Pedro Pascal’s “Replacement” Breaks Silence on Taking Over in ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 4

Ever since Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) made her live-action debut in Season 2 of the Disney+ Star Wars spinoff, The Mandalorian, many speculated that showrunners had plans to promote her to the title role, sidelining Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his tiny charge, Grogu, ahead of Dave Filoni’s “Mando-Verse” crossover event. However, Sackhoff recently addressed these rumors, reassuring fans that The Mandalorian is, indeed, Din Djarin’s show — for now, at least.

Related: ‘Star Wars’ May Replace the Mando-Verse Next Year, Amid Criticism of Disney+ Shows

When Lucasfilm initially sought to expand into the live-action TV space, it’s safe to say that no one could’ve predicted just how successful The Mandalorian would be in reviving interest in the dying franchise. After the Sequel Trilogy divided the fanbase, Star Wars desperately needed a big win. And thanks to the uncomplicated, episodic approach Season 1 took — on top of mass “Baby Yoda” hysteria — the show worked like a charm, drawing viewers in by the millions.

Since its premiere on Disney+ in 2019, The Mandalorian has gone on to complete two more seasons, gradually adopting more of a serialized format as it continues to lay the foundation for the “Mando-Verse,” AKA all of the live-action Star Wars series that take place in the aftermath of the Galactic Empire, including Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett, and next year’s Skeleton Crew.

Related: Internet Turns Its Back on Taika Waititi, New ‘Star Wars’ Movie Will “Piss People Off”

Seasons 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian were a hit for Disney and Lucasfilm, garnering interest from even casual Star Wars fans. However, Season 3 didn’t fare nearly as well as its predecessors, with show creators Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau oftentimes falling back on common tropes (giant monsters, flashy celebrity cameos, etc.). At the same time, the overarching story also suffered from pacing issues thanks to multiple “filler” episodes and too many overlapping plot lines.

Still, above all else, one common complaint seemed to pop up in everyone’s criticisms of The Mandalorian Season 3: Din Djarin felt like a sidekick in his own show. While The Mandalorian is far from the only Disney+ Star Wars spinoff to suffer from this same issue (i.e., The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi), it was particularly noticeable this time around, given that the titular bounty hunter is very reserved. Because of this, he tends to fade into the background when he’s around characters with bigger personalities. 

Enter Bo-Katan Kryze, who made her live-action debut in The Mandalorian‘s sophomore season before getting promoted to series regular in Season 3. While the former Nite Owl is generally a well-liked character amongst fans, having been around since Star Wars: The Clone Wars, much of the season was dedicated to fleshing out her arc as she became the new ruler of Mandalore, overwhelming Din and his story as they were practically joined at the hip, give or take a few action scenes.

With Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy planning to add more female-driven stories to the galaxy far, far away in the coming years, many feared for the worse, as it seemed The Mandalorian was setting up Din Djarin’s replacement with Bo-Katan. Considering she arguably has more of a compelling story than Din, rumors began circulating online that Bo-Katan would take over the title role after Season 3, with some even speculating that showrunners would write out Din entirely or, worse, kill him off.

Thankfully, none of these rumors ended up being true, and Din and Grogu got their happy ending after facing off against Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) in the climactic Season 3 finale. And given that Filoni and Favreau essentially gave Din a blank canvas for his story arc moving forward, the possibilities for his imminent return are seemingly endless, as The Mandalorian Season 4 is already in the works.

Until then, Katee Sackhoff is making sure to set the record straight regarding Din’s not-so-replacement, speaking with The Direct ahead of her appearance at the upcoming Fan Expo in San Francisco to shut down speculation about Bo-Katan taking over as the Mandalorian in Season 4 once and for all.

During the interview, the actress commented on replacement rumors that her character would take over as the titular Mando of the Disney+ series, explaining that the possible status quo shift was “never discussed” by the show’s executive producers, adding that speculation is “one of the reasons why people love” the Star Wars community so much, but that there’s also bound to be “a lot of misinformation” out there:

No. I think there’s always going to be a lot of speculation in this fandom. You know, I think it’s one of the reasons why people love this fandom so much. And they love this universe so much that a lot of times it allows just enough ambiguity for people to interpret things the way that they want to interpret them. And out of that there is the ability to have a lot of misinformation get out, or just, you know, wishful thinking.

Of course, Star Wars fans do have a reputation for indulging in some wild fan theories, but in reality, what we saw in The Mandalorian Season 3 was pretty by the books as far as Star Wars TV shows go. Sackhoff went on to reaffirm that “the story of Bo-Katan needed to be told” for The Mandalorian Season 3 to make sense and how, at the end of the day, The Mandalorian “will always be Din Djarin’s show:”

And I think in this situation, I think that the story of the Mandalorians and the story of Bo-Katan needed to be told, I don’t believe in any way that it was taking away from Din [Djarin’s] story, nor was that ever the intention. And you know, Pedro and I aren’t in charge of who gets to lead the show [laughs]. This is Din Djarin’s show, it will always be Din Djarin’s show.

While this may come as a relief to many fans concerned about Pedro Pascal’s standing at Lucasfilm — especially given the fact that his role on the show is mostly a voiceover gig, at this point — Sackhoff is correct in saying Bo-Katan needed to take center stage in The Mandalorian Season 3, as her reclaiming Mandalore will likely be a driving plot point of the “Mando-Verse” moving forward.

It wouldn’t be entirely out of bounds to switch focus to another Mando from time to time, meaning there is a chance that Bo-Katan will feature equally as prominently in Season 4. And it’s no secret that Pascal has reached new heights of international fame recently due to his role in HBO’s The Last Of Us, making him one of the most in-demand actors working in Hollywood today.

With the actor set to resume filming on Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2 (2024) soon, on top of some exciting rumblings about his Marvel debut as Reed Richards in the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, he might need to step aside and give someone else the reins for The Mandalorian if timing commitments get in the way. If Filoni’s “Mando-Verse” movie is the culmination of these live-action Disney+ stories, there’s also the possibility that this character could be killed off. So if The Mandalorian is to continue post-Din Djarin, Bo-Katan is unarguably the best candidate to take over the titular role.

Again, fans’ reactions to Bo-Katan were generally positive, something Lucasfilm surely noted following the latest season’s conclusion. With this in mind, it seems like Sackhoff has firmly cemented her place as a series regular, but hopefully, Favreau and Filoni took notes and will give Din more time in the spotlight moving forward.

With the MCU-ification of Star Wars feeling more and more like a reality these days, The Mandalorian is officially the binding glue for all of its Disney+ series, interjecting Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels lore with multiple live-action projects. And based on Katee Sackhoff’s recent comments, it seems like Din Djarin will be the guy to take charge when he and the New Republic inevitably go up against Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) and his army of undead Night Troopers.

For now, there’s still no word on when we can expect to see the fourth season of The Mandalorian arrive on Disney+, but odds are, it’s not going to be anytime soon. As Disney and Lucasfilm begin to slowly recover from the now-resolved SAG-AFTRA strike, the studios are surely going to have to reshuffle production schedules for nearly every project.

Thankfully, The Mandalorian seems to be a priority, as scripts are already completed. Plus, it will more than likely lead into Filoni’s “Mando-Verse” movie, meaning the pressure is on for production to begin soon — though it sounds like its leading man’s schedule is about to get a lot more hectic.

Do you think Bo-Katan Kryze should get more of a leading role in The Mandalorian? What about her own spinoff show? Let us know in the comments below!

This post is originally appeared on Inside the Magic.