Mercedes Varnado believes her character's return to Star Wars is not entirely out of question.
Varnado recently appeared on Sackhoff's podcast, The Sackhoff Show, and weighed in on Koska Reeves' future in the franchise.
"I would love to come back if given the opportunity, but there hasn't been any talks thus far because the magic of Disney, you got to keep everything super quiet," she said. "I don't know what's in the works with The Mandalorian, but I definitely hope to be back one day."
The AEW star, who was formerly with WWE under the name Sasha Banks, Varnado first appeared in The Mandalorian Season 2 episode titled "Chapter 11: The Heiress" as a Mandalorian warrior, Koska Reeves. She debuted alongside Katee Sackhoff, who reprised her voice acting role of Bo-Katan Kryze in the Jon Favreau-helmed series from Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
It has happened before that an actor claimed they were not in talks for a new role or a return in a Disney production to keep things hush-hush when they were very much involved. The most famous example would be Andrew Garfield repeatedly denying his Spider-Man: No Way Home role in interviews, calling leaked images “photoshopped.” Ewan McGregor said he had to lie about starring in Obi-Wan Kenobi for four years.
Vearnado returned in the third season of The Mandalorian as Bo-Katan had a bigger role to play. Between seeing the legendary Mythosaur and getting the Darksaber back, she was gradually established as the future leader of a united Mandalore. Neither Varnado nor Sackhoff are yet confirmed to return in Favreau's 2026 spinoff movie, The Mandalorian & Grogu, with Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin in the lead.
Varnado told TV Insider in 2023 that she would love to play Koska Reeves in a Star Wars movie. "I would love to be in a movie. I would love to put Koska Reeves, in a Mandalorian movie. That would be incredible," she said. "I would love to be in any type of series like Fast & Furious, anything my brother would like. He likes action movies."
It is clear from her career moves in the recent past that she would like to continue working in Hollywood. She told New York sports radio station WFAN last year that her previous employers, WWE, pushed back on her acting job, and that made it difficult for her to get time off for filming. This was one of the reasons she left WWE to sign with their professional rivals, AEW.
"Even doing The Mandalorian was pulling teeth with the WWE, to even try and get time off to film that show. Tony (Khan, AEW President) says: Whatever I need. If I need the private jet to go from filming in LA to coming for a show, it's available for me."
If not in the movie, there's still a chance for Koska's re-emergence in The Mandalorian season 4, which is already written, Favreau recently said.