Bo Katan — Queen’s Quest

First introduced in the Clone Wars animated series’ fourth season, Bo Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff, Battlestar Galactica) quickly proved herself as an honorable and trustworthy character that became a fan favorite. Having Sackhoff reprise her role on The Mandalorian was a masterstroke, blasting onto the screen with her armored cohorts to ratify the fact that not every tribe adhered to the strict rules (the helmet stays ON!) as the series’ hero.

Having established that Bo needs to attain the legendary Darksaber to reclaim her place as ruler of Mandalore, we need to see an arc where she and Mando deal with the fact that it can only be won back in combat. Will somebody steal the Darksaber so Bo can take it back in combat without guilt? Will she bring back the glory of Mandalore? Will the WWE’s Sasha Banks join in the fun after making a hell of an impression in Season 2?

Ahsoka Tano — The Search for Thrawn

Picking up on plot threads from the end of the animated Rebels (2014-2018) The Mandalorian revealed that Ahsoka Tano (played in live action by Rent’s Rosario Dawson) was still on her quest to locate the sinister Grand Admiral Thrawn and Jedi hopeful Ezra Bridger. Despite much speculation that we’d see either Thrawn or Ezra this season when Dawson’s participation was announced, it would seem that the powers that be are saving that reunion for Ahsoka’s solo tv series.

Deftly introduced in live action via an episode directed by Ahsoka’s creator, Clone Wars showrunner Dave Filoni (Avatar: The Last Airbender) that appearance now comes across as a soft pilot for the adventures to come. Maybe the Mandalorian could return the favor by guest-starring once in a while?

Moff Gideon — Man with a Plan

Over the last few years, it’s become an accepted part of pop culture that if Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) joins the cast of your show, the good guys are headed for a world of trouble. From his signature role as restauranteur/drug lord Gustavo Fring, to his turn as a scheming exec on The Boys, there are precious few universes where Esposito wouldn’t be terrifying.

Over the last season, his Moff Gideon has served as The Mandalorian’s resident big bad. With his goal of using Grogu’s blood to create Force-sensitive soldiers finally within reach, we still don’t know who the mad Moff is working for. And now that he’s under New Republic custody, we’ll just have to wait and hope Season 3 gives us some answers.

Boba Fett — Tatooine Crimelord

Season 2 ended with a killer post-credits scene, wherein Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen, Mulan, Agents of SHIELD) took out a few unfortunate denizens of gangster Jabba the Hutt’s former throne room. Now presided over by Bib Fortuna, Jabba’s now-portly right hand man finds himself on the wrong end of Boba Fett’s (Temura Morrison, Aquaman, Moana) blaster rifle. With the alpha well and firmly established, Fett takes his place on the throne, as Shand knocks back a shot of alcohol to celebrate a job well done.

With the Book of Boba Fett announced for December 2021, it looks like Disney will be showing us more of the Star Wars underworld, a concept once proposed by franchise creator George Lucas (American Graffiti, THX-1138) himself for a show that never got made. Regardless of who’s making it, the concept of Fett as a Godfather-type figure with Shand as his enforcer is an offer we can’t refuse.

Cara Dune — New Republic Marshal

OK, we have no idea if Dune’s (Gina Carano, Deadpool, Fast and Furious 6) storyline will have anything to do with the “Rangers of the New Republic” show that’s been announced, but the notion of her kicking butt and taking names to keep the peace on a backwater planet is appealing.

As the no-nonsense former Rebel drop trooper who isn’t afraid to stand with her friends, there’s still much we could learn about this Alderaan native. We’ve already seen glimpses of her peacekeeper style this season, but there’s always room for more. Thrown in Greef Karga (Carl Weathers, Rocky, Happy Gilmore), and we could get a whole bunch of episodes, heck, maybe even a series out of this!

Luke Skywalker — Jedi Master

If you were one of those freaking out when his X-Wing streaked across the screen, lost it when he took out the Dark Troopers, and went absolutely bananas when Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill, Batman: The Animated Series) finally pulled back his hood, we hear ya. At that point, it wasn’t hard to imagine millions of fans all over the world cheering in unison that their hero was BACK.

Since the original stories of his establishing a new Jedi Academy are now relegated to non-canonical “Legends” status, the new continuity is free to set Luke up in any way the showrunners wish (at least until Adam Driver’s Ben Solo enters the picture). With Luke shown to be more adept at using his powers here than we’ve ever seen before, and a new generation of Jedi waiting to be trained, it looks like his journey as a Jedi Master is about to begin.

Where The Clone Wars puled off the miraculous feat of making his father, Anakin (Hayden Christensen, set to return in the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series), into someone we could actually care about, the opportunity now exists to restore the once-great hero to his former glory. After the unmitigated disaster of The Rise of Skywalker, that’s a resurrection nobody could have seen coming.

Crossovers — Mandaloriverse? Mandomination?

With a multitude of new Star Wars shows already announced, it would appear that The Mandalorian’s universe is about to get a whole lot more crowded. Of course, with nearly a dozen or so projects on the horizon, the chances that every one of them would be made with the same passion and attention to detail as this show has spoiled us with are kind of slim.

But if even half of them manage to prioritize character over spectacle, and telling new stories versus rehashing old ones, we could be in for one hell of a ride. And with some of those shows set in the same post-Return of the Jedi time period, who’s to say they couldn’t do the sort of regular crossover event, similar to what Warner Brothers does with their DC Arrowverse? After all, for a loner, Mando has shown that he is willing to work with others if the situation calls for it. Who knows, he could be the lynchpin of something much, much bigger than we’ve already seen. Heck, they busted out Luke – the sky’s the limit at this point!

The Mandalorian — A Man Alone

Deprived of his beloved Grogu, what will become Din Djarin? Will he go back to his mercenary ways, as seen way back in the first episode? What will he do to replace his dearly-departed Razor Crest? For the first time in years, we honestly have no idea where this iteration of the Star Wars saga will go, and to be perfectly honest, that’s GREAT. While it remains to be seen whether Disney can maintain the quality of character and storytelling they’ve established thus far among all the shows it’s got on the way, we can look back on the garbage fire of 2020 as the year that The Mandalorian saved the Star Wars universe.

What are you looking forward to seeing in The Mandalorian’s next season?