Production of the fourth season of The Mandalorian, which had already been delayed due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, has now been given a start date of “at least November”, according to the June 1st listing of Production Weekly. The series had been due to begin filming in September, but the strike is continuing to wreak havoc across productions in the US and worldwide, as the writers strive to get what is rightfully theirs.
Hitting a target the size of The Mandalorian is a huge victory for the WGA, and their writers, because the show is their biggest breakout hit – and delays affect Disney where it hurts most, their bottom line. Disney could, of course, order production to begin without writers on set and simply make very last-minute changes – something Prime Video decided to do with Season 2 of The Rings of Power – but that move did not go down well.
The third season of The Mandalorian was not as well received, critically speaking, as its predecessors. Disney would do well to remember that in case they decided fast tracking the series without supervising writers would be the way forward. This is not the way. A return to form for Din Djarin and Din Grogu (even now, this naming convention does not make sense) would only be hindered by a slapdash production setup, and Disney may well be aware of that – hence the lengthy delay on production beginning again for our favourite father-and-son bounty hunting duo.
The Mandalorian Before the Strike
Executive producer Rick Famuyiwa had previously told Collider at Star Wars Celebration of the ongoing plans for the fourth season, which had already been written. Of course, a script has to change even during filming, which cannot be done during a strike – hence the hefty delay.
“I mean look I don’t think it’s a secret that Jon Favreau is excited about continuing to tell stories, he’s written Season 4. I don’t know I’d be shocked if they just stopped making them at this point. But yeah, I think that just the way shows come together, and the process around the shows, I know that they’re deep into starting the prep and the pre-production process. Now exactly when it goes to lens and things start to shoot, I don’t know…”
All three seasons of The Mandalorian are currently available on Disney+. Check out our interview about Season 4 below: