Saying a movie spun out of a TV series should have stayed a TV series feels like an easy, sometimes even lazy, criticism. I thought that might apply to The Mandalorian and Grogu. Yet it’s probably a fair gripe.

The Mandalorian and Grogu doesn’t utilize what made the series special, probably because it’s limited to a two-hour running time rather than eight episodes of TV. It’s also limited by not being allowed to step outside the show’s boundaries into the larger Star Wars mythology. So yes, rather than being made into a movie, this should have been Season 4 of the series. (And hopefully, with more episodes, it would have been better.)

What made The Mandalorian series so enjoyable as a Star Wars fan is that it expanded the universe that we followed in the movies. It made the mythology feel bigger against the backdrop of the war between the Rebellion and the Empire, building on the concepts of the Jedi and the Force. It also added more to ideas that were intriguing yet not crucial to the overall story — characters such as Boba Fett, his origins, and the society in which he existed.

Yet the world of The Mandalorian could only go so far. It runs into a ceiling. We don’t see the main character, Din Djarin, in the newer Star Wars trilogy. (The series is supposed to take place between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, which allows for a whole bunch of storytelling possibilities.) Grogu, the adorable “Baby Yoda,” was not a part of the most recent films either.

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