The latest gossip from the rumor mill gives us a little bit of insight for what Star Wars has planned following the conclusion of The Mandalorian Season 2.
What we do know is that a Boba Fett and Fennec Shand story is coming in December 2021 titled The Book Of Boba Fett.
That was announced following the post-credit scene for The Mandalorian Chapter 16: The Rescue that saw Boba Fett and Fennec Shand take over Jabba the Hutt’s palace from Bib Fortuna.
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What we also know is that there are two new Mandalorian spin-off series in the works. The two shows will be Rangers of the New Republic and Ahsoka.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy made those announcements at the Disney Investor Day 2020 presentation stating that they “are set within the timeline of The Mandalorian.”
She added, “These interconnected shows along with future stories will excite new audiences, embrace our most passionate fans, and culminate in a climactic story event.”
Kennedy would then reveal, “The next chapter will debut on Disney+ Christmas of 2021.”
Now, given that they recently announced that The Book of Boba Fett will also debut in December 2021, there is speculation that it might actually be the third season of The Mandalorian.
Variety reported back in April that work on Season 3 had already begun with a source telling them, “We’ve just started pre-production and are looking into further adventures for the Mandalorian in Season 3.
They also reported that a separate source communicated to them that production design work began in April for Season 3 and that “the gears have started grinding really early on.”
Creator and Executive Producer Jon Favreau would provide an update to Variety in October where he revealed that The Mandalorian Season 3 was “on schedule” to start production “before the end of the year.”
Favreau added, “We’re operating under the assumption that we’ll be able to go forward.”
A new rumor from LRM Online reveals that The Book of Boba Fett is not The Mandalorian Season 3 and that the two are separate.
According to their source, The Mandalorian Season 3 will be separate from The Book of Boba Fett. And they believe that The Mandalorian Season 3 might not debut until 2022.
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They report, “Our source says the plan, as I suspected, is to film The Book of Boba Fett and then straight into The Mandalorian Season 3. This was always part of the plan.”
As for details on The Book of Boba Fett, their source informed them that it might not be a full eight episodes like The Mandalorian.
Finally, the source revealed that The Mandalorian is not a linear story. LRM Online’s Campbell Clark explains, “This may be where the story begins, but the overall story is not necessarily linear. The Book of Boba Fett is a chapter of that story, The Mandalorian Season 3 is another chapter, as is Ahsoka and Rangers of the New Republic.”
He went on to add, “Hence, the Game of Thrones analogy our source originally used to describe this collection of stories. A Mandoverse if you will and we were told that this Mandoverse is a puzzle more than a linear story.”
The idea that The Mandalorian might not be linear was recently hinted at by Executive Producer Dave Filoni.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, Filoni was asked about Ahsoka searching for Thrawn and where this episode of The Mandalorian fit into continuity given the ending of Star Wars Rebels saw Ahsoka Tano seek out Sabine Wren to search for Ezra Bridger.
Filoni responded, “I think the thing that people will most not understand is they want to go in a linear fashion, but as I learned as a kid, nothing in Star Wars really works in a linear fashion.”
He added, “You do [Episodes] Four, Five and Six and then One, Two, and Three. So in the vein of that history, when you look at the epilogue of Rebels you don’t really know how much time has passed.”
“So, it’s possible that the story I’m telling in The Mandalorian actually takes place prior to that. Possible. I’m saying it’s possible,” Filoni concluded.
If you really want to read into some of these comments from Kennedy and Favreau, it could also provide evidence that The World Between Worlds is also at work.
For those unfamiliar with The World Between Worlds, it’s described as a place with “doorways between time and space” on the official Star Wars website. It was accessed by Ezra Bridger to save Ahsoka Tano from dying at the hands of Darth Vader during their duel on Malachor.
Kennedy interestingly enough uses the word “timeline” when describing The Mandalorian and its spinoff shows.
And Filoni’s mention of non-linear storytelling could also hint at time travel being at play.
If that is the case it could lend credence to a rumor from YouTuber Doomcock that detailed The World Between Worlds would “be used to make the entire Sequel Trilogy an alternate timeline and reclassify the sequels as Star Wars Legends.”
If they don’t use The World Between Worlds, there is also the possibility of of use the Netherworld of Unbeing. Found within the ancient Jedi texts that Luke Skywalker accrued on Ahch-To, the Nethworld of Unbeing allows one to “transit to any point across the cosmos.”
Interestingly enough on the same page it describes the Force as a “twisted ribbon lining the perimeter of all reality.” Meaning it’s possible you could use it access other realities.
What do you make of this latest rumor? Do you think The Book of Boba Fett is The Mandalorian Season 3 or do you think the two are separate? What kind of stories do you think will be told in The Mandalorian Season 3 and The Book of Boba Fett?