Much of the discussion around the upcoming The Mandalorian and Grogu movie has revolved around the use of the Volume, a technology developed for and perfected during The Mandalorian season 1. With the movie taking things in this story to a new scale, audiences hoped that more practical sets would be used.

This is because, in TV shows like The Mandalorian, Star Wars has tended to use the Volume as a crutch. While it’s been incredibly innovative in many ways, it’s also had some evident restrictions; take the backgrounds in Obi-Wan Kenobi for example. The Mandalorian and Grogu movie, however, has something much cooler than the Volume in mind.

ILM Actually Made A Life-Size Imperial Walker

They Went Straight To The Real Thing

Speaking at Star Wars Celebration Japan, where I was in attendance, Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni discussed the expansiveness of working in IMAX for The Mandalorian and Grogu and revealed one major example of how they were able to truly live up to that larger scale: the construction of a life-size Imperial walker.

This is, obviously, no small feat. Most models on Star Wars projects and the like are built on a smaller scale, known as miniatures, and are then filmed to look as if they’re life-size. For The Mandalorian and Grogu, however, that wouldn’t be enough, at least not in the case of the Imperial walker.

With the resources and willingness at their fingertips, why not bring an Imperial walker to life? Favreau and Filoni were able to make that possible with the help of ILM, including an AT-AT’s entire interior – one that we got to explore in exclusive footage from The Mandalorian and Grogu shown at Star Wars Celebration Japan.

Is This The Walker We Saw In The Star Wars Celebration Trailer?

It More Than Likely Is

While we know they built a full-scale model of the AT-AT’s interior, as seen in the trailer, it’s uncertain whether it was an AT-AT or an AT-ST that was constructed. “Imperial walker” can refer to both, and one is much larger than the other. The former was seen in The Mandalorian season 1, episode 4 “Sanctuary.”

It is indeed true that Din Djarin commandeers a type of Imperial walker along with Grogu to approach the AT-ATs in the exclusive Star Wars Celebration Japan trailer, so it’s possible this is the walker they were referring to. It would, however, also make sense if it was an AT-AT, as there’s some precedence for it.

At both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge‘s Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance attraction includes some fairly life-sized AT-AT walkers in one of the rooms aboard a Star Destroyer. This makes it quite likely that ILM was able to get The Mandalorian and Grogu an AT-AT, not just an AT-ST.

The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters May 22, 2026.