While both The Rise of Skywalker's Rey and The Mandalorian's Grogu are incredibly Force-sensitive Star Wars characters, Rey's actor Daisy Ridley noted a major advantage "Baby Yoda" has between the two of them: extreme cuteness factor.
In an interview with Fandom about her new film Chaos Walking, Ridley revealed that she too loves Disney+'s hit Star Wars show, and Grogu in particular. On whether he and Rey would theoretically have any rivalry over their similar Force powers, she dismissed the outcome but remarked that Grogu was "cheating" when Force healing other characters without on-screen training, due to his adorable look.
"Here's the thing… Baby Yoda is immensely powerful but also Baby Yoda is almost cheating because he's so sweet that whatever Baby Yoda did you're like, 'Aww!' Whereas I'm a human so I don't have that," Ridley explained. "So I feel like Baby Yoda has had an easier time being a Force healer because it's Baby Yoda being a Force healer. We're both good in that space but he definitely has cuteness on me."
Ridley played the main protagonist of Disney's Star Wars trilogy in The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker from 2015 to 2019. Alongside the movies, she also provided Rey's voice for both the animated Star Wars: Forces of Destiny series and the video games Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars Battlefront II. While critics praised Ridley's performance across all three films, Rey's Force powers remain a subject of fandom controversy due to them coming to her naturally, rather than through training like her mentor Luke Skywalker.
Grogu's untapped Force abilities were a crucial plot point of The Mandalorian's first two seasons, with Din Djarin/Mando abandoning his Bounty Hunters' Guild code to rescue the Child from Imperial forces after witnessing their actions. Pieces of the character's backstory, including Grogu's name, were eventually revealed by Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) in the episode "The Jedi," who explained that he lived in the Jedi Temple but was smuggled to safety during the events of Order 66. Season 2 ended with Djarin and Grogu finding a potential teacher in none other than Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who heard the latter's Force message and agreed to help him master these powers without fear of being hunted.
Created by Jon Favreau, The Mandalorian stars Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito. Season 3 has yet to receive a premiere date.
Source: Fandom