Star Wars: Jon Favreau Could Reportedly Take Larger Role in the Franchise’s Future

Star Wars is closing out strong in 2020 with the premiere of the first-ever live-action series, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, starting on Disney+ this month as well as the final installment of the Skywalker Saga hitting theaters in December. One person who has been extra busy due to all of the Star Wars content is Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kennedy’s future with the company is uncertain. The site suggests that whether or not Kennedy does exit her role, an important position could go to Jon Favreau. Favreau is best known for directing films such as Iron Man and The Lion King (2019) as well as playing Happy Hogan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He also is the co-showrunner of The Mandalorian, so he’s already got his foot in the door at the company.

“Creating a new mythology is, of course, the challenge that Disney faces with Star Wars. Kennedy is an experienced and competent producer, but she is not a creative visionary. (She made her name as a producer for creative visionary Steven Spielberg.) So who better than Favreau to play a leading role in charting the course? He has fan loyalty. He is as Team Disney as they come,” THR explains.

“So with or without Kennedy, sources say it seems likely that Favreau will have a lot of say over the future of Star Wars,” they added. “These sources also say Kennedy’s ideal team includes key roles for Michelle Rejwan, a producer on Episode IX and Lucasfilm’s senior vp live action development and production, and Dave Filoni, the veteran animation director and George Lucas protege who directed live action for the first time with two episodes of Mandalorian. Even if remaining at Lucasfilm is not in the cards for Kennedy, this plan would enable her to trumpet that she has done the job she was hired to do — completing the Skywalker saga — and left the franchise in good hands.”

The article also points out Favreau had a very successful night at the opening of The Mandalorian.

“Unsurprisingly, creator Jon Favreau was the star of the night. Perhaps some of the most lavish praise for the Mandalorian experience came from eccentric filmmaker and Mandalorian actor Werner Herzog, who raved about the cutting-edge technology on display in the series. But his words seemed to be freighted with meaning beyond that. ‘What you are creating is an entire universe,’ Herzog said. ‘This universe is filled with new mythology. Not very often in the cultural history have we had new mythologies. And I find it very significant.’”

You can read the full article here.

The first two episodes of Star Wars: The Mandalorian are now available to stream on Disney+.