Credit: StarWars.comA new confirmation shows that George Lucas will impact the upcoming Star Wars movie The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026).
Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian and Grogu was announced, rather surprisingly, in January 2024. Not even a year after Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy revealed a trio of new feature films at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023, the studio shared that the famous TV duo of Mando and Grogu would be breaking the franchise’s theatrical release drought.
The Mandalorian, Disney+’s flagship series, is a groundbreaking entry in the Star Wars franchise, marking the first live-action television show in the galaxy far, far away. Created by Jon Favreau, the series launched in November 2019 and quickly captivated audiences with its unique blend of Western and samurai film influences.
Set five years after the fall of the Galactic Empire in Star Wars: Episode VI–Return of the Jedi (1983), the show carves out a fresh narrative space, following the adventures of a mysterious and stoic bounty hunter, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), better known as Mando. Pascal once donned the suit alongside his doubles, Lateef Crowder and Brendan Wayne, but for the third season, the actor confirmed he just provided the voice of the character.
The show has run for three seasons, and while recent rumors suggest that the fourth already-confirmed season is now a no-go, it has not officially been cut–unlike the second season of Leslye Headland’s The Acolyte.
The uncertainty around Season 4 of The Mandalorian comes from the fact that The Mandalorian and Grogu was announced after the third season of Jon Favreau’s show had concluded.
It also came nine months after Dave Filoni was confirmed to be bringing a Mando-Verse crossover movie to the big screen—one of the films Kennedy revealed at Celebration (the others being James Mangold’s Dawn of the Jedi movie and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s New Jedi Order.)
However, despite the confirmation of two new movies, Star Wars producer and director Rick Famuyiwa said that The Mandolorian Season 4 is “certainly coming, [he] just don’t know exactly when.”
At the heart of The Mandalorian lies its breakout character, Grogu—affectionately dubbed “Baby Yoda” by fans. This enigmatic, Force-sensitive child of Yoda’s species becomes the focal point of Mando’s journey, as the lone gunslinger is tasked with protecting him from various threats across the galaxy.
Grogu’s introduction not only fueled the show’s immense popularity but also deepened the emotional stakes, adding a layer of warmth and vulnerability to Mando’s hardened persona. The companionship between the pair and seeing the popular Pedro Pascal in a “lone wolf” trope of a role is perhaps one of the driving forces around bringing the duo to the big screen and giving them the responsibility of leading the feature film slate.
At the time of The Mandalorian and Grogu announcement, Kennedy said (via The Hollywood Reporter): “Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have ushered into Star Wars two new and beloved characters, and this new story is a perfect fit for the big screen.” During this new movie reveal, Lucasfilm also confirmed that a second season of Ahsoka was in the works from Filoni.
The show’s success sparked an expansion of the Star Wars universe on Disney+, with spin-offs like The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and the upcoming Skeleton Crew, which commences on December 3, 2024. Characters from all of these will likely be appearing in either (or both) The Mandalorian and Grogu or Dave Filoni’s colloquially called “Heir to the Empire” movie.
While these interconnected series, driven by the rich world-building of The Mandalorian, are laying the groundwork for a new era of Star Wars storytelling, criticism has started to sprout, especially after The Acolyte‘s cancellation, that the galaxy George Lucas created is getting increasingly smaller.
George Lucas, the visionary mastermind behind Star Wars, forever changed the landscape of cinema with his epic space opera that first soared onto screens in 1977.
A daring blend of mythic storytelling and groundbreaking special effects, Lucas’s creation introduced audiences to a galaxy teeming with adventure, intrigue, timeless archetypes, and, of course, the beloved trio of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher).
His ambitious vision spawned a franchise that transcended its initial sci-fi roots, evolving into a cultural phenomenon with a sprawling universe of interconnected stories, beloved characters, and a fervent fanbase. Lucas’s pioneering spirit set a new benchmark for blockbuster filmmaking and cemented Star Wars as a legendary cornerstone of modern pop culture.
Lucas is also praised for hiring Dave Filoni, the executive who has risen through the ranks to become Lucasfilm’s Chief Creative Officer. The Star Wars icon met with Filoni in the early 2000s before he was offered a job on Lucas’s last Star Wars project, Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Many Star Wars fans see Filoni—who has worked on The Clone Wars and led Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, and Ahsoka while producing, writing, and directing on The Mandalorian—as Lucas’s immediate successor and the person who will eventually replace Kathleen Kennedy as President of Lucasfilm.
The Hollywood Reporter has now confirmed that Lucas’s protege will co-write The Mandalorian and Grogu alongside Jon Favreau.
“According to The Hollywood Reporter, Dave Filoni will be co-writing The Mandalorian and Grogu in addition to serving as one of the film’s executive producers,” Screen Rant notes.
“Filoni is now Lucasfilm’s chief creative officer but first worked on the franchise with George Lucas on The Clone Wars animated series. He has worked at the forefront of many other Lucasfilm projects, including Star Wars Rebels, The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, Tales of the Jedi, and Tales of the Empire.”
Related: Dave Filoni Rewrites ‘Star Wars’ History, Fixes George Lucas’s Stormtrooper Problem
However, while he was once hailed as the “savior of Star Wars,” fan response has become divided in recent years, as this Reddit thread suggests. Comments on a tweet from The Direct also indicate that fans aren’t entirely happy with Filoni boarding The Mandalorian movie as co-writer.
@Tal_Shiar_Degen wrote:
Hopefully more Favreau than Filoni
Hopefully more Jon Favreau than Dave Filoni
— Tal_Shiar (@Tal_Shiar_Degen) August 21, 2024
Another user, @thatstarwarsgirl, echoed the above sentiment:
So it’s going to be filled with plot holes, lore breaking tropes & random wolves? Yay….
So it’s going to be filled with plot holes, lore breaking tropes & random wolves? Yay….
— thatstarwarsgirl (@thatstarwarsgrl) August 21, 2024
@Casey_Ryback wrote:
I have to trust Jon’s involvement. As long as it is 90% Jon and 10% Dave.
I have to trust Jon’s involvement. As long as it is 90% Jon and 10% Dave.
— Casey Ryback (@CaseyRyback00) August 22, 2024
Related: Report: ‘Ahsoka’ Star Recast in ‘Star Wars,’ Disney Seeking Replacement
It seems the verdict is still out on Filoni’s involvement in the project. Regardless, the teachings of George Lucas will be seeping down into this production of Lucasfilm’s first theatrical release since the highly-polarizing Star Wars: Episode IX–The Rise of Skywalker (2019) from director J.J. Abrams.
Favreau and Filoni recently teased what to expect with The Mandalorian and Grogu at this year’s D23 Expo, as Deadline (@DEADLINE) shared below:
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni tease ‘Mandalorian & Grogu’ coming in May 2026
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni tease ‘Mandalorian & Grogu’ coming in May 2026 #D23 pic.twitter.com/f6Er5K2XWk
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) August 10, 2024
What are your thoughts on Dave Filoni being involved in The Mandalorian and Grogu? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!