Sigourney Weaver has sparked new speculation about potential legacy Star Wars characters appearing in The Mandalorian & Grogu (2026) after confirming that the upcoming film includes familiar faces fans haven’t seen on the big screen for a long time.
Speaking during the film’s recent premiere in LA, Weaver—who plays New Republic Colonel Ward—teased that audiences could be surprised by returning characters, carefully avoiding specifics but strongly implying that more than just new faces populate the story.
After she revealed that Chewbacca is her favorite character in the franchise, she said, “I’m sorry that he [Chewbacca] wasn’t in our movie, but we have so many other amazing characters in this movie, some of whom we haven’t seen in a Star Wars movie for a long time, and I think everyone’s going to be really thrilled.”
Naturally, attention has now turned to what she might actually mean, and many fans are pointing to three specific legacy characters.
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Given the film's timeline, the most obvious candidates would be characters from the original trilogy era, particularly Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo.
Luke and Leia have already appeared in various forms across modern Star Wars projects, including digital recreations of Carrie Fisher in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and of Mark Hamill in The Mandalorian Season 2 and The Book of Boba Fett (2021).
Han Solo, however, despite getting his own solo film (titled Solo, in which a younger version of the character was played by Alden Ehrenreich and not Harrison Ford), has only appeared in animated miniseries such as Galaxy of Adventures.
While Weaver’s comments stop short of confirmation, they arrive at a time when Lucasfilm is clearly leaning back into legacy storytelling. Recent marketing for the film has emphasized connections to earlier eras, with one trailer using footage of past Star Wars student-mentor relationships similar to Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu.
It's also worth noting that Weaver previously hinted that Leia could appear in the film.
The Mandalorian & Grogu marks the franchise’s first theatrical outing for Din and Grogu, following the success of the Disney+ series launched in 2019.
The film sees the pair recruited by the New Republic to deal with remnants of the Empire, expanding the post-Return of the Jedi political landscape.
“The evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy,” the film’s official synopsis for The Mandalorian & Grogu on StarWars.com reads. “As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu.”
Alongside Pascal, the cast includes Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White, and returning animated-era characters such as Zeb Orrelios from Star Wars Rebels. The project is directed by Jon Favreau, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor.
The Mandalorian & Grogu releases in theaters on May 22.
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