Star Wars fans have come to understand that just because a project is announced, there’s no guarantee it’ll actually happen. Yesterday, we learned that yet another high-profile movie won’t happen, though there don’t seem to be too many tears from the fandom about it. In other news, The Mandalorian season three, episode two, “The Mines of Mandalore,” landed today, finally taking us to the ruined home planet of the Mandalorian people and launching a lot of fan speculation on where the show is going next.
There’s a lot to get through, so let’s dive in.
Kevin Feige’s trip to a galaxy far, far away is canceled
Back in 2019, Lucasfilm announced that Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige would be bringing his talents to Star Wars. Screenwriter Michael Waldron began work on the story, though it’s been a long time since we heard anything concrete about the movie. Well, now we won’t, as Variety has confirmed this didn’t get anywhere close to filming, presumably because Feige is way too busy wrangling the ever-expanding MCU.
As almost a side note, Variety also reports that Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron is also canned, though given that this was yanked from the release schedule, it won’t come as a big surprise. It’s now been over three years since we last got a big-screen Star Wars adventure, and though Disney Plus is filling the gap, we’re itching for another full movie. Right now, Damon Lindelof’s movie set after The Rise of Skywalker is our best bet, though let’s hope this doesn’t meet the same fate as Feige and Jenkins’ movies.
‘The Mandalorian’s Mythosaur finally rises from the deep
As you’d expect from a creature called the ‘Mythosaur,’ they’re quite rare in Star Wars. This legendary beast is a big part of the story of Mandalore the Great, with one of his feats said to be taming the creature. Hundreds of years later, by the time of The Mandalorian, Mythosaurs seem to be considered a fairytale. Not even Bo-Katan puts much stock in their existence, so she got quite the surprise when she discovered one lurking in the depths of the Living Waters of the Mines of Mandalore.
With this season of The Mandalorian clearly setting up the arrival of a new Mandalore, we’re waiting to see which character will bond with the Godzilla-sized creature. Top candidates are Din, Bo-Katan, and Grogu, so if we see any of them astride this colossus, we may be looking at the new leader of the Mandalorian people. We suspect next week’s episode is going to provide some interesting answers!
Does Bo-Katan now have a legitimate claim to the Darksaber?
The Darksaber is now at the core of The Mandalorian‘s story. Whoever holds it can command the respect of every Mandalorian, though now that Din has won it in combat from Moff Gideon, it’s proven a heavy burden. Even wielding the weapon takes practice, as it requires you to be attuned to its specific Kyber Crystal. Bo-Katan has a long attachment to the blade, though Din can’t simply give it to her as it needs to be won in a fair fight.
But, as fans have noted, this week saw Din temporarily defeated and captured by a strange cyborg creature, who stripped him of his blaster and the Darksaber. When Bo-Katan arrived to rescue him, she took up the weapon, with her graceful moves a stark contrast to Din’s clumsier fighting with it earlier in the episode. So, if Din lost it to the cyborg and Bo-Katan defeated the cyborg, does she have a rightful claim to owning it once again?
Fans are split. Some say she could argue she’s won it fair and square, but others point out that the cyborg never actually claimed it. We still think we’re heading for a Din vs. Bo-Katan conflict down the line, though this moment may give her an opportunity to argue that she is the only rightful Mandalore by the strict terms of the Creed.
Is this new cyborg villain a nod to General Grievous?
And finally, that cyborg was one of the coolest-looking new Star Wars villains in some time. We loved seeing it effortlessly switch between being a hulking mech, a bipedal insectoid and, best of all, a scurrying head. Star Wars isn’t short of cyborg characters, with both Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader both falling into that category. But for many fans, the sight of a single glaring eye from a metallic carapace and his creepy motions put them in mind of Revenge of the Sith‘s General Grievous.
We don’t think this actually is Grievous (he died quite conclusively at the hands of Obi-Wan Kenobi), but we like to think this is The Mandalorian team tipping the hat to one of Star Wars‘ coolest and most underused villains.
That’s all for today — see you again tomorrow!
