‘The Mandalorian’ Season 3 and ‘Ahsoka’ Updates: Casting News, Premiere Dates and More

During the Star Wars Celebration event in Anaheim, California, executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni revealed several new updates about The Mandalorian season 3 and the upcoming spinoff, Ahsoka, including that both series will premiere in 2023 on Disney+. More specifically, the former starring Pedro Pascal will return in February. 

Additionally, Katee Sackoff took the stage to reveal that she’ll be reprising her fan-favorite role as Bo-Katan in season 3 of The Mandalorian, teasing that she and the titular bounty hunter have unfinished business to take care of. “You’re in for a treat,” she said. 

And based on footage shown exclusively to those in the room, she appears to play a pivotal role in the upcoming episodes that will pick up after the events of season 2 and Mandalorian-centric episodes of The Book of Boba Fett.

Meanwhile, Carl Weathers, who will reprise his role as Greef Karga, will also be directing another episode in season 3. “I got a really good choice of script,” he said, noting that The Mandalorian “is a wonderful sandbox to play in.”

Additionally, director Rick Famuyiwa, who has previously helmed two episodes of the series, has been made an executive producer on season 3. 

Though not discussed during the panel, The Hollywood Reporterrevealed that Bryce Dallas Howard will be returning to direct another episode of the series, marking her fourth time helming a Star Wars series episode. She previously directed two episodes of The Mandalorian as well as “Return of the Mandalorian” from The Book of Boba Fett.  

A day prior, during a press conference for the new docuseries, Light & Magic, executive producer and Howard’s father, Ron, expressed how proud he was of his daughter. “She did great, which made me feel good,” he said, adding that “she’s learning a lot and growing a lot” as she continues to work behind the scenes on those series. 

Lucasfilm

Meanwhile, when it comes to Ahsoka, which stars Rosario Dawson as the titular Force-sensitive fighter, it was revealed that Natasha Liu Bordizzo is going to play a live-action version of Sabine Wren, a young Mandalorian warrior who first appeared in The Clone Wars. 

“I know how much Sabine means to a lot of people in the room,” the actress said, when she was formally introduced. “I think you guys are going to be really excited about the journey she’s about to have.”

While there was no formal discussion of Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character, her husband and Obi-Wan Kenobi star, Ewan McGregor, spoke to ET about her joining the Star Wars universe. “It’s something that will [always] be with us. It’s not something that ever goes away,” he said, adding that “now that she’s also in this world where we’ll be able to do this kind of thing together, it should be amazing.”

The series, meanwhile, is three weeks into production, with Filoni saying that filming is going “really well.” He added that he’s “very happy” about the progress made so far. 

As for Dawson, who made a surprise appearance during the panel on Saturday, she’s equally excited about working on the series. “It’s been amazing,” she said, adding that it’s been “an honor to bring her to life.” 

RELATED CONTENT

Ewan McGregor on Mary Elizabeth Winstead Joining the ‘Star Wars’ Universe (Exclusive)

‘Skeleton Crew’: Why Jude Law Is the Perfect Person to Lead the 'Star Wars' Series (Exclusive)

'Andor': Watch the First Teaser for the Diego Luna 'Star Wars' Series