t the only snow planet in Star Wars, but this ᴀssociation of events from The Empire Strikes Back seems too strong to indicate otherwise.
H๏τh would make sense for The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s story, too. The Imperial Remnant is currently remaining in hiding until they believe they’re strong enough to reveal themselves again, and it would make sense if they were to have a hiding place within an old Rebel Alliance base, such as Echo Base on H๏τh – which they famously overran in The Empire Strikes Back. The return of this world would pose a plethora of exciting possibilities that Star Wars would certainly want to take advantage of.
Will The Return Of These Empire Strikes Back Planets Shrink The Galaxy?
I Don’t Think The Tatooine Effect Applies Here
The real question, however, is whether the return of these specific planets poses the risk of making the Star Wars galaxy feel too small. This is what has happened with the recent frequent visits to Tatooine in properties like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Tatooine was originally intended to be a planet that was in the middle of nowhere and rarely received any special visitors. The fact so many stories have gone back there has made it feel like the most popular planet in the galaxy.
I don’t think this would be the case with a return to Bespin and H๏τh in The Mandalorian and Grogu. As stated above, both these planets have a valid place in the movie’s story, with proper justifications for why the characters would travel there. Both planets also haven’t already been overused in other Star Wars projects; if anything, they have been left alone more than many other worlds.
Both these planets have a valid place in the movie’s story, with proper justifications for why the characters would travel there.
In fact, I think that visiting Bespin and H๏τh would be a perfect act of tribute for The Mandalorian and Grogu to display towards the original Star Wars trilogy. It has long since been aiming to honor that era of Star Wars with the TV show, and including planets like these in an organic way would only continue that effort. Either way, I’m confident there will be no shortage of thrilling adventures in The Mandalorian and Grogu, whether they choose to visit these planets or not.