Star Wars is finally returning to the big screen in May with The Mandalorian and Grogu, but it’s all getting a little concerning. Opinions differ wildly about the Super Bowl TV spot for The Mandalorian and Grogu, directed by Jon Favreau specially for the event; ComicBook’s James Hunt certainly spoke for many in the fandom when he criticized it with a simple post bearing the title “Is That It?!“. Lucasfilm appear to be following the playbook from Lilo & Stitch; a full trailer in November the year before release, a low-key Super Bowl ad, and a trailer likely in March.
It’s easy to see why Lucasfilm is following Lilo & Stitch‘s example. The film broke $1 billion in the global box office, and that Super Bowl ad broke records with 173.1 million views in the first 24 hours. On a personal note, I initially considered the possibility I’m not in the target audience, meaning the marketing isn’t landing for me; the film is trying to reach Gen Z rather than my own demographic, and I’m not particularly sporty, meaning the Super Bowl ad fell pretty flat. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that’s the case; rather, this marketing strategy is a mistake.
The First Mandalorian and Grogu Trailer Didn’t Land Well
The first problems can be seen with the trailer drop four months ago. It’s always difficult to count how many views a trailer has had, because they’re often re-uploaded by other publishers so not all views can be found. That said, the simplest basic calculation comes from looking at the primary uploads on major social media platforms; YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok. Looking across those, The Mandalorian and Grogu had best performance on Facebook, with 68 million views. In the last four months, it’s had 131.5 million views across all these channels.
It helps to compare The Mandalorian and Grogu with another trailer operating in the sweet spot of nostalgic action. Two weeks ago, the new Masters of the Universe trailer gave us a first glimpse of Eternia, and its performance is striking; it exceeds The Mandalorian and Grogu on many channels, with 56.3 million views on TikTok (against 27.5 million for the Star Wars film). Overall, it has had 120.5 million views in just a fortnight. This comparison makes it quite clear; The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s first trailer did not land well.
It’s important to note that The Mandalorian and Grogu comes out at a difficult time for Star Wars. Engagement for the franchise has declined partly due to brand dilution and partly because the Disney+ TV shows haven’t been of consistent quality; The Mandalorian Season 3 has a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of just 51%, contrasting with 93% for Season 1 and 91% for Season 2. Meanwhile, we’ve seen with Pixar that viewers don’t reliably turn up at theaters for a franchise they associate with streaming, meaning an audience is far from guaranteed. The Mandalorian and Grogu can’t afford weak marketing.
Did The Mandalorian and Grogu’s Super Bowl TV Ad Work?
I certainly wasn’t the intended audience for The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s Big Game spot, but that’s not a problem; I’m guaranteed to turn up on opening night anyway. My initial reaction was utter disappointment, because I’d anticipated a proper trailer, and a large portion of the fanbase shared that reaction. But at this moment in time, there’s unfortunately no sign it worked; at time of writing, the views on social media fail to compare with Lilo & Stitch‘s Super Bowl teaser. It hasn’t broken 1.5 million on YouTube after 12 hours.
Disney explained the controversial TV spot in some official statements. “Our creative and marketing team landed on a unique concept that gave a nod to classic Big Game spots of years past,” Lucasfilm’s marketing brand lead Ryan Stankevich observed. “It captured the warmth, humor, and emotional connection between these two beloved characters and was the perfect next step for our campaign as we lead up to their big screen debut this summer.” Disney’s executive VP of creative marketing, Jackson George, added to this with an emphasis on 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 the moment. This Big Game spot celebrates how deeply we love and connect with these characters, reminds us of the fun, heart, and spectacle that defines Star Wars, and offers a bite-sized promise of the experience audiences will get when they see these two beloved icons on the big screen.”
This comment explains the logic behind Lucasfilm’s marketing strategy; there is a genuine belief that Grogu in particular is such an iconic brand that he barely needs selling. It makes sense given the popularity of Grogu merchandise, and there is the possibility that Lucasfilm’s gamble is right. There are two core concerns, though; the first being that general viewership doesn’t seem to match up with this hope. It’s true that “The Mandalorian and Grogu” trended on X after the Super Bowl spot’s release, but it was mostly discussion about whether it worked or not rather than hype.
The second, though, is that the underlying assumptions here are rather familiar. Back in 2018, Disney and Lucasfilm believed Star Wars as a whole barely needed marketing, and the House of Mouse focused all promotion on Avengers: Infinity War rather than Solo: A Star Wars Story. That led to a minimal marketing campaign for the Star Wars anthology film, and the result was the first ever Star Wars box office bomb. It’s true Solo had many other problems – Lucasfilm ex-president Kathleen Kennedy believes viewers weren’t ready for a Han Solo recast – but industry commentators generally consider poor marketing a major factor.
It should be stressed that The Mandalorian and Grogu is unlikely to be a flop, no matter what. Lucasfilm seem to have finally gotten costs under control, meaning this film has a reported budget of just $166.4 million; it doesn’t need to make much to be profitable. There’s a sense in which this feels like a new model for Star Wars, a cheaper movie that should make an easy profit and then become a streaming hit. The problem, though, is that the big screen return of Star Wars should be so much more, and even a comparatively decent performance will be seen as disappointing.
Everything Rests on the Final Mandalorian and Grogu Trailer
At the moment, Lucasfilm’s marketing seems to rest on a single hook; “You’ve watched him on Disney+, you’ve bought the Grogu merch, now go watch him on the big screen.” All the signs suggest that isn’t a solid enough pitch, and the studio really needs the next trailer for The Mandalorian and Grogu to be a strong one. It needs to give prospective readers a reason to care beyond simply the fact Grogu is in it; it needs to make the story feel engaging and exciting, to build interest and hype. Forget the atmospherics, it needs story beats.
Some members of the Star Wars fandom are excited about the fact they’re going into the film knowing nothing about the story. They rightly point to the fact Lucasfilm managed to conceal the entire plot of The Mandalorian Season 1 back in 2019, hiding Grogu’s very existence until the first episodes released alongside the launch of Disney+. That worked, though, because trailers for The Mandalorian had sold a sense of an exciting new Star Wars story, and we then got something even better. Right now, there’s nothing on sale beyond “more of the same.”
A lot is riding on that final trailer, and such pressure is not exactly good. As a lifelong lover of Star Wars, I’m eager for this film to perform well, to prove Star Wars is back on the big screen with style after a seven year absence. At the moment, it really does feel as though marketing mistakes are in danger of killing that, and I’m left deeply concerned. I can only hope Lucasfilm pull it off, with The Mandalorian and Grogu then benefiting from strong word of mouth and turning into an unexpected hit.
What do you think of The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s TV spot? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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