Jon Favreau has big shoes to fill; admittedly, it’s a nigh-impossible task to fully don the kicks of the man who literally sat down and wrote Star Wars (even if it happened to include the prequel trilogy), but as we’ve seen throughout his time as this era’s George Lucas – particularly with the new season of The Mandalorian that just dropped today – he’s undoubtedly the man for the job.
One just has to glance at the absolute love letter of a season three opener that Favreau treated us to this morning; the Star Wars gaffer, together with episode director Rick Famuyiwa, held nothing back when it came to painting their love for this mythos. Indeed, whether it was one of the galaxy’s delightful critters, a quick cameo, or a high-octane sci-fi battle, it’s clear that the torch was passed responsibly.
Favreau is fully embracing the Lucas School of Sci-Fi as he continues down this exciting path. In an interview with ET Online, the filmmaker touched on the Lucas-esque inspirations that drive the creative process of him and the rest of the creative team behind The Mandalorian, which involves tapping into the shades of fiction that Lucas himself was first inspired by.
“[The creative team is] enjoying leaning into what inspired George Lucas originally, which was like the Flash Gordon serialized science fiction stories. So, while we’re resolving characters and storylines and things change and adjust, we want to keep the story going. And there’s also things that we want to play with and set up that are reflecting what has existed before what we’re doing here.”
He would go on to expand on the nuances that come with telling such a story, describing it as an enormous puzzle that must be solved while simultaneously ensuring that the character-centric ethos remains the centerpiece of it all.
“There’s a lot, and we’re constantly thinking about where this can go and how this can play out, and how all these pieces can fit together. So, it’s like a big puzzle. But at the end of the day, it’s about people and about relationships. That’s the template that George laid out and we try to aspire to those same principles.”
Needless to say, Favreau looks to be taking his role of “Star Wars boss” very seriously, and at this rate, there’s no doubt that he’ll end up ushering in a brand new generation of devotees from all over the world; an achievement he’s probably already familiar with anyway.
The Mandalorian is available to stream on Disney Plus, with new episodes of the third season releasing every Wednesday until the conclusion on April 19.