Giancarlo Esposito Teases Gideon’s The Mandalorian Season 3

At this point, basically nothing has been revealed about The Mandalorian season 3. Following the mind-blowing season 2 finale last December, Lucasfilm has kept its lips zipped and left the fans guessing as to where the streaming phenomenon could go next. At least one thing seems for certain: Moff Gideon will continue to cause trouble for Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his allies.

While speaking with Variety, star Giancarlo Esposito all but promised a return for the show’s big bad in its upcoming third season. The Breaking Bad actor revealed that he can’t say anything officially but he knows that he would love to reprise his role.

“I have to imagine you would [see Gideon return]. I can’t speak for [Lucasfilm], but I know I have desire.”

Esposito went on to add that he’s confident we’ll get more of Gideon as he thinks the villain’s presence is necessary to “continue the story.”

“I think we need to see Moff to continue the story, and to continue the pressure and edge that someone with the big brain that Moff has thinks about.”

The actor then finally stopped being coy and offered as close to a guarantee as he could that he’ll be back, baby.

I can almost guarantee it, but there’s never a guarantee. But… you’ll see me, baby. Come on!”

Gideon finally got what he wanted towards the end of season 2 when he kidnapped Grogu. However, Djarin launched an attack on Gideon’s ship to retrieve his kid. What’s more, Djarin also snatched the Darksaber from him, which officially makes the bounty hunter the rightful ruler of Mandalore. When we last saw him, the gang had apprehended the Imperial foe, though The Child still went with Luke Skywalker to start his Jedi training.

But just because Gideon is beaten for now doesn’t mean we should discount him. As Esposito says, he’s got “a big brain” and it’s easy to imagine the master manipulator managing to wrangle his incarceration to his advantage somehow, perhaps by sowing seeds of discord among the New Republic’s forces. The actor’s no doubt right when he says that Gideon’s story is far from over.

The Mandalorian season 3 is set to start filming soon – if it hasn’t already – before arriving sometime in 2022. In the meantime, The Book of Boba Fett hits Disney Plus this December.