Although Season 2 of The Mandalorian premiered less than a year after the first season, Star Wars fans will have to wait a little bit longer than usual for Season 3. Pedro Pascal (who portrays Din Djarin - the titular Mandalorian) started filming HBO Max's The Last of Us, which had priority over The Mandalorian. Additionally, the stage used for most live action Star Wars projects was recently reserved for The Book of Boba Fett, which completed filming less than a month ago.

The Mandalorian fans can now get excited as reports indicate that filming for season 3 is now underway. American Cinematographer Magazine said that The Mandalorian Season 3 was now in production, although no other relevant details were given. Source - On The Walls: Virtual Production for Series Shooting - The American Society of Cinematographers (ascmag.com)

Although Pedro Pascal is currently busy, the timing makes sense for Season 3 to enter production. Due to the unique nature of live-action Star Wars series, there can only be one show in production on the stage at a time. The Book of Boba Fett was the most recent show to have completed filming, and now that the stage is available, The Mandalorian seems like the most obvious choice to follow suit. There are other Star Wars shows planned (as well as a few in production elsewhere), but none have been given any kind of relevant release date, so it appears Season 3 has taken priority.

Despite Pedro Pascal portraying the title character, there are many factors that give producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni the ability to film in Pascal's absence. First of all, The Mandalorian wears a helmet most of the time, so his face is very rarely shown. In fact, Season 1 had several stand-ins for Pascal as he had other engagements. The other factor is that it seems like the show will begin to tell other stories in addition to the Mandalorian's journey. Season 2 introduced Bo-Katan, who could potentially be a very important character for the show moving forward. This is all speculation, but the Season 2 finale certainly left a lot of storylines unresolved.

If The Mandalorian Season 3 is in fact filming, it would be the third Star Wars show in current production. Andor has been filming since 2020, and there has been no word on when production will end yet. Obi-Wan Kenobi is the other show also in the middle of filming, and it began production a couple of months ago. Neither Andor nor Obi-Wan Kenobi have been exclusively utilizing the stage that The Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett used for their first seasons, so they have no impact on the production schedule for Mandalorian Season 3. We will keep you updated when we learn more on this subject.

Unlike its first two seasons which debuted in the Fall, The Mandalorian Season 3 will likely premiere in mid-2022. The Book of Boba Fett took priority, but Mando fans should not be too disappointed. Many reports suggest that the events and characters in Boba Fett will directly affect The Mandalorian Season 3. In fact, Favreau has implied that several of the shows will inevitably lead to a big crossover event in the coming years. If that is the case, Book of Boba Fett (which will premiere in late 2021) will serve as a fun placeholder for the Mandalorian. Both shows will stream exclusively on Disney+ when released.