While it’s been long known that Jon Favreau had a fourth season of The Mandalorian sitting on his desk, it would appear that unlike the Obi-Wan Kenobi movie script which morphed into the first season of that show, those eight season four episodes weren’t repurposed for the big screen and The Mandalorian and Grogu. Instead, Favreau took key elements and made a new, original big screen adventure, and talking to SFX Magazine he gave a little background on exactly what that means.
“You can’t just take those scripts and turn them into a movie. There were a lot of characters, it assumed you’d watched the whole show, and it was teeing up what was happening moving into Ahsoka. It was about Grand Admiral Thrawn and following the larger storyline.
This is a completely different medium, so I had to start from scratch, essentially. There were certain things I wanted to pursue, like the idea of Grogu being the Mandalorian’s apprentice. As long as you understand the archetypes of this hardened warrior with their vulnerable young apprentice, you’ll know these characters well, even if you’ve never seen the show. But there’s still a lot of Star Wars in there. You’re going to see where things are going, but that doesn’t diminish from the experience of watching it as a standalone film.”
Cinemacon last weekend saw Favreau also discuss the topic of changing from a fourth season to a movie.
“Before the [2023] strike, we were writing a fourth season, and then, like with the Dodgers, you get a tap on the shoulder in the bullpen. ‘Do you want to pitch in the big game?’ We have been talking about doing something for the big screen with this for a long time. I thought it was gonna probably be some mixing of different media, like something for streaming and then having a theatrical component. And then I finally got asked, ‘Would you be open to exploring these characters for the cinema?’ You have to completely switch hats then.”
Be sure to get your orders in for the 237th and final issue of Star Wars Insider to read what Kathleen Kennedy had to say about her tenure and The Mandalorian and Grogu.
