Is Baby Yoda In Star Wars 9: The Rise Of Skywalker?

With only days before Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters, there are so many questions about how the Skywalker Saga will end. There are so many mysteries when it comes to how director JJ Abrams will wrap up the nine-movie franchise.

One of those mysteries, thanks to Disney+'s The Mandalorian, is no doubt whether or not lovable scamp Baby Yoda will appear in the film. As the titular Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) finds himself in the middle of a surprising number of fights, battles, and near-death scenarios, the real breakout star of the series is the toy green puppet that looks an awful lot like the late Jedi Master we all know and love.

Given that The Mandalorian is set after Star Wars: Episode V - Return of the Jedi, it's entirely possible that Baby Yoda could appear, even in a cameo role. What's more, given that he was born the same year as Anakin Skywalker, it seems perfectly logical that he would have a tie to the bigger story of Star Wars.

Does he pop up in the new movie, though? Unfortunately for fans of adorable puppets that also have magical powers, the answer is no. Baby Yoda is nowhere to be seen in the new film, which isn't exactly a surprise. After all, the show was filmed at the same time as the movie in different locations.

That said, it's entirely possible Baby Yoda--or other characters from The Mandalorian--could show up in future Star Wars films. At this point, we don't know what the next movies in the franchise will be about. All that's clear is that a second season of The Mandalorian is shooting now, while the animated series Clone Wars is returning, and an Obi-Wan Kenobi standalone series is being developed.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is in theaters Friday. In his review of Episode IX, GameSpot's Michael Rougeau said the movie feels "empty." "It should never be so clear to audiences that something in the filmmaking process has gone so terribly wrong--that the people who made the first film in a trilogy apparently didn't bother to sketch out a plan for the second and third, and that the movies' directors had visions for the series' future that were so fundamentally at odds," he wrote.