10 years ago, the ‘face’ of Star Wars may have been R2-D2 or Darth Vader or even a clone trooper – now it’s Baby Yoda. Canonically called Grogu, or ‘The Child,’ this miniature green alien has been the MVP of the Star Wars Universe since premiering in The Mandalorian, dominating pop culture discussion and bringing in massive revenue through merchandising. In retrospect, Disney is probably incredibly glad it allowed Jon Favreau to (as he puts it) “explore the mystery around Yoda and his species.” This three-foot, force-sensitive 50-year-old was a key part of the early success of Disney+ and helped popularize the Star Wars streaming series.
But the real value of Baby Yoda hasn’t even come into effect yet. Indeed, beyond inspiring countless brands to create ‘Baby’ versions of their own pop culture characters (such as Baby Nut and Baby Sonic), ‘Grogu’ will soon help define the future of the Star Wars Universe. Why? Because it allows Disney to create characters without worrying about actors.
Actors who were once considered box-office gold are now seen as franchise kryptonite, deadly to the long-term success of a cinematic universe; last year, for example, Johnny Depp was unceremoniously dropped from the Fantastic Beasts franchise after his high-profile court case.
Equally, unlike the DCEU or the MCU, Star Wars can be seen as a ‘legacy’ franchise – most of their biggest and best-known parts were cast over 30 years ago. If Disney wanted to revisit a certain character in a certain time period, they’re confronted by another issue: the actor's age. They’ve often attempted to circumvent this problem by visiting ‘older’ versions of characters (such as Luke Skywalker in 2017’s The Last Jedi), but revisiting younger versions of characters doesn't always work as well. For example, the de-aged version of Princess Leia that appeared in Rogue One was not exactly met with rave reviews.
Baby Yoda, then, solves both of these issues for them. Functionally a mute puppet, the character isn’t associated with a particular actor. Moreover, as a ‘Yoda’ alien, whether or not the character ages (and in what form) is incredibly vague, allowing Star Wars creatives to circumvent issues of appearance – Grogu can believably look exactly the same, no matter what period of the Star Wars Universe he appears in.
And he will appear again. One of the biggest problems facing the fledgling Star Wars/Disney+ Universe is how to canonically tie all the series together. The MCU has managed to thread this cinematic needle through the Infinity Saga (i.e., giving all the characters an overarching antagonist that draws them together), but this is harder for Star Wars. Indeed, for all the series announced for the streaming service so far, they take place in six disparate time periods, ranging from the late High Republic era (The Acolyte) to beyond the Original Trilogy (The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, The Book of Boba Fett, and Rangers of the New Republic). Therefore, these series may need characters that can exist in all these different periods to unite them, such as a slow-aging green alien.
Not much is known about the announced Star Wars films helmed by Rian Johnson, Kevin Feige, J.D. Dillard & Matt Owens, and Taika Waititi. Who’s to say that, after witnessing the explosive and universal popularity attained by Grogu, these projects won’t want to feature this beloved character? Thanks to the fact Baby Yoda isn’t tied to a particular actor or presentation, they can freely feature him without issues of scheduling, contract, or appearance.
Above all else, the entertainment industry is reaching a point where the emphasis is given towards IP instead of actors; while in the past, audiences favored big name-stars, they now gravitate towards recognizable images, like the Minions or Cars’ Lightning McQueen. Therefore, studios like Disney will follow suit, focusing on creating engaging figures like Baby Yoda, instead of coalescing around charismatic actors like Mark Hamill. For better or worse, Grogu is the future of Star Wars, if just because his relentless cuteness can exist without an actor.