Debunking the Latest ‘Mandalorian’ Rumor

Despite being in the midst of season 3, rumors have started swirling that The Mandalorian might be canceled. The Mandalorian first premiered on Disney+ in 2019 and quickly became one of the platform’s most beloved original Star Wars titles. The series follows Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), a Mandalorian bounty hunter who decides to protect a youngling, Grogu, instead of turning him in for a bounty. The past few seasons have followed Djarin and Grogu’s adventures across the galaxy, tracking the development of their close bond.

While The Mandalorian seasons 1 and 2 received overwhelmingly positive responses from critics and audiences alike, season 3 has received some mixed reviews so far. Critic and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes for the first two seasons were in the 90s, but season 3’s critic rating dipped to 87%, while the audience score dipped all the way to 69%. During the first few episodes, viewers were simply a little divided over The Mandalorian diving into side stories, with some criticizing the series for failing to have a cohesive narrative and overarching story.

The latest episode, “Chapter 22: Guns for Hire,” though, received backlash for overdoing the cameos by featuring Jack Black, Lizzo, and Christopher Lloyd in a scene that fans found especially “cringe.”

The backlash has led some to wonder if maybe there is some truth to recent rumors of The Mandalorian‘s impending cancellation.

Is The Mandalorian canceled?

There has been no official confirmation that The Mandalorian is canceled. Rumors of the cancellation arose when CultureSlate published an article reporting that the series would be canceled after season 3 due to “fan backlash.” According to the article, Disney CEO Bob Iger met with Lucasfilm’s Kathleen Kennedy, Jon Favreau, and Dave Filoni to let them know that Disney was pulling “the plug on further seasons of The Mandalorian.” However, most readers will quickly notice that the article was published on April 1, 2023, which is April Fools’ Day. Plus, if you scroll to the bottom of the article for the “source,” you get redirected to an April Fools’ Day image with a clown on it.

Despite being a prank, some users took to social media to question if the report was true and share reactions to the “news.” It’s unclear if these users were simply getting in on the joke or if they genuinely believed the report. But now that April Fools’ Day is behind us, these posts are bound to get confusing.

As of now, though, The Mandalorian has not been canceled. In fact, the last time the topic of the show’s ending came up, Favreau revealed that it doesn’t even have a planned ending in sight. He expressed hope that the story would continue and also confirmed that season 4 is already written. However, the fact that CultureSlate was inspired to write an article about The Mandalorian‘s cancellation and that people seemingly believed it, suggests that fan backlash to season 3 might be more serious than previously thought. It likely isn’t enough to warrant the cancellation of one of Disney+’s best shows, but it’s enough to get people talking, and may require some resolution on the show’s part.

(featured image: Disney+)