To date, George Lucas hasn’t been creatively involved with any of the new Star Wars projects produced since he sold the franchise to Disney last decade. He also hasn’t opened up much about his thoughts on what the studio has done with his baby, but from what we’ve heard, he was not a big fan of the Sequel Trilogy, to put it mildly. It sounds like he’s much more positive about The Mandalorian, though, as revealed by his former protege Dave Filoni.
While speaking to /Film, Filoni talked about how he has regular chats with Lucas about the show, but he generally just wants to pick the director’s brain for advice and tips of the trade.
“I like to get more knowledge. He’ll give me some reminders, especially before I shoot something, about how many setups I should try to get in a day, and I might rack his brain for certain things about how to cover a scene.”
When Lucas has offered an opinion about the series, however, it sounds like he’s a fan of it. Filoni – who exec produces the Disney Plus smash hit alongside showrunner Jon Favreau – revealed that the Star Wars creator has been “very complimentary” and enjoys watching it as a fan.
“He’s been very complimentary. I think he’s enjoyed the show, and he said once [that] now he gets to watch it as a fan and watch it as a viewer.”
As fans will know, Filoni started off on The Clone Wars working off Lucas’ ideas and under his guidance before taking on a more senior role as the series went on, later spearheading Star Wars Rebels and becoming who many believe to be Lucas’ natural successor in the franchise. He told /Film that he feels a responsibility to pass on all he’s learned from his mentor over the years to everyone involved on The Mandalorian.
“My job is to bring that knowledge forward and pass on what I’ve learned from him in every discipline to Jon and to the creative departments.”
We’ve previously got a couple of behind-the-scenes images from Lucas’ visit to the set of the series, showing him palling around with Favreau and cradling the adorable Baby Yoda puppet. And if Lucas is complimentary about The Mandalorian season 2, that certainly bodes well for the fan reaction when it arrives in a couple of months’ time in October.