'The Mandalorian and Grogu' wastes a potentially brilliant era of 'Star Wars'

( His name is Embo, and he's already got quite the history in the Star Wars universe.While The Mandalorian & Grogu isn't the beginning of a new Star Wars era, it marks the first big-screen project exploring the long 30-year gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. And sure, a bunch of Star Wars TV shows — as well as books, comics, and games — have expanded on the period. Still, there are more stories to be told in that space, and Jon Favreau's theatrical follow-up to The Mandalorian Season 3 is aiming to tell an old-fashioned Star Wars adventure.Embo's homeworld, species, skills, and equipment explained ( The Kyuzo are a humanoid species native to the planet of Phatrong, located in the Outer Rim of the galaxy. They're known for their fast reflexes and resilience, which makes them notable fighters with a strong sense of honor.Based on his previous appearances, Embo is a stoic figure who rarely loses track of his prey. When he speaks, he does so in his native language. He's tall, intimidating, and remarkably focused on the job, yet he's shown remorse at times. When it comes to his most defining skills, his acrobatics and overall agility come to mind. Even unarmed, he was a formidable opponent who even gave Jedi Knights trouble during the Clone Wars.Another defining aspect of Embo is his preference for traditional weaponry over blasters and other weapons. His primary weapon – at least in past appearances – is a wide bowcaster.More surprising is his metallic hat, which can be used as a shield and like a (deadly) frisbee (much like Kung Lao in Mortal Kombat). He also had a pet anooba (a canine-like mammal) named Marrok, but the companion we've seen in The Mandalorian & Grogu's trailers is likely a different one (unless Marrok's passing before the Battle of Jakku – as revealed in the Aftermath: Empire's End novel – is retconned).Embo's history during the Clone Wars and the Imperial era ( There, he and other bounty hunters – alongside Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Ahsoka Tano – protected a village from a gang of pirates. During the ensuing battle, Embo was heavily wounded.His freelancing days during the Clone Wars also included brief scuffles with clone troopers, clone commandos – including Clone Force 99 (aka The Bad Batch) – and other bounty hunters.Working for various crime syndicates, corporations, and even Count Dooku, he often crossed paths with the Jedi and Naboo senator Padmé Amidala. On Scipio, he managed to fight off even Anakin Skywalker himself, walked away, and informed Darth Sidious of the success of his mission to scare Baron Rush Clovis into leaving the InterGalactic Banking Clan's vault world. ( At some point, the former Sith assassin Asajj Ventress hired them to help with the rescue of Quinlan Vos, the Jedi Master she fell in love with. The mission was a failure, but the team survived an encounter with Count Dooku (aka Darth Tyranus), an impressive feat by all accounts.Embo's activities during the Imperial era are mostly unknown. He reappeared after the Battle of Endor to collect a bounty on Lando Calrissian, but the resourceful New Republic general managed to capture him.Somehow, he regained his freedom and traveled to Jakku, during the big final showdown between the Empire and the New Republic, to capture Zabrak bounty hunter Jas Emari, who'd been wor

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu | Ace of Staves | In Theaters May 22 - YouTube Watch On "The Mandalorian and Grogu" is coming to our galaxy on Friday, May 22, in time for Memorial Day Weekend, and one of the coolest callbacks to this spinoff of Disney+'s "The Mandalorian" is seeing Mando's Razor Crest gunship appearing again in trailers. But how has Mando's iconic ship been resurrected from the dead?Fans will recall that Din Djarin’s bulky silver machine, the survivor of many daring missions, was destroyed in "The Mandalorian" season 2 when Gideon unleashed a lethal turbo laser blast from his command cruiser. There was a reason why that chapter was called "The Tragedy."Now we’ve got the rest of the story with the release of this new clip that shows Sigourney Weaver's Colonel Ward offering Mando a souped-up new spaceship that bears a striking resemblance to his old ST-70 Razor Crest in exchange for accepting a bounty card mission to hunt down a mysterious Imperial renegade named Commander Coin. "Star Wars" is back on the big screen starting May 22! ("It's a different vehicle,' director Jon Favreau told Adam Savage in a recent Tested video. "This is a perfectly restored one that was part of a collection of an Imperial that they caught. They confiscated. We went through it and made it like it was a stock restoration. So if you look, especially in the cargo area and the paint job, you’ll see it’s different. But it looks like he does the hotrod version, which is like rip everything out to make it lighter. That's George’s [Lucas] thing, too. So much of this is hotrod culture. Make it go faster.""The Mandalorian and Grogu" blasts into theaters on May 22, 2026. You can catch Mando's previous adventures on Disney+. Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.