The Mandalorian is the first live-action Star Wars television series ever produced, about a bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) making his way on the outskirts of the galaxy. It debuts November 12 on Disney+, which is the same day the streaming service itself launches. With so much on the line, catering to long time Star Wars fans might sound like a good idea. But showrunner (and longtime actor) Jon Favreau revealed at Vanity Fair’s New Establishment Summit that George Lucas himself told Favreau not to focus solely on nostalgia, but rather to reach new fans outside the galaxy far far away. Favreau recalls Lucas’ advice.
"[With] ‘Star Wars,’ part of that responsibility is remembering that part of your audience is a whole generation that’s coming of age and, through stories, we express our values to the next generation And so one of the things he said was not to lose sight that is the main audience for stories."
The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN.
Lucas has taken his share of lumps in the fandom, but as a childhood Star Wars fan, I love the point he’s trying to make here.
Favreau continued, saying Star Wars was “great for us who grew up with it and feel nostalgic”, but that “you’re trying to teach life lessons through the themes and the conflicts that arise among these characters.”
Indeed. As older fans, we can get lost in the minutia of the series — e.g. whether the Mon Calamari cruiser actually needs fuel or not — while losing sight of Lucas’ point: that Star Wars isn’t about the range of the starships or whether can cut through this or that, but rather teaching lessons. The Flannel One still has it, people.
Likewise, when it comes to the pressure he’s under being the flagship show on Disney+ at launch, Favreau took another note out of Lucas’ playbook:
"I don’t feel the pressure except to the audience that’s seeing what I’m making and I feel that pressure every time. And I think — much like the chefs I learned from when I was training to play that role — there’s a certain stripe of personality that are attracted to telling stories, which is you want to do something, but the experience isn’t complete until the people that eat the meal/watch the show/watch the movie, reacts to it."
Favreau is referring to the criminally underrated Chef, and if early reviews are anything to go off, Favreau won’t have much to worry about in terms of audience reactions to The Mandalorian.
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h/t CNN