Although he is the main star of The Mandalorian, Star Wars has failed Pedro Pascal. Pascal was first introduced to the expansive Star Wars timeline in 2019, when The Mandalorian‘s first season aired on Disney+. For a time, The Mandalorian was deemed the best Star Wars TV show and managed to hold onto that title until the release of Andor.
Nonetheless, the lasting impact of The Mandalorian is evident. Such is the popularity of the show that it will serve as the basis for one of Star Wars’ upcoming movies, 2026’s The Mandalorian and Grogu. After a six-year cinematic hiatus, Star Wars will return to the big screen with the iconic bounty hunter and his lovable adopted son at the forefront.
As is to be expected, The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s cast will be headlined by Pedro Pascal. Pascal is undoubtedly one of the most recognizable leading men in Hollywood, giving the film a seeming advantage in appealing to mass audiences. However, for several reasons, Star Wars has failed to capitalize on this and, in doing so, has failed Pedro Pascal himself.
The Mandalorian Hasn’t Done A Lot With Pedro Pascal
Pascal’s rise to fame began in 2014 with his role as Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones season 4. Since then, Pascal has only gone from strength to strength, from roles in Hollywood movies like Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Wonder Woman 1984 to more TV roles, notably in Narcos, The Last of Us, and, of course, The Mandalorian.
Pascal recently appeared in Gladiator II, another major Hollywood production, while securing the role of Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Evidently, Star Wars has a bona fide industry star on its hands, but it remains the case that the franchise has not done much to seize this opportunity.
The biggest reason for this is the ingrained character decision at the heart of Pascal’s role in The Mandalorian. As a member of the titular Star Wars people, Pascal’s Din Djarin hides his face behind a mask. The Mandalorian creed, or at least the one belonging to the cult in which Djarin was raised, states that no other living creature can see his face.
Although Pascal’s voice is always heard from beneath the mask, his face has only been seen thrice across The Mandalorian‘s three seasons and the character’s other appearances in Star Wars‘ New Republic timeline. This is only set to continue with The Mandalorian and Grogu, proving that Star Wars has not taken advantage of the star potential, nor the true talents, of Pedro Pascal.
Din Djarin Is One Of Star Wars’ Best New Characters In Decades
This reality is only exacerbated by the strength of Din Djarin’s character. Din is easily one of the best Star Wars characters introduced on TV, and has risen to become viewed as one of the strongest in the franchise overall, movies included.
Din’s strong backstory as an orphan raised by Mandalorians, his adherence to the Mandalorian creed, the ways his beliefs are challenged, his relationship with Grogu, his loyalty to his allies, and his sheer skill as a warrior make The Mandalorian a true Star Wars great in every sense.
Sadly, Pascal is rarely associated with this. Of course, his voice work is excellent and allows a great deal of emotion to seep through the metal mask. However, there is no denying that the strongest character moments in the entirety of The Mandalorian come when Din reluctantly removes his helmet out of necessity, allowing Pascal to do much more work than is the norm.
Most of the time, though, the job of portraying Din Djarin falls to Lateef Chowder and Brendan Wayne, who wear the armor on set. Chowder and Wayne are excellent at the physical side of Din Djarin’s portrayal, including showing true emotion with only body language. All of this only adds to how good and unique, compared to other Mandalorians, Din Djarin is as a Star Wars hero.
The Mandalorian Season 3 Should Have Used Pedro Pascal
In an ideal world, Star Wars would capitalize on how great Din is as a character by offering more of an equal split between Pascal’s acting talents and the physical prowess of Chowder and Wayne. As it is, though, The Mandalorian puts more emphasis on Chowder and Wayne, relegating Pascal to a voice-acting credit most of the time. The Mandalorian season 3 proves this above all else.
The Mandalorian season 1 focused intently on Din’s creed, teasing several moments in which he removed his helmet in private. Eventually, Din removed his helmet for audiences and other characters to see, resulting in a huge payoff of seeing Pascal for the first time. The same is true on two different occasions in The Mandalorian season 2.
With Din’s creed constantly being challenged in season 2, audiences thought The Mandalorian season 3 would take this further, thus meaning Pascal would be utilized more often. However, The Mandalorian season 3 was disappointing in a number of ways, chief among them the regression of Din’s character arc.
Din Djarin became almost a side character in his own show, with the bulk of the third season’s narrative heft given to one of his allies, Bo-Katan Kryze. Din did not remove his helmet once in The Mandalorian season 3, marking the first time Pascal has not physically appeared at all and giving the charismatic, immensely popular actor only a voice role.
Gone was any challenge of Din’s outdated Mandalorian creed, as was the setup of him becoming the next leader of his people. Even Din’s relationship with Grogu was much less dramatic, despite the tease of a change of status quo in The Mandalorian season 2’s finale. Overall, The Mandalorian season 3 failed Din Djarin and, as a result, failed Pedro Pascal.
Will Din Djarin Show His Face In The Mandalorian Movie?
The question now is whether 2026’s The Mandalorian and Grogu will continue this trend, or whether Pascal will be utilized on the big screen as he arguably should be.
Given the actor’s recent boom in popularity because of The Last of Us, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and Gladiator II, one would think it was a given that Pascal would be placed front and center of Star Wars’ first cinematic effort in six years, seven at the time of release. That said, it remains to be seen whether Din Djarin’s face will be shown in the movie.
Whether Din removes his helmet or not depends entirely on his character arc in The Mandalorian and Grogu. The film will center on the two titular characters hunting down Imperial remnants in the galaxy, aiding the New Republic, and likely continuing the setup of Grand Admiral Thrawn as Star Wars‘ next big villain.
The film’s first trailer showed little about Din’s character arc, meaning we are no closer to knowing whether Pascal will even appear in The Mandalorian and Grogu aside from his voice role. Hopefully, future trailers will delve a little deeper into the nitty-gritty of Din’s character, giving him the compelling arc that was lacking in The Mandalorian season 3.
As already alluded to, Star Wars would be entirely foolish to keep Pedro Pascal hidden in The Mandalorian and Grogu. On a Disney+ TV show, the need is perhaps less great to capitalize on a true Hollywood star. On the big screen, though, in a world in which box office results are more important than ever, Pascal is a huge draw.
Even those who are unfamiliar with Star Wars or have no real care for the franchise could be enticed into watching a film on the big screen by Pascal’s screen presence alone. His popularity is, especially recently, verging into iconicity, with general audiences across the globe knowing who he is.
Keeping this hidden for the entirety of Star Wars’ return to the big screen would be a huge mistake. This is true not only for the box office and marketing impact it would have, but the storytelling one, too. Din Djarin’s moments of vulnerability and emotion are at their peak when Pascal is on screen.
Utilizing this in The Mandalorian and Grogu would offer great narrative and character development on a cinematic scale, ensuring that Star Wars is going some part of the way to fixing how it has failed Pedro Pascal in the last six years.
- Cast
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Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
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The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions
- Movie(s)
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Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order
- Character(s)
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Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren
