The Mandalorian was the series to not only kick off Disney+ but also redefine Star Wars storytelling. With Jon Favreau at its head, the same man who kickstarted the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we’ve started to see a new expensive network of shows all based around this series, such as last year’s The Book of Boba Fett and Dave Filoni‘s upcoming Ahsoka.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy talks about what it’s like working with him and how ended up developing The Mandalorian.
I knew that Jon Favreau was always deeply interested in Star Wars. He was the first person I went to. He said, ‘Not only would I have an interest, I have an idea.’ What’s unique about Jon is his commitment. He’s had a sole focus pretty much on this for the last several years. That’s been a godsend.
Kathleen Kennedy
She reveals that after they met in her office in Santa Monica, Favreau already started working on the series. He ended up writing up around four episodes even though he didn’t even have a contract at the time. Interestingly enough, there were multiple conflicts when he started developing the series based on a Mandalorian. Not only was James Mangold originally developing a Boba Fett-centric film, but Dave Filoni also had plans for it.
So, Kennedy had a simple way to remedy this issue, as while Mangold went on to tackle Indiana Jones 5, she simply had Filoni and Favreau sit down and talk about their visions. Once they started exchanging ideas, they started combining them into what would eventually become The Mandalorian.
“They got along instantly, like gangbusters,” Kennedy revealed but there was one element they couldn’t fully decide on. It seems that Favreau’s idea of Grogu, who many dubbed Baby Yoda early on, was quite a ferocious discussion point between the two. Yet, she highlighted this as them trying to challenge each other to truly refine the concept and it led to us getting the series that became a staple of Disney+.
Source: Vanity Fair
