Summary

The nextStar Warsmovie,The Mandalorian & Grogu, could learn an extremely valuable lesson from theJohn Wickfranchise about how to handle its bounty hunters.Star Warswill finally make its return to the big screen with theupcoming filmThe Mandalorian & Grogu. In many ways,The Mandalorian & Groguis one of the most importantupcomingStar Warsfilms. As the franchise’s return to feature films, it needs to prove thatStar Warscan still make big money at the box office. Din and Grogu are some of the most popular characters inStar Wars, and if they can’t lead a successful movie, no one can.

Essentially,The Mandalorian & Groguneeds to be as good as it can possibly be.The Mandalorianseason 3 made some mistakes, however, and Din and Grogu lost a lot of their momentum as icons ofStar Wars. Something will need to change forThe Mandalorian & Groguto get it back to the heights of its earlier seasons, and an entirely separate franchise may have the answer.John Wickcould be the key to recapturing the lightning in a bottle that wasThe Mandalorianseason 1, and it could be the key to makingThe Mandalorian & Grogua success story.

Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn from Star Wars The Phantom Menace, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker from Star Wars A New Hope, Daisy Ridley as Rey from Star Wars The Force Awakens

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The Mandalorian’s Bounty Hunters’ Guild Is A Lot Like John Wick’s Network Of Assassins

John WickandThe Mandalorianare very different stories, but they do share some similarities, like their respective organizations of warriors.The world ofJohn Wickfeatures a huge network of professional assassins and hired killers, whileThe Mandalorianfeatures the Bounty Hunters' Guild who are equally skilled. They’re not exactly the same, but they do bear some striking similarities.Both the Bounty Hunters' Guild inThe Mandalorianand the assassins inJohn Wickare networks of hired guns with a shadowy structure, a mysterious leadership, and a seemingly endless wave of threats to Din and John.

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The bounty hunters' guild plays a big role in Star Wars shows like The Mandalorian and The Bad Batch, and it has some surprisingly deep lore.

The MandalorianandJohn Wick’s less-than-legal groups seem broadly similar in nature, but a closer look makes them almost mirrors of one another.A major part ofJohn Wick’s underworld is the idea of the Continental, a system of hotels spread across the world that serve as safe havens.The Mandalorianhas its own version of the idea: guild branches like Nevarro.John Wick’s assassins also adhere to a loose code of conduct that prohibits them from killing one another in certain scenarios, as does the guild. The similarities even extend into the very story of each series.

Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), Greef Karga (Carl Weathers), and Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) from The Mandalorian

John Wick and The Mandalorian are incredibly similar, but The Mandalorian & Grogu should bring them even closer.

Starting inJohn Wick: Chapter 2, the High Table put a bounty on John’s head, and the rest of the network of assassins began hunting him. Most ofThe Mandalorianseason 1 followed this same basic premise: after Din took Grogu, the rest of the Bounty Hunters' Guild hunted him down. Even more subtle moments in each respective franchises' plots matched up. Winston Scott was a manager of the New York Continental who turned against the High Table to help John, while Greef Karga turned against the Client to help Din.John WickandThe Mandalorianare incredibly similar, butThe Mandalorian & Grogushould bring them even closer.

Left side: A gold-tinted Din Djarin holding the Darksaber; right side: Grogu raising his had to use the Force with hyperspace in the background.

The Mandalorian & Grogu Needs To Make The Guild Even More Like John Wick

There are plenty of ways to compare the guild toJohn Wick’s assassins, but one is more important than the rest.The Mandalorianseason 1 presented new information about the Bounty Hunters' Guild in a very compelling way. Instead of outright explaining how the guild worked,The Mandalorianintroduced little tidbits naturally. Rather than having a character explain the intricacies of the guild’s code, Greef Karga simply referenced its existence and let the audience figure it out organically.John Wicktook the exact same approach to the assassins' underworld, but it took it a step further, andThe Mandalorian & Groguneeds to follow suit.

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One of the most compelling parts aboutJohn Wick, and the reason there are so many plannedJohn Wickspinoffs, is because the concept of its network of assassins was presented in that piecemeal fashion. No one really knows the inner workings of the underworld, but audiences still want to find out more about it.John Wick’s mysterious approach to the underworld is a blueprint for howStar Warscan useThe Mandalorian & Groguas the basis of its future. Viewers clearly enjoyed piecing togetherJohn Wick’s network of assassins, andThe Mandalorian & Grogucould do the same thing for the Bounty Hunters' Guild.

A collage of 3 images of John Wick from the John Wick movies - created by Tom Russell

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The Mandalorian & Groguwould also do well to focus more on the bounty hunting aspect of Din and Grogu’s relationship in general. Their various bounties and missions, like the prison break or transporting the Frog Lady, were what madeThe Mandalorianseasons 1 and 2 so great. Those jobs added variety and excitement to the show, and they madeThe Mandalorianfeel like a Western anthology set inStar Wars.Bringing back that focus on regular bounty hunting would helpThe Mandalorian & Grogurecapture the feel of the early seasons of the show, and borrowing fromJohn Wickwould make sure it’s as exciting as possible.

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How The Mandalorian & Grogu Can Make The Bounty Hunters’ Guild Even More Interesting

The Mandalorianhas already benefited from using some of the same plot devices asJohn Wick, and there’s no reason it can’t make them more similar in the movie.Borrowing more aspects ofJohn Wick’s underworld would go a long way in making the Bounty Hunters' Guild even more compelling in the movie.The Mandalorian & Grogucould put Din and Grogu on the run again, and play intoJohn Wick’s idea of no-killing safe zones. It could also introduce an entirely new side of the guild, one that’s more likeJohn Wick’s support network of phone operators, cleaners, and vendors.

The Mandalorian

Cast

Released on July 22, 2025 The Mandalorian follows a lone gunfighter navigating the galaxy’s outer reaches after the Galactic Empire’s fall. As a skilled bounty hunter, he operates in a lawless universe, undertaking various missions on the fringes of the New Republic’s territories.

The guild’s leadership seems like a particularly rich areaThe Mandalorian & Grogucould expound upon. Since Greef Karga became the High Magistrate of Nevarro, there’s plenty of room to introduce a new character who runs the guild. Din and Grogu could then interact with or come into conflict with them, which would open the door to making the guild’s leadership as mysterious and powerful as the High Table.The possibilities of howThe Mandalorian & Grogucould incorporate aspects ofJohn Wickare nearly limitless, and any number of them would make the guild much more interesting.

John Wick Franchise Poster

The Bounty Hunters’ Guild Could Even Replace Mandalore In The Mandalorian & Grogu

One of the biggest issues withThe Mandalorianseason 3 thatThe Mandalorian & Groguwill have to address was its focus on Mandalore.The Mandalorianseason 3 brought Bo-Katan Kryze, the reclamation of Mandalore, and the New Republic into the spotlight, which robbed screen time from Din and Grogu. It already seems likeThe Mandalorian & Groguis taking steps to reverse that mistake, like making Din and Grogu bounty hunters again and focusing more on their relationship. The problem is that Mandalore and the New Republic were massive parts ofThe Mandalorianseason 3, and they’ll be quite hard to excise.

The Mandalorianseason 3 reached a point of no return when it made the New Republic and the Mandalorians such an integral part of Din and Grogu’s story.Even ifThe Mandalorian & Groguchooses to abandon those plot lines and focus on its central pairing, returning to Din and Grogu’s solo days would feel like a step backward. The stakes and scope of their story were already raised, and finding a group to belong to was already a major part of both Din and Grogu’s character development. Telling a story about them on their own again would feel like setting them back to square one.

The Mandalorian and Grogu Updated Logo

John Wick

“John Wick” is a neo-noir action-thriller franchise centered around a retired hitman who returns to the criminal underworld to seek vengeance. Known for its intense and stylistic action sequences, the franchise has redefined modern action cinema with its choreographed gunfights, hand-to-hand combat, and intricate world-building. The series explores themes of loyalty, honor, and survival in a secret society of assassins.

WhileThe Mandalorian & Grogucan’t exactly abandon Mandalore and the New Republic, they also weren’t the most compelling parts of Din and Grogu’s story. The movie likely needs to shift focus from them, but it also needs to give Din and Grogu a group to belong to for the sake of their character development. Luckily, the Bounty Hunters' Guild would fill this need perfectly.Din and Grogu can lean into their bounty hunting roles, andThe Mandalorian & Grogucan have its higher stakes and scope by exploring the guild instead of Mandalore.

Focusing more on the Bounty Hunters' Guild would also give the film a perfect way to avoid the problems of Mandalore and the New Republic.John Wickalready provided a blueprint for how to make its organization interesting and mysterious without detracting from the focus on its main character. Through all of its films, it sprinkled in information about the High Table by showing how John interacted with it.The Mandalorian & Grogucould copy this approach and make the Bounty Hunters' Guild an interesting addition to Din and Grogu’s story, rather than one that steals their spotlight.

The Mandalorian and Grogu

The Mandalorian and Grogu is a Star Wars movie directed by Jon Favreau that continues Disney+’s immensely popular TV Show, The Mandalorian.