Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu had a surprise segment at the 98th Academy Awards Ceremony with Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, and a Grogu puppet delivering laughs to the audience before a cut to black had Grogu deliver a new television spot.
When Pascal and Weaver presented the awards of Best Visual Effects and Best Production Design to respective winners Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett (for Avatar: Fire and Ash) and Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau (for Frankenstein), they found an unexpected attendee in the audience — their co-star, Grogu.
Weaver was taken aback by the adorable nature of “Baby Yoda”, and defensively repurposed her famous “Get away from her, you bitch!” line from Aliens to an unsuspecting Kate Hudson, who had the misfortune of being seated next to the quinquagenarian alien; Pascal apologized for her insensitive tone, but Weaver stood her ground. Meanwhile, Conan O’Brien made the casual observation that, at a ceremony where applause is practically mandatory, Grogu couldn’t clap. The puppet had no spoken defense, but attempted to clap before shrugging.
Here’s how the official Star Wars Twitter page captured the moment:
he’s a movie star now.
Don’t miss Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, and Grogu in The Mandalorian and Grogu, only in theaters and IMAX May 22. pic.twitter.com/KdMkSZbUne
— Star Wars (@starwars) March 16, 2026
But that’s not all. Disney took advantage of the billion-viewer ceremony’s cinema-sized audience to promote the upcoming big-screen adventure by dropping a TV spot, made up both new and existing footage alongside a quick visual gag where Grogu’s seated position at the Oscars was matched with a shot of the little green alien enjoying popcorn with the power of the Force. Check it out below:
The Mandalorian and Grogu will be released in theaters on May 22, 2026. The film is directed by Jon Favreau, who also co-wrote the script with Dave Filoni. The film stars Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin, Former Best Actress Nominee Sigourney Weaver as Colonel Ward, and Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt, among others. Three-time Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson will compose the film’s score.
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.