Star Wars' Canceled Mandalorian Spinoff Is Becoming An Even Bigger Problem (2025)

The Mandalorian’s canceled spinoff show has created a range of problems for Star Wars’ New Republic-era storytelling. Once The Mandalorian season 2 premiered on Disney+, Lucasfilm charged ahead with the expansion of the so-called “Mandoverse,” bringing animated characters into live-action for the first time and entwining Din Djarin and Grogu’s story with legacy characters like Boba Fett and Luke Skywalker. For a show that was originally mostly disconnected from the rest of the franchise, The Mandalorian suddenly became the galaxy’s central focus.

It was a train that couldn’t be stopped. Boba Fett was given a spinoff, Ahsoka Tano would soon be granted a show, too, and Lucasfilm greenlit one other spinoff series: Rangers of the New Republic. While The Book of Boba Fett and Ahsoka both made it to the small screen – and Din Djarin and his ward are soon headed to the big screen in The Mandalorian and Grogu – Rangers of the New Republic never made it out of the development phase. This has caused all sorts of problems with the Mandoverse’s storytelling, however.

Rangers Of The New Republic Would've Fleshed Out The Republic Side Of The Story

Gina Carano’s Cara Dune was meant to be the star of Rangers of the New Republic. Introduced in The Mandalorian season 1 as a mercenary for hire, Cara became one of Din Djarin’s closest allies, alongside the late Carl Weathers’ Greef Karga. After The Mandalorian season 1, Cara Dune was recruited to become a Marshal of the New Republic, and the show would have seen her handling that role while dealing with Grand Admiral Thrawn’s return to power and the rise of the Imperial Remnant.

Before the show could go into production, however, Carano came under fire due to controversial social media posts, which promoted election fraud conspiracy theories and transphobic jokes, among other divisive topics. Disney fired Carano, and Rangers of the New Republic was officially canceled, with other Mandoverse stories stepping up to further develop the New Republic era’s political storyline.

Other shows being forced to absorb Rangers’ narrative has led to some issues, however, with certain plots feeling untethered and underdeveloped. The Mandalorian season 3 suffered the most, though Ahsoka season 1 was weighed down by the New Republic’s politics and in-fighting, too. While it’s undeniably important to understand the galaxy’s current political climate and how its uncertainty might affect the Imperial Remnant’s and Grand Admiral Thrawn’s plans, the Mandoverse might have been better off if Rangers of the New Republic hadn’t been canceled – it could have moved forward without Carano, after all.

The Mandalorian Season 3's Most Controversial Episode Felt Like Setup

Above all, The Mandalorian should be about the relationship between Din Djarin and Grogu and their respective growth. Din Djarin still struggles to reconcile his Mandalorian beliefs with what he’s learned from Bo-Katan, and Grogu’s Force journey is at a crossroads. Sure, he’s chosen to settle down with Din for now, but what about his future? What happens when his power grows beyond his control? The Mandalorian season 3 should have been focused on them, especially after their rushed reunion in The Book of Boba Fett.

Instead, The Mandalorian season 3’s story was broken up and scattered because of the need to build up the galactic threat of the remaining Empire and the issues plaguing the New Republic government. Season 3, episode 3, “Chapter 19: The Convert,” ignored Din and Grogu almost entirely, focusing instead on Dr. Pershing, who was responsible for the experiments Grogu suffered through, and “former” Imperial officer Elia Kane, now being rehabilitated by the New Republic’s amnesty program.

Though I can’t deny that the episode, as a standalone story, was riveting – it laid bare the problems that will one day become the New Republic’s downfall and the powerful lure of another person’s belief – it was completely out of place within The Mandalorian season 3. This was exactly the kind of story that would have fit perfectly into Rangers of the New Republic, but instead, it cut into the audience’s time with Din, Grogu, and the quest to reclaim Mandalore.

Ahsoka Completely Mishandled Its New Republic Story

Ahsoka faced a similar problem. How was a show meant to focus on Ahsoka Tano and the extragalactic quest for Ezra Bridger – and, by extension, Grand Admiral Thrawn – supposed to integrate the New Republic’s political sphere into its narrative without feeling forced? It certainly didn’t succeed.

The scenes that featured the New Republic, such as General Hera Syndulla pleading with the council to heed her warning about Thrawn, were some of the weakest, slowest parts of the show. A series named Ahsoka should have been wholly about Ahsoka’s journey. Yes, Hera is a part of that journey because Ezra is her family, but the New Republic has no power over Ahsoka. Her actions are wholly her own.

Additionally, the governmental scenes failed to properly characterize Senator Mon Mothma, a character featured prominently in Star Wars Rebels and, more recently, Andor. In Andor, Mon Mothma was independent, a risk-taker, and cunning, but in Ahsoka, she was almost withdrawn and overshadowed by the other council members, taking the immediate dismissal of the threat of Thrawn’s potential return in stride. Honestly, that mischaracterization made all the New Republic scenes in Ahsoka feel even worse.

Can Star Wars Fix Its Rangers Of The New Republic Mistake?

Star Wars can’t turn back the clock. It canceled Rangers of the New Republic and rather ungracefully shoved bits and pieces of its storytelling into other shows. The issue, however, is that while Thrawn has now officially returned, as seen in Ahsoka season 1, the franchise has arguably still not done enough to truly set up why this is so dangerous for the wider galaxy. Unless you’ve seen Star Wars Rebels, it’s hard to truly comprehend how important he was to the Empire’s power structure and what he’s capable of.

So, what can Star Wars do? As of now, Star Wars has two more titled New Republic-era projects coming up: The Mandalorian and Grogu and Ahsoka season 2. The Mandalorian season 4 has yet to be confirmed, and all roads will presumably lead to the fourth Star Wars movie announced at Star Wars Celebration 2023, Dave Filoni’s untitled Mandoverse culmination movie.

While The Mandalorian season 3 did set Grogu and Din up to become more active participants in the New Republic in The Mandalorian and Grogu – essentially, they’re the new “Rangers” – the story will need a much tighter focus than what we’re used to in the TV show because of its cinematic format. A movie can’t hop between completely unconnected storylines, so while we’ll undoubtedly see Din and Grogu in action, it’s hard to say how much of that will truly elaborate on the threat of Thrawn’s return.

Similarly, if Ahsoka season 2 wants to succeed – and be worthy of the name Ahsoka – the show will have to largely take place on Peridea and focus on Ahsoka Tano’s and Sabine Wren’s time in Star Wars’ secondary galaxy. Ahsoka season 2 is a chance for Star Wars to explore its deep-cut lore like never before. Undermining that opportunity by constantly cutting away to the New Republic, Ezra Bridger, and Hera Syndulla – as much as that pains me to say – would be a real shame.

That’s a different story entirely. How will Star Wars ever reconcile the two without once again following a character trying to make their way to Peridea? It can’t repeat the same narrative arc twice. It just can’t.

So, what’s left? What can Star Wars do? Reportedly, Lucasfilm is set to cut back to one live-action TV show a year. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not necessarily a bad decision; I’d prefer to wait longer for a new show if I know it’s going to genuinely add to my enjoyment of Star Wars and provide something innovative and necessary to the franchise.

But if that’s the case, how is Star Wars ever going to flesh out the New Republic storyline enough for it to make sense and, more importantly, feel earned in Filoni’s final Mandalorian movie? Right now, the pieces are too scattered. It’s not a perfectly cut puzzle. Gina Carano’s misconduct may have led to Rangers of the New Republic’s cancelation, but perhaps Star Wars should have figured out a way to make the series work in the aftermath anyway – it might have been exactly what The Mandalorian franchise needed.

The Mandalorian

Created by

Jon Favreau

Upcoming Films

First TV Show

The Mandalorian

First Episode Air Date

November 12, 2019

Cast

Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers, Gina Carano, Giancarlo Esposito, Nick Nolte, Taika Waititi, Emily Swallow, Ming-Na Wen, Temuera Morrison, Rosario Dawson

Summary

"The Mandalorian" is a live-action Star Wars television series set in the post-Empire galaxy, five years after the events of "Return of the Jedi." The series follows the adventures of a lone bounty hunter, Din Djarin, who becomes the protector of a mysterious child known as Grogu (popularly referred to as "The Child" or "Baby Yoda"). Combining elements of Westerns, samurai films, and classic Star Wars lore, "The Mandalorian" has become a cultural phenomenon, praised for its storytelling, character development, and visual effects.