Jon Favreau (‘The Mandalorian’) Says Upcoming ‘Star Wars’ Series Is Designed to ‘Match and Cross’

“We have a lot of conversations with pens in hand in front of a huge whiteboard trying to imagine what might happen”. Jon Favreau is clear: one of the keys to the success of that woven tapestry with which ‘Star Wars’ now plays is how the galactic future is viewed. With his eyes set on a horizon that goes beyond that season 4 that has already been written, the co-creator of ‘The Mandalorian’, underlines the need to “be clear about what happens in that 30-year period” included between two films that have his series (and a few other offerings) wrapped up.

“Dave Filoni and I have talked about it a lot because now We have a lot of shows happening in this time frame, so we need to make sure we know where we’re going. with each of them and keep up with the calendar keeping in mind everything that is happening in “Star Wars” because we are in the middle of two films [‘El retorno del Jedi’ y ‘El despertar de la fuerza’]”. So on the radar of both Favreau and his sidekick, a Filoni who in addition to being a Mandalorian co-creator is the creative director of Lucasfilm, there are also ‘Ahsoka’ and ‘Skeleton Crew’, “two series that are already in post-production right now”. All with the idea that the protagonists of each of them can “correspondence and intersection”. “I think viewers are comfortable with that dynamic, especially from what I’ve seen with Marvel and other superhero franchises, including ‘Fast & Furious’! It is part of the current cinematic language”.

Hence, he thought nothing of it when solving a crucial storyline of the Pedro Pascal-led series in ‘The Book of Boba Fett’. “I’ve seen how with the Avengers the audience is able to follow the new characters that are introduced And I think thanks to YouTube and all the fan generated content, you can get re-engaged if you haven’t done your homework. We’ll also be posting some catch-up videos on Disney+ so no one gets lost if they don’t want to dig in for themselves, and we’ll tell you which episodes you need to watch if you want the full scoop… So I hope everyone is able to follow the series”.

Thanks to that ploy, the third season of “The Mandalorian” begins with Papa Din and little Grogu reunited again. “It was important to me that there was a development in their relationship and then when you see them apart, neither of them seem to be too happy. When we come back now with season 3, two years later, I want to make sure the fundamental relationship has been restored”.

“I always write what I think should be the next story and character development, and I knew they had to spend time apart, but I didn’t have to show every minute on camera if it wasn’t interesting to the audience. We took our time and we meet them again in that series, overlapping both stories to justify their presence [en ‘El libro de Boba Fett’] and why they should collaborate and join forces. We also cover some gaps like this: I didn’t want to spend the entire third season of “The Mandalorian” with them apart”.

Danger: galactic saturation

Kevin Feige recently assured that Marvel Studios will slow series premieres in Phases 5 and 6and Liam Neeson confessed that ‘Star Wars’ is losing something for him “magic and mystery” with the premiere of both spin-offs, but galactic saturation is not something Favreau seems to worry about. “I think mostly it’s about understanding how viewers want to connect with the stories”assures this filmmaker, recalling those arid times when 30 years passed between one film trilogy and another. “The pace was very different”. Now, even for the screenwriter of this television drama, the key lies in learning from the viewer what he wants, something that led him to invent “a good pace”. “It’s been two years since the last season of ‘The Mandalorian’ and there’s a lot of desire. We hope to find a balance. The fans will tell”.