Expect Grogu to Talk in ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’, Do Not

The artist formerly known as Baby Yoda has done a lot of growing since he first hover-prammed his way into our lives in The Mandalorian. He’s come into his own use of the Force, we’ve seen him peace out of not one, but two Jedi Orders, he’s become a Mandalorian foundling, and even been the occasional viral food influencer. But one thing we haven’t seen him do is talk, and that’s not going to be changing any time soon, apparently.

Speaking to Variety at this weekend’s Golden Reel Awards celebrating sound design in moviemaking, former Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy touched on one of Star Wars‘ most recent audio successes: the fact that Grogu has become an icon of the galaxy far, far away without uttering more than a few baby burbles.

“[Grogu is] another perfect example of a character that has to emote and you have to feel connected to, and he never speaks a word,†Kennedy explained, before adding that that fact will not change when Grogu heads to the big screen in a few months’ time in The Mandalorian and Grogu.

Grogu’s very existence has plagued Star Wars fans with questions about the life cycle of the mysterious species he, Yoda, and Yaddle belong to, but it’s perhaps not too surprising to learn that the youngling won’t immediately start having full-on conversations with people just because he’s hopping over to the big screen. After all, a lot of the point of Grogu is to be cute, and he’s capable of communicating a lot already just through body language and those aforementioned gurgles. We don’t necessarily need him to talk to remain an engaging character.

Considering that’s part of Baby Yoda the Brand, then, we probably won’t hear Grogu yap for the foreseeable future, outside of maybe a select word or two (you know he’s going to call Din some variation of “Dada†at some point). Alas, that means unless Star Wars wants to introduce another little green weirdo, we’ll be wondering forevermore if the way Yoda talks is an anomaly for his species—or if Yaddle, who speaks completely normal basic, is the weird one.

The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters May 22.

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