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Main Stream Media Says The Problem with Star Wars is Not Enough Pedro Pascal

November 18, 2025  ·
  Marvin Montanaro
Pedro Pascal

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 22: Pedro Pascal and Jon Favreau attend 'The Forge' experience inspired by the Star Wars series The Mandalorian, to celebrate the launch of The Mandalorian Season 3, on February 22, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney)

Star Wars is limping into its next chapter with confidence only Hollywood could muster — the kind born not from success, but from denial. The franchise is in shambles, the audience has evaporated, and the brand is no longer protected by the mythic glow it once carried. And yet, according to the Main Stream Access Media, the big revelation — the galaxy-saving insight — is that the way to save Star Wars is more Pedro Pascal.

Yes, really.

Pedro Pascal SNL

Pedro Pascal on SNL – YouTube, Saturday Night Live

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After a year in which Pascal headlined two box office flops, insulted half the country, and ignited a string of controversies, the access media outlets now insist the real problem with Star Wars is that we aren’t seeing enough of the man who couldn’t sell tickets to The Fantastic Four: First Steps, or Eddington.

The logic is astounding: the franchise is collapsing, the star is ice-cold at the box office, and somehow Disney’s way out is to plaster his face everywhere like that’s the magic elixir.

The Media’s Solution: More Pedro

The claim that Star Wars needs an immediate infusion of Pedro Pascal came from ScreenRant (because of course it did!).

They argue that Lucasfilm has “learned a vital lesson” about Pedro Pascal — specifically that his face is now more valuable to Star Wars than the Mandalorian helmet that built the character’s popularity in the first place.

Mandalorian and Grogu

(L-R): Grogu and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN, season three, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.

The article claims Pascal has become “as iconic as the helmet,” suggests that Din Djarin’s silhouette is now less important than Pascal’s star power, and predicts Disney will amend the story in The Mandalorian and Grogu so Pascal appears helmet-less more often.

In other words, ScreenRant insists the franchise should shift away from the mythic masked gunslinger and instead spotlight Pedro Pascal himself as the emotional centerpiece going forward.

Pedro Pascal’s 2025 Box Office: A Cold Reality

It would be one thing if Pedro Pascal were coming off a streak of hits. But in 2025 he delivered a perfect 0-for-3.

  • The Materialists (2025) – $108 million worldwide (Modest profit, far from a hit)
  • Eddington (2025) – $12.7 million worldwide (Flop)
  • Fantastic Four: First Steps – $521.9 million worldwide on a massive budget and marketing campaign (Major Blockbuster Bomb)
Reed Richards Pedro Pascal

Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards in Fantastic Four: First Steps – YouTube, Marvel Entertainment

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One film barely broke even. Two lost money. And yet the coverage today treats Pedro Pascal like the unbreakable box-office motivator who must be “unleashed” onto Star Wars to save it.

A Media Rebrand Campaign Is Underway

The ScreenRant article argues, in effect, that Star Wars has “learned a vital lesson” about Pascal — that Din Djarin’s silhouette is less important than the star behind the mask, and the future of the franchise demands more of him.

This stance isn’t coming from fans. It’s not coming from critics. It’s certainly not coming from numbers.

Pedro Pascal Hat

Pedro Pascal at Star Wars Celebration – YouTube, Star Wars

It’s coming from media outlets desperate to revive both a declining brand and a declining star.

After a rough 2025, Pascal is suddenly the focus of a mini-rebrand — glowing press, puff pieces, and “why he matters more than ever” features. There’s a push to make him the emotional center of a franchise currently decorated with empty seats.

The Mandalorian Worked Because of the Helmet

This is the part the access media keeps ignoring.

The Mandalorian succeeded because Din Djarin was a faceless, stoic, masculine protector — not because he’s Pedro Pascal.

The Mandalorian

(L-R): Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) and the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) in Lucasfilm’s THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT, exclusively on Disney+. © 2022 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

The helmet was the brand. The silhouette was the brand. The mystery was the brand.

The minute that mask comes off, the illusion breaks. The tough, lone-wolf warrior energy evaporates. The character stops being mythic and becomes a man associated with grasping at his co-stars over “anxiety” and dancing around with while licking a rainbow-colored rod.

Pedro Pascal Licks Rainbow Rod

A screenshot of Pedro Pascal dancing suggestively with a rainbow colored rod suggestively at an event – X, @pascalarchive

Trying to “fix” Star Wars by making it more about an actor than the role is exactly the kind of Hollywood mistake that gets franchises into trouble. Star Wars has never been about star power.

And if it were to suddenly become about star power, the last person on Earth who could give it that is Pedro Pascal.

Pascal’s Controversies Don’t Help

On top of the weak box office numbers, Pascal has become one of the most divisive figures in Hollywood because of his own antagonistic, bizarre, and very public behavior.

Pedro Pascal Post

A post shared by Pedro Pascal around the time Gina Carano was fired. Pascal suffered no blowback or consequences for it – Instagram

From repeatedly using his platform to attack political opponents, to inflammatory posts that alienate half the country, Pascal has steadily carved out a reputation as a celebrity who cannot stay out of culture-war firefights.

But the controversy doesn’t stop at politics. Pascal has also developed a pattern of overly physical, handsy, and overly affectionate interactions with female co-stars during red-carpet events and promotional appearances.

Pedro Pascal Bella Ramsay

Pedro Pascal hugging co-star Bella Ramsay – X, @painfulships

These moments — lingering touches, rubbing shoulders, face-cupping, extended hugs, and boundary-pushing “playful” gestures — have circulated widely online. They’ve generated reactions ranging from awkward laughter to open discomfort, and they’ve repeatedly gone viral for all the wrong reasons.

Whether he intended these interactions to come off as charming or anxious doesn’t change how they’re received: awkward, intrusive, and unprofessional.

Pedro Pascal Vanessa Kirby

Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby – YouTube, omeleteve

None of this screams “safe, stable, controversy-free star to rebuild a billion-dollar franchise around.”

The Real Fix for Star Wars Isn’t More Pascal — It’s Less Celebrity Worship

The idea that Star Wars can be repaired by focusing more on an overexposed celebrity instead of its world, story, and core mythology is a spectacular misread of what fans actually want.

People didn’t fall in love with Star Wars because of faces and fame. They fell in love with myth, mystery, adventure, and archetypes.

Mandalorian and Grogu

The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN, season two, exclusively on Disney+. © 2020 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

This is why the helmet worked, and why the franchise faltered the moment it got high on its own PR supply.

If Disney’s plan is to double down on Pedro Pascal, push his face to the forefront, and pretend the numbers don’t exist, then Star Wars isn’t being saved — it’s being sacrificed to the marketing department.

Conclusion

The mainstream media can claim the problem with Star Wars is “not enough Pedro Pascal.” But the receipts tell a different story: box office flops, increasing controversy, vanishing audience goodwill, and a franchise that desperately needs course correction — not a face to worship.

If anything, Disney’s best bet is the opposite: Keep the helmet on, keep the mystery alive, and quietly hope the general audience forgets who’s under there.

Pedro Pascal dancing with a rainbow colored rod

A screenshot of Pedro Pascal dancing around suggestively with a rainbow colored rod – X, @pascalarchive

Because more Pedro Pascal in Star Wars isn’t a solution. It’s another symptom of how lost the franchise has become.

Do you think Star Wars should show Pedro Pascal without the helmet on? Sound off in the comments and let us know!

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Author: Marvin Montanaro
Marvin Montanaro is the Editor-in-Chief of That Park Place and a seasoned entertainment journalist with nearly two decades of experience across multiple digital media outlets and print publications. He joined That Park Place in 2024, bringing with him a passion for theme parks, pop culture, and film commentary. Based in Orlando, Florida, Marvin regularly visits Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando, offering firsthand reporting and analysis from the parks. He’s also the creative force behind the Tooney Town YouTube channels, where he appears as his satirical alter ego, Marvin the Movie Monster. Montanaro’s insights are rooted in years of real-world reporting and editorial leadership. He can be reached via email at mmontanaro@thatparkplace.com SOCIAL MEDIA: X: http://x.com/marvinmontanaro Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marvinmontanaro Facebook: https://facebook.com/marvinmontanaro Email: mmontanaro@thatparkplace.com
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Mr0303

Pascal is actually very useful. He’s an indicator of which movies to skip.

Vallor

Between this guy and Rachel Zeigler, I don’t know who damaged Hollywood and 2025 more. Both are trainwrecks and the MSM is desperate to keep them in front of people because they support the right causes. Rachael did do the “Free Palestine” thing, which must chap some high level studio asses, so I don’t see her redemption arc working out.

Pedro, though… they desperately want to make him into the star he has neither the talent, charisma, nor dignity required for that particular profile.

CleatusDefeatus

We need a meme that replaces Christopher Walken’s calls for “more cowbell” with more pedr.