What To Watch After ‘The Mandalorian And Grogu’
The Mandalorian and Grogu was a fun cinematic adventure that had high stakes for the characters but low stakes for the galaxy at large. Even then, there are a lot of fun Easter eggs to past shows and movies that are worth exploring.
The Mandalorian and Grogu doesn’t deliver much in the way of mandatory viewing. But if you want to learn more about the Star Wars universe, there are a handful of movies and shows that will give context. More than that, it will explain to you any lingering questions and connections to other Star Wars titles, and they’re all available to watch on Disney+.
The first foray into 3D animation for the franchise, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008), introduces fans to Ahsoka Tano as well as reintroduces audiences to Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. The film is set during the start of the Clone Wars when Anakin takes on Ahsoka as his Padawan. Their task is to rescue a kidnapped Rotta the Hutt and return him to his father, Jabba.
The Clone Wars film is notorious for being the weakest movie in the Star Wars franchise, but it introduces Rotta, a key player in The Mandalorian and Grogu. It’s important to watch if you’re looking for a deeper context on who Rotta was and just how important he is to the galaxy.
Following the film, Star Wars: The Clone Wars became an animated series that saw much more success than the film. For 7 seasons, audiences saw how this two-year war tore apart the galaxy and introduced many characters that would appear in later films and shows.
Season 2, Episode 17, “Bounty Hunters,” introduced Embo to the galaxy. The tall hunter would later appear in The Mandalorian and Grogu and was the reason that the Mando was captured from his home and taken to the Hutt Twins on Nal Hutta. Fans should at least check out this particular episode to see how Embo compares to other great bounty hunters of the franchise.
If you watched The Mandalorian and Grogu before watching all three seasons of The Mandalorian, that’s honestly impressive if you were able to keep up. There’s so much lore tied to the bond between the film’s titular characters, and there’s also a larger focus on the Star Wars universe itself.
The Mandalorian is required viewing if you have any questions about the relationship between Grogu and the Mandalorian, and their father-son bond. Plus, viewers can learn about the planet that he calls home in The Mandalorian and Grogu. It’s also a great series that integrates characters from past shows and brings the universe together in a larger shared narrative.
The Book of Boba Fett is a spin-off of The Mandalorian that follows Boba Fett’s journey to becoming the Daimyo of Mos Espa after Princess Leia murdered Jabba the Hutt in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi.
There are no larger connections to The Mandalorian and Grogu save for a couple of episodes about their specific journey after Season 2 that explain how they reunite and how Mando gets a new ship. With the Hutt family officially obsolete after The Mandalorian and Grogu, The Book of Boba Fett is the perfect show to watch to understand how deep the crime syndicates of Star Wars go.
The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker all feature key moments in the Star Wars universe that The Mandalorian and Grogu are very loosely tied to. For example, The Force Awakens marked the end of the New Republic thanks to Starkiller Base. The Last Jedi continues that thread, exploring how the Resistance fought against the First Order.
The Rise of Skywalker is where the biggest connections come, such as the Anzellan droidsmith Babu Frik, whose species appears in The Mandalorian and Grogu. Also, Palpatine’s clown plot line is teased in The Mandalorian, making these sequels the ultimate payoff to everything showcased from The Mandalorian to The Mandalorian and Grogu.
In The Mandalorian and Grogu, Mando runs many missions with a pilot named Zeb. For those who only saw the film, he just seemed like a cool ally who works with the New Republic, but seasoned fans know that he was part of Phoenix Squadron, a Rebel team from Star Wars Rebels.
Zeb’s old team accomplished a lot in their time during the Galactic Civil War and played a major role in battles like the Battle of Lothal, where they stopped Grand Admiral Thrawn. Fans of Zeb will learn everything they can from watching Star Wars Rebels.
Ahsoka is the live-action follow-up to Star Wars Rebels in every way, continuing the stories of its characters after their team disbanded. It also continues Ahsoka’s story from when she appeared after Rebels and The Mandalorian.
The main plot doesn’t tie into The Mandalorian and Grogu (yet), but what makes it important viewing is that it gives a deeper look at how the New Republic operates. It’s an imperfect government, as Ahsoka shows, and helps to build the future of the franchise.
Of all the projects that have the least to do with The Mandalorian and Grogu, Solo: A Star Wars Story takes the cake. Even still, there’s a lot that can be learned about the galaxy and how it relates to Mando’s movie.
In terms of fun, both movies share a similar DNA as they feature fun space battles as well as exciting ground fights that lean into crime and double-crossing. Plus, one character in the film, voiced by Jon Favreau, is a relative of Martin Scorsese’s character from The Mandalorian and Grogu. But ultimately, the reason you’d want to watch Solo: A Star Wars Story is to better understand how crime works in the galaxy and the weight of the Hutt Syndicate ending in The Mandalorian and Grogu.
