When I first started re-watching The Mandalorian Season 1 with my Disney+ subscription, I had one goal in mind. Considering I was so obsessed with the reveals and ties to the Star Wars movies, I didn't know if there was more to the show than that and if it would hold up knowing everything that happens. I'm happy to say that five years later, it still does, and it made me appreciate Pedro Pascal's Din Djarin a lot more.
As conversation surrounds the future of upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows, I think it's worth reminding readers preparing for new shows on the 2025 TV schedule that there's still great things from D television worth looking back on. So let's take a trip down memory lane and talk about the bounty hunter who has dominated franchise conversations the past few years and how much he's changed.
Din Is Not Nice In The Mandalorian Season 1
I once referred to Din Djarin as a "reluctant father figure" in an article comparing him to Joel from HBO's The Last of Us, and it's hilarious just how unsuited he is to caring for a child in The Mandalorian Season 1. From the first episode, it becomes remarkably clear that Din has few tools for solving problems if violence is not an option. He couldn't even negotiate with Jawas without busting out his flamethrower and threatening to burn them all for stealing his stuff.
Let's also not forget the opening scene, in which he ropes an escaping attacker and allows him to be cut in half by the closing door. I think what's most disturbing about it as well is that his penchant for violence is not exclusive to when he's carrying out a bounty hunting job. He was just raised by his fellow Mandalorians to be a killing machine that works in service of the remaining coven, in hopes they could one day reclaim the pride they had as a people on Mandalore.
It's jarringly different than the Din Djarin we've seen in his most recent appearances with Grogu. If you were to tell someone fresh off watching The Mandalorian Season 1 that these two characters would get a movie together, I'm sure they'd be interested, but confused about how much the little guy would factor into 2026's The Mandalorian and Grogu. Fortunately, future seasons and appearances have helped in further establishing these two as multi-dimensional characters worthy of their own feature, and not just shallow fun for Star Wars fans.
Din Is Woefully Incapable Of Caring For Grogu
When Din finally gets Grogu, I think it's remarkably clear from the jump that he's in no way fit to care for a child. In fact, he gets called out by mechanic Peli Motto for leaving The Child alone on the ship while he goes out on a mission. Even if Grogu, who we were calling Baby Yoda back then because we didn't know his name, is close to 50 in The Mandalorian, he could not hang out on the ship alone.
The only time we see Din connect with Grogu in a way that could hint at a deeper connection is when he screws off the ball on a lever in the Razor Crest and gifts it to The Child. It's a moment I admittedly wasn't paying a ton of attention to when I watched it way back mainly because I was still geeking out over the fact Moff Gideon had the Darksaber.
In hindsight, I can see that Din becoming a father figure to Grogu is one of the major stories of The Mandalorian. This is evident when he officially becomes a Foundling at the end of Season 3, but I think that, once again, we were more concerned about CGI fights and reveals more than the story being told. I think there's some shared blame here between viewers and the way Disney hypes its storytelling, but maybe that's something best tabled until it can be tackled in another story.
I Need To Give The Mandalorian Credit For Developing Din Djarin's Character More Than I Assumed
I think because Disney has conditioned me to be more on the lookout for unexpected cameos and other easter eggs in Marvel and Star Wars shows, I took for granted some of the strong storytelling that's happened over the course of The Mandalorian. At face value, this is a story ultimately meant to bridge the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens and, I'm assuming, make more sense of Emperor Palpatine's return to power. As we've seen with many of these projects, they're ultimately meant to further service the movie side of things.
What I paid less attention to is that this is a story of a radicalized and sheltered individual slowly changing his whole worldview when the care of a child is thrust upon him. Slowly but surely, we see him change his thoughts on droids, the Rebel forces and even what it means to be a Mandalorian. Granted, we can't 100% attribute all of that to his relationship with Grogu, but it's played a big role.
It's a perspective that I'm glad I recognized ahead of The Mandalorian and Grogu. While I can't say with any certainty Din's evolution as a character will have some massive payoff in the movie, I feel relatively safe in predicting that if you watch Episode 1 of The Mandalorian before sitting down to watch this upcoming feature film, the difference in the character is going to be night and day. Now that I think more deeply about it, he might be in contention for one of the biggest evolutions in character arcs in Star Wars, though I don't think anyone is going to top the changes that Anakin Skywalker went through.
If you're curious enough to check out The Mandalorian Season 1 again, it's ready and waiting on Disney+ for anyone who wants to remember "The Way." CinemaBlend will continue to be on the lookout for updates on the upcoming movie with the Star Wars duo, which is expected to drop in May of 2026.
