Book Review - The Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

22 hours ago

6 min read

November 9th 2026

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu hit the big screen this year, taking the hugely popular TV show and giving the fan-favourite duo their own feature movie. The adventure impressed with big action sequences, new locations, a lot of dangerous alien creatures, and of course, the endlessly touching relationship of Din Djarin and Grogu. Now fans can explore the artwork behind the movie with a new artbook, The Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.

The book was released on November 3rd, 2026 as part of the Star Wars ‘Art of’ series from Abrams Books, one that has been ongoing since The Force Awakens. Having collected them all and after enjoying the new movie, it was inevitable that this would join the collection as well, so here are my thoughts on this look behind the scenes!

Production Quality

Like previous books in the series, this comes as a hardcover at 30cm x 27.5cm in size, making it a large book. This entry has 256 pages, coming with high-quality gloss paper and strong binding that has some flexibility, leaving only a small amount of image loss in the centre fold. The print finish is excellent throughout, allowing the details to shine in all of the images.

The cover art from production designer Doug Chiang is on the dustjacket, with a piece from Andrée Wallin on the back. I really like the custom cover and the print quality here is much better than is often seen on a dustjacket, which I appreciate. On the book underneath is great concept of the Dragonsnake by Jama Jurabaev, a nice touch and an ongoing tradition for the artbook series.

Content

The Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is exactly what I expected and hoped for, a huge amount of artwork and interesting insights throughout. While it is titled ‘The Art of’, it certainly acts as a hybrid making of book as well, and done so in a very balanced way. Despite the approach, the artwork does not suffer, there are hundreds of pieces for fans to enjoy and pore over.

The last artbook in the series for the Clan of Two was The Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season Two. This left out an artbook for the third season, as well as their appearance in The Book of Boba Fett, but some of that art is included in this volume, plugging the gap. Although dedicated artbooks would have been preferred, art included here for parts specific to those shows, like the N-1 starfighter, and also elements that crossover into the movie like the Anzellan, were most welcome and good to see. To my surprise, there was also some art from Skeleton Crew that I was not expecting.

As for the art itself, the previews here cannot do it justice. It’s another masterclass in sci-fi artwork from some of the best in the industry. Names like Ryan Church, Matt Allsopp, Christian Alzmann, Brian Matyas, and more will be familiar to fans of Star Wars artwork, and this collection is a worthy showcase of their talent. The concepts are incredibly detailed and come as 2D created pieces, as well as many that use 3D models too, sharing the range of techniques used to create alien worlds and their inhabitants.

There are many highlights for me personally, such as superb designs for the swamp world of Nal Hutta, that you can hear the sounds of in your mind when you look at them. The droids that protect the Hutts also have interesting concepts, showing the mix and match approach to their assembly. A standout for many will also be the Dragonsnake, with concepts that perfectly capture the sense of scale and danger that was recreated brilliantly in the movie.

For me, it’s the keyframes that really make this collection of art special, because there are so many of them and they are superb. They run throughout the book, such as concepts for the opening action sequence with the AT-ATs on Phostera, Din being captured by Embo, the arena battle with Rotta, and Grogu’s moments alone in the swamp. The impressive way Star Wars keyframe concepts capture big and small moments, while conveying character personality will never get old. Fans will find so much to love on the art side with this release.

It doesn’t stop there though, because along with the artwork is the written details from author Phil Szostak, who again does a wonderful job at sharing interviews from the creatives as well. Here you will find insights from director Jon Favreau, producers, departments heads, and the artists themselves. There is a lot to read, with some text for the behind-the-scenes details of how the movies and elements came together, but a lot for individual pieces of artwork.

What is great about the artbook series is that there is no generic notes to fill space, everything comes with engaging information that you don’t want to skip. In fact, the text is smaller than you will find in the vast majority of artbooks to fit as much in as possible. Whether it is a design breakdown, explaining how elements were adapted from older movies and art, or talking about the charming puppets, it all elevates the book and leaves you appreciating the movie even more.

Credits

There is no complaint on this front, Abrams Books and Phil Szostak have again credited the artists on every page, the best way to do it. The names of the artists and creatives interviewed are also listed early on in the book, something I always like to see. Short and sweet for this part of the review!

Use of Space

There is a lot packed in to the 256 pages found inside The Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, so it’s no surprise that space is not wasted. A straightforward approach of white or black backgrounds works well when there is very little of it not filled with artwork or text. Image sizes vary, but the print quality means that you can still see everything clearly. As mentioned, the text is small, but this allows more to fit in and stops the pages from feeling cramped and messy. Overall, the design team delivered yet again.

Value

At full price, this volume is $50 in the US, and £37 in the UK, which is cheaper than their last release, The Art of Star Wars: Andor. This is in the normal price range for an artbook in 2026, but no longer at the high end which is great news for interested fans. For the continued high production quality from Abrams and a huge amount of content to enjoy, anyone paying full price will definitely get their money’s worth.

For bargain hunters, there is good news, as the book is already discounted on the first week of its release. Using Amazon as always, the book is down to $45.43, a nice saving and a great deal. In the UK it already below £30, which isn’t unusual, but makes it very enticing for fans. Deals come and go, but whether you pay the RRP or find a deal, the pricing is at a strong place for this release.

Verdict

They did it again! The Star Wars artbook series for the live-action projects is arguably the most consistent and high quality out there, and The Art of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu continues that legacy. The artwork will have me coming back for more, and picking it up will have me watching the movie again too. The insights and interviews add a lot of value to the book and make it the perfect read after the movie credits roll. The inclusion of art for Din Djarin and Grogu’s story in the shows that didn’t get an artbook are thoughtful additions that will be welcomed by readers and collectors.

In case it wasn’t obvious, this is a highly recommended book, and another new favourite released this year. I enjoyed the movie and previous artbooks, so I had high expectations for this release and was not let down. I’ll definitely spend more time flipping through the pages as ridiculously catchy Mandalorian theme song plays in my mind. This is the way!

If you enjoyed the review and would like to add a copy of the book for your own collection, you can order the book below;