While Tatooine is one ofStar Wars’most frequently visited planets, the franchise’s next movie,The Mandalorian and Grogu, looks as if it’s endeavoring to visit two planets that haven’t been seen on-screen in 45 years. Continuing the story ofThe MandalorianTV show,The Mandalorian and Grogumoviewill take place just over five years after the events ofReturn of the Jedi. Because of this, there’s an opportunity for overlap between the originalStar Warstrilogy and this movie.
Details about the movie, however, remain tightly under wraps - aside from a few official reveals.The Mandalorianhas embraced original trilogy crossovers before, specifically by visiting places such asMos Eisley on Tatooine, and now it seems as if the movie will follow in the show’s footsteps.There are two planets fromThe Empire Strikes Backthat the upcoming movie could visit, both of which haven’t been seen on-screen since that movie first hit theaters in 1980.
Bespin Will Be Included In The Mandalorian Movie’s Storyline At Galaxy’s Edge
This Mission Could Take Inspiration From The Movie
The first planet is Bespin, which houses the famed Cloud City that’s run by none other than Lando Calrissian. More details aboutThe Mandalorian and Grogu’s story addition to theStar Wars: Galaxy’s Edgeattraction,Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, have come to light recently, including official concept art that depicts aRazor Crest- presumably Din Djarin’s - flying alongside theMillennium Falcontowards Cloud City. While this experience isn’t meant to replicate events from the movie, it does seem to at least align with the movie’s story.
The Mandalorian and Groguand this new addition toSmuggler’s Runboth debut on August 02, 2025, which seems to further indicate connections between the two of them.
If this is truly the case, then it seems as ifBespin could somehow be a part ofThe Mandalorian and Grogumovie itself. This would indeed make sense with what we know of the movie’s story so far; theImperial Remnantwould no doubt seek to seize as much of Cloud City’s supply of tibanna gas as possible to gain control over hyperspace travel as a means of bringing the Empire back into control. As a contracted bounty hunter for theNew Republicrangers, Din Djarin could be commissioned to stop them.
The Mandalorian Movie Has Also Teased Hoth In Exclusive Footage
A Snow Planet With Snowtroopers And AT-ATs…
Bespin, however, isn’t the only planet fromThe Empire Strikes Backthat could potentially be making its return in this movie. In exclusive footage shown to the audience at 2024’s D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event, Din Djarin and Grogu were on a mission on a snowy planet that looked too familiar to not be Hoth, especially once a shot of AT-ATs was revealed on that same world. Of course,Hoth isn’t the only snow planet inStar Wars, but this association of events fromThe Empire Strikes Backseems too strong to indicate otherwise.
All 8 Major Star Wars Reveals From The New Mandalorian Movie Footage
Star Wars shared an exclusive first look at The Mandalorian & Grogu movie at D23, and it included some major reveals. Here are all 8 of them.
Hoth would make sense forThe Mandalorian and Grogu’s story, too. The Imperial Remnant is currently remaining in hiding until they believe they’re strong enough to reveal themselves again, andit would make sense if they were to have a hiding place within an oldRebel Alliancebase, such as Echo Base on Hoth- which they famously overran inThe Empire Strikes Back. The return of this world would pose a plethora of exciting possibilities thatStar Warswould certainly want to take advantage of.
Will The Return Of These Empire Strikes Back Planets Shrink The Galaxy?
I Don’t Think The Tatooine Effect Applies Here
The real question, however, is whether the return of these specific planets poses the risk of making theStar Warsgalaxy feel too small. This is what has happened with the recent frequent visits to Tatooine in properties likeThe Mandalorian,The Book of Boba Fett, andObi-Wan Kenobi. Tatooine was originally intended to be a planet that was in the middle of nowhere and rarely received any special visitors. The fact so many stories have gone back there hasmade it feel like the most popular planet in the galaxy.
I don’t think this would be the case with a return to Bespin and Hoth inThe Mandalorian and Grogu. As stated above, both these planets have a valid place in the movie’s story, with proper justifications for why the characters would travel there. Both planets also haven’t already been overused in otherStar Warsprojects; if anything, they have been left alone more than many other worlds.
Both these planets have a valid place in the movie’s story, with proper justifications for why the characters would travel there.
In fact, I think that visiting Bespin and Hoth would be a perfect act of tribute forThe Mandalorian and Groguto display towards the originalStar Warstrilogy. It has long since been aiming to honor that era ofStar Warswith the TV show, andincluding planets like these in an organic way would only continue that effort. Either way, I’m confident there will be no shortage of thrilling adventures inThe Mandalorian and Grogu, whether they choose to visit these planets or not.
