Jon Favreau compares The Mandalorian to Game of Thrones

November 12 is rapidly approaching. On that day, Disney’s highly-anticipated new streaming service, Disney+, will finally go live. Subscribers will be able to watch The Mandalorian, the first-ever live-action Star Wars television series, on Day 1.

The show will follow Game of Thrones star Pedro Pascal in the title role as a bounty hunter making his way on the outskirts of the galaxy after the fall of the Galactic Empire.

Speaking of Game of Thrones, Mandalorian showrunner Jon Favreau compared the two shows when talking with Collider. Specifically, he likes the idea of releasing episodes of The Mandalorian one at a time as happens on traditional TV, rather than dumping them all at once like on Netflix. “It’s nice to have people be able to experience something, at the same time, which is what I really loved about watching Game of Thrones. There’s that sense of, ‘What’s gonna happen this week?’ and it’s not a cascading down.”

"For us, there’s a really fun dialogue that we’re looking forward to, that we usually normally only get at the conventions, where you get to show it, people get to react, and then you get to talk about it. That gets us excited as filmmakers, and that dialogue unfolds. I’m happy it’s being released at a rhythm."

Favreau also reveals that he’s working on season 2 right now, even though season 1 has yet to premiere. “The first week of the second season is under our belt,” he said. Well, I guess there’s your unofficial confirmation that The Mandalorian season 2 is happening.

Dave Filoni, who is the creative director for Lucasfilm animation (The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars Resistance) served as a director and executive producer on The Mandalorian and talked about how the special effects on Star Trek: The Next Generation inspired him to hope that one-day there could be a live-action Star Wars show. “We can make something like Star Wars because the technology has advanced,” he said. “That’s one of the dreams that George had. Even when I worked with him on Clone Wars, he would talk about the future being streaming, and the future being episodic, serialized Star Wars. So, it’s cool to get to help make it.”

It’s neat to know that before he sold Lucasfilm to Disney, George Lucas knew streaming would be the future of entertainment. Although if Lucas was still in control of Star Wars, we might be getting a live-action Jar Jar Binks show. Everything happens for a reason, is what I’m saying.

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The Collider interview is very in-depth. Here are some other highlights:

• The moment Pedro Pascal (the Mandalorian) realized he was in Star Wars was when he put on the helmet for the first time. “They had it handy, in our first meeting, to see if it would fit, and it fit perfectly. Very simply, trying the costume on, for the first time, and looking in the mirror, you can’t see very well with the helmet, but I got a pretty clear impression of it. If you grow up, playing with Star Wars toys and seeing the movies, and then you’re staring at yourself and you are the image of that childhood imagination, it’s a super pinch me moment.”

Cara Dune (Gina Carano) in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN.

• Gina Carino (Cara Dune, an ex-Rebel shock trooper) had a similar experience. “For me, it was my first day on set, seeing the whole costume come together. Jon and Dave came and made such a big deal, and were like, ‘Oh, my gosh! Look how great you look!’ And I was like, ‘Wow, this is really great!’ But then, I saw that they did that with everybody. But it really, honestly was one of my favorite unforgettable moments, being on set and seeing the other cast members, either behind a helmet or as a creature. Actually, my first day on set, I was up on a Blurrg, on this big thing, and I was like, ‘This is it. This is my life now.'”

Greef (Carl Weathers) in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN.

• Carl Weathers (Greef Carga) — who will be directing an episode in season 2 — said that Favreau slow-pitched the idea of being in a Star Wars show to him. “And then, he started telling me what this was about and about this character. I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I’m working on something that Disney is gonna be behind. I’m working on something that Jon Favreau is gonna be marshaling through. And I’m working on a Star Wars invention. Then, I got the chance to meet David Filoni and I was like, ‘Oh, shit, we’re in good hands. We’re in really good hands.’ That was my introduction, and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

• Filoni would neither confirm nor deny the inclusion of any characters from the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars show…but it sounds like it’s gonna happen. “It’d be terrible to learn about anything here, now, rather than watching it,” he said. “That’s really the most organic moment, and everybody will be excited.”

November 12 can’t come fast enough.

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