The Mandalorian: Giancarlo Esposito says season 3 filming starts “soon”

If you’re looking for details about The Mandalorian season 3, good luck. Information on the much-anticipated third chapter of the hit Disney+ show is harder to come by than a Meiloorun on Lothal.

One of the stars of the show gave a tiny glimpse into the timeline of the next season during this past weekend, however.

In an interview at GalaxyCon Raleigh, Giancarlo Esposito, who plays Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, spoke about two upcoming live-action Star Wars shows and when we might expect to see them.

Before season 3 of The Mandalorian, the spin-off series The Book of Boba Fett will air at the end of this year, tying together the events of The Mandalorian season 2 and season 3 in the process. According to Esposito, filming for The Book of Boba Fett has finished up, and it’s time to start shooting for the next season of The Mandalorian.

“They just finished shooting Boba Fett and soon they will start on season three,” Esposito said.

Right now, Pedro Pascal, the Mandalorian himself, isn’t available to be on set, though. He’s currently in Canada shooting the HBO show The Last of Us.

That won’t be a problem, according to Esposito.

Since the Mandalorian — otherwise known as Din Djarin — wears his beskar helmet the majority of the time, a body double can walk around in the armor and helmet while shooting, allowing Pascal to be absent and voice the character later on.

There have been a handful of times where Din has removed his mask on the show, though. In The Mandalorian season 1, he had to take it off to receive medical treatment from IG-88. In season 2, he had to show his face while infiltrating the Imperial mining facility on Morak in order to obtain Moff Gideon’s coordinates from an Imperial terminal, and he again removed his helmet in the season finale to say goodbye to Grogu (a.k.a Baby Yoda).

So, does that mean we’ll be seeing more of Din’s face in The Mandalorian season 3? Esposito isn’t saying.

“I can’t speak to that,” Esposito stated. “I mean, I know he’d love to be more off the helmet, but you know, his job is to be in the helmet. You know what I mean?”

The second season of The Mandalorian ended with Grogu joining Luke Skywalker to be taught in the ways of the Force and hone his abilities. Din, along with Cara Dune, Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, and Bo-Katan Kryze, was left with more questions than answers. In the season finale, we later see Boba Fett and Fennec take over Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine, setting up The Book of Boba Fett. But despite this, we don’t know what happens next for the rest of the crew, especially between Din and Bo-Katan now that Din has been given the Darksaber.

We know The Book of Boba Fett will debut at the end of 2021, but right now there isn’t a known timeframe as to when The Mandalorian season 3 will air. Will we see a significant time jump from the end of season 2? Will season 3 pick up where The Book of Boba Fett leaves off if that show truly is a season 2.5 of The Mandalorian?

Thankfully, we should know sooner rather than later since season 3 of The Mandalorian is about to start shooting.