last night, Star Wars fans dare to interact with a major sporting event in hopes of finding something tangible The Mandalorian and Groguthe long-announced return to theaters of the franchise for the first time ever The Rise of Skywalker. Instead, they are there are 30 seconds of the titular heroes trudging through the snow—but Disney thought that was more important than actually telling audiences why they should get their butts off theaters in a few months.

Backlash to short spot in the Super Bowl not so much part of a wider anger which The Mandalorian gone and what it represented Star Wars in the six-year journey it took from the streaming experiment to the pop culture face of the franchise, but more than the growing confusion about what happened to the marketing of the new movie.

Considering its high pressure condition as the first Star Wars film project that can actually get off the ground and hit theaters from 2019, there is an expectation that The Mandalorian and Grogu will be big in his marketing. However, Lucasfilm and Disney have remained surprisingly low-key about the film. The first official look at the film has arrived in September 2025 and mostly focused on vibes and nods to ephemeral Star Wars THINGS—an AT-AT walker here, a Hutt there, a random creature from a 50-year-old holochess to boot—instead of what the film actually is, and in the nearly five months since then, the only real thing shown from the film is a photo of Mando and Grogu. and this is for sure a picture of Mando and Grogu!

That’s why the film’s Super Bowl spot—a wry homage to earlier Budweiser Super Bowl commercials rather than anything directly from the film itself—felt like an odd choice to show the film. But according to Disney marketing executives, that’s the point: it’s less about the film and more about knocking people over and saying, “Remember you love The Mandalorian and Grogu, which has nothing to do with the entity also known as The Mandalorian and Grogu.”

“Grogu is more than a character; he’s a pop culture phenomenon. Riding alongside the heroic Mandalorian, he brings lightness, humor, joy, and an instant emotional connection that transcends time,” Jackson George, Disney executive VP of creative marketing, Variety explained. “This Big Game spot celebrates how deeply we love and connect with these characters, reminding us of the fun, heart, and scenery that define Star Warsand offers a small promise of the experience viewers will get when they see these two beloved icons on the big screen.

Then of course, there’s the aforementioned nod to Budweiser’s classic Clydesdale ad in Super Bowls past — an homage that’s the perfect opportunity to do something evocative of the movie without necessarily revealing anything about the movie itself. “Our creative and marketing team landed on a unique concept that gives a nod to the classic Big Game spots of the past years,” Lucasfilm’s own marketing brand lead, Ryan Stankevich, added. “It captures the warmth, humor, and emotional connection between these two beloved characters and is the perfect next step for our campaign as we lead up to their big screen debut this summer.”

But with just three months to go before the film hits theaters, it’s not necessary to know the plot of the film in advance to have people wary. The Mandalorian and Grogu. After all, The Mandalorian He himself has been defined by this kind of mystery approach to box marketing in the past, keeping an air of secrecy about the series to build hype and cover up any potential big twists and cameos that are out there. since the first season must dance around the fact that it is Granted about a baby Yoda instead of a budding hunter. The show has always relied on vibes over details, especially when its biggest vibe quickly turns into a marketable pop culture sensation that you have to point to in order to attract people, so it’s no surprise that the film is no exception.

However, this raises the question of whether that would be enough for a major film release instead of a new season of a streaming TV show. Currently, The Mandalorian and Grogu never made a case for why this story is a movie and not a fourth season of the show—despite suggestions that a season four is still possible in some capacity—an issue that’s only gotten worse given Lucasfilm’s back-and-forth plans over the past few years to try to figure out what Star Wars‘ the cinematic future looks like a post-Rise of Skywalker world.

Sure, you can point to the Mandalorian and Grogu, and people know what they are. But is that enough to get them together at the box office, after years of being taught that these are the stars of Star Wars on a small screen? We will know in three months, when The Mandalorian and Grogu will hit theaters on May 22.

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