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Fans at Star Wars Celebration got to see a sneak peak at an unexpected Star Wars crossover coming in 2026 live on stage Friday, when the Mandalorian & Grogu panel featured cameo appearances from the BDX droids from the Galaxy’s Edge theme park… ahead of those droids making their onscreen debut in next year’s Star Wars movie.

Galaxy’s Edge has previously stepped out of the theme park and into canon before, courtesy of five-issue comic book series set in the fictional Black Spire outpost published by Marvel back in 2019, but this will be the first time that characters created for the Disney Parks attraction will show up on screen. (Confusingly, their Mandalorian & Grogu appearance will be their “first” appearance chronologically; Galaxy’s Edge is, in theory, set during the sequel trilogy, decades after the Mandalorian timeline. Don’t think about it too much.)

The crossover was spotlighted on Star Wars Celebration’s live stage stream Friday, although Dave Filoni purposefully (and jokingly) talked down the importance of the BDX droids skipping between reality and fantasy. “It’s weird — they don’t take that much to charge, they will run around the set, I don’t really know what they do,” Filoni said. “They’re funny, they’re quirky, they’re a little bit camera hogs, as you saw on the stage earlier when they wouldn’t leave, but that’s what they are. They’re droids, you know?”

I wouldn’t put too much stock in what Filoni thinks on this topic, however; he went on to admit that he doesn’t necessarily understand the love that droids get from fans. “R2, I get. BB-8, I get. Chopper, though? He’s like a cat. You know cats; they only do things when it pleases them.” Like that’s a bad thing.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian & Grogu (and BDX Droids) will be in theaters May 22, 2026.

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