Warning! This post contains SPOILERS for The Mandalorian & Grogu
The Mandalorian & Grogu is finally in theaters, the Star Wars franchise’s long-awaited return to the big screen in seven years featuring an all-new adventure for Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin and his adopted son. Despite continuing the iconic duo’s journey from The Mandalorian series on Disney+, the new Star Wars movie is remarkably self-contained and fairly accessible. However, that didn’t stop creators Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni from adding in some very fun Easter eggs and references to the greater galaxy far, far away.
From deep-cut references, Clone Wars callbacks, models that never made it on-screen, and fun parallels to the original trilogy and beyond, there are plenty of cool nods and ties to be found by longtime Star Wars fans. At the same time, the story isn’t negatively impacted if more casual movie-goers happen to miss these fun connections.
Some connections to the wider lore are easier to spot, like the return of Jabba the Hutt’s son Rotta (who hasn’t appeared since 2008’s animated Clone Wars movie), while others are more subtle and harder to find. Keeping that in mind, here are the biggest, best, and coolest Easter eggs, references, and pieces of Star Wars trivia we found in The Mandalorian & Grogu.
Grogu Is Now A Mandalorian Apprentice
In the movie’s opening text, Grogu is referred to as Din Djarin’s apprentice. This ties back to the finale of The Mandalorian season 3, where Grogu was officially adopted by Djarin, no longer a foundling and receiving the full name Din Grogu.
Hemky Madera’s Imperial Warlord: Commander Barro
Having first appeared in The Mandalorian season 3 as a member of the secret Imperial Shadow Council, actor Hemky Madera’s Imperial Remnant warlord was finally named as Commander Barro, shown demanding protection tributes from local leaders before he was ultimately hunted down by Din Djarin in the movie’s opening action scene.
Snow Mouse Droid
Imperial mouse droids are quite common in the Star Wars galaxy, often seen rolling around the Death Star or various Star Destroyers. However, The Mandalorian & Grogu features a never-before-seen iteration clearly built for more difficult terrains like snow.
First Imperial AT-RT On-Screen
Although the Galactic Empire predominantly used the larger AT-ST’s as scout transports in the original trilogy, Din Djarin finds an Imperial AT-RT to scale down the snowy mountain, a transport more associated with Republic forces during the Clone Wars, like the Battle of Kashyyyk.
Star Wars Reveals A Snowtrooper’s Full Helmet
Din Djarin is shown fighting several Imperial Remnant snow troopers, though many of them aren’t wearing the typical white cloth hoods covering the bottom half of their helmets as seen in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back. As such, The Mandalorian & Grogu marks the first time we’re seeing what the full helmet looks like on-screen, 46 years later.
Snow trooper Voiced By Sam Witwer
While he’s best known for being the voice of Darth Maul, voice actor Sam Witwer can briefly be heard as one of the snow troopers, continuing a longstanding tradition where the actor has helped provide the voice of several background Star Wars characters (like a shore trooper in Andor season 1).
INT-4 Interceptor (Kenner)
Commander Barro tries and fails to escape Djarin in an INT-4, a unique Imperial craft that very much looks like an AT-ST cockpit with wings. Based on the classic Kenner toy models, continuing the Star Wars franchise tradition in the modern era of bringing Kenner vehicles to the existing canon, like the K79-S80 Imperial Troop Transport.
AT-ATs
Clearly, this opening action scene in The Mandalorian & Grogu with its Imperial force and snowy landscape is meant to evoke 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back, including the appearance of three AT-AT walkers. Not only do viewers get to the see the full interior of an AT-AT for the first time on screen, but Djarin takes out all three walkers single-handedly (Luke Skywalker only took out one).
Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios
Djarin and Grogu are extracted by none other than Zeb Orrelious, one of Star Wars Rebels’ beloved leads who made his live-action debut in The Mandalorian season 3. With his former Ghost crew mates having also debuted in live-action themselves in 2023’s Ahsoka, it’s only a matter of time before we get a live-action reunion. Shown piloting a Rebel U-Wing first seen in Rogue One, Zeb plays an ongoing supporting role as Djarin’s New Republic sanctioned partner/handler.
Mandalorian Series Title Font (And Grogu)
While the posters and trailers have had a brand-new font for The Mandalorian & Grogu’s title, the movie itself features The Mandalorian in the classic television font before adding Grogu below, a very cool nod to the original streaming series.