Star Wars Celebration 2025 was full of huge reveals for the Star Wars universe, especially regarding the upcoming Jon Favreau-directed film The Mandalorian & Grogu. The movie will take the place of The Mandalorian season 4, blowing Lucasfilm’s small-screen story up to IMAX proportions. From the film’s Kurosawa influences to the on-screen return of Pedro Pascal (meaning his character, Din Djarin, will be taking his helmet on) to Grogu’s more hands-on role, The Mandalorian & Grogu’s Star Wars Celebration reveals suggest a natural evolution of The Mandalorian’s storyline with some larger Star Wars Universe implications.
Another big The Mandalorian & Grogu reveal was that the movie would be featuring sci-fi legend Sigourney Weaver as a New Republic operative. Although not much is known about her character, it was revealed that she would be playing a member of the fledgling government that has featured in projects like The Mandalorian and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. With reports of Weaver being absolutely thrilled to met Grogu on set, it’s also all but confirmed that her character will cross paths with Din Djarin and his pint-sized companion in a major way.
ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan spoke withJon Favreau and Sigourney Weaver about their work on The Mandalorian & Grogu at Star Wars Celebration 2025. Weaver weighed in on joining the Star Wars universe after being a part of so many other iconic franchises. Favreau teased Grogu’s adolescence and a familiar-looking Hutt who was seen in the movie’s Star Wars Celebration preview clip.
Sigourney Weaver Thought Alien Would Hurt Her Chances Of Being In Star Wars
“We Can’t Confuse People”
Sigourney Weaver may feel like a natural fit for the Star Wars universe thanks to her impressive resume of films and franchises including Alien and Ghostbusters, but those films are exactly why Weaver was “a bit surprised” to be invited in. “It’s absolutely the first time,” she said when asked if she’d been approached to be in a Star Wars project before, “but [I’m] absolutely delighted to be thought of, because some people might think, ‘Oh, she’s from these other universes. We can’t confuse people.’”
“I’m delighted that Jon took a chance and thought, ‘She’s going to fit right in.’”
Jon Favreau & Sigourney Weaver Talk Grogu’s Cuteness & Emotional Importance
“It Should Be Very Relatable On A Human Level”
Grogu has always been something of the beating heart of The Mandalorian series. That is still the case in The Mandalorian & Grogu, although Grogu’s–albeit slow–aging continues to allow audiences to relate to him in a different way, according to Jon Favreau: “I think what’s nice is he ages so slowly, [but] as somebody who’s now on the verge of being an empty nester, I’m very well aware of what the trajectory of childhood is.”
Favreau continued, saying, “When Mando says goodbye to Grogu at the end of season two, I was experiencing that. It’s when you send your kid off to school for the first time or send them off to college–it’s a very strong feeling. Even though [Star Wars] is otherworldly, it should be very relatable on the human level, and that parent-child relationship is something that I really feel, at this stage of my life, speaks to me.”
And Favreau expects he won’t be alone in relating to Din Djarin: “As Star Wars fans who are my age, who grew up with the original films, grow up and have kids of their own, I think it’s nice that there’s a hero that is going through what they’re going through. Just like when they were young they [could] relate to Luke Skywalker, now they can relate to Mando.”
Weaver even compared Grogu to her other alien and supernatural co-stars: “On a cuteness scale, Grogu is one side and Alien is the other. Slimer is in the middle. And Bill Murray is somewhere [in between.”]
Rotta The Hutt’s Inclusion In The Mandalorian & Grogu Explained By Jon Favreau
“For The Big Screen, You Don’t Have Anything Bigger Than A Hutt”
One of the biggest reveals in The Mandalorian & Grogu footage shown at Star Wars Celebration was a brief clip of a muscular-looking hutt who is generally accepted to be Jabba the Hutt’s son, Rotta, first introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Favreau explained the reason behind the character’s inclusion, saying, “We definitely drew inspiration from the Expanded Universe, and the Hutts are just an interesting group.”
“They were explored slightly through Jabba and what we saw when we were growing up,” continued Favreau, “But then with Filoni, [and] with animation, they really delved into it. And then, of course, [there are] all the accompanying materials, like the comics [with characters like] Grakkus–one of the Hutts that was really strong. So there’s all different types … there’s a lot of imagery that’s been explored.”
More powerful and efficient technology has also helped make a fighting Hutt a reality, said Favreau: “Now, with technology, it’s fun to explore what you can do with species that you could never show. Look how difficult it was in the original trilogy with how many puppeteers it took. Then, they started exploring CG with the Special Edition, and later on we did The Book of Boba Fett, with the twins. I think it’s a lot of fun. Plus for the big screen, you don’t have anything bigger than a Hutt.”
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