Star Wars: The Mandalorian Creators Talk Keeping Secrets, “We Paid for Visual Effects We Didn’t Use”

A lot of secrecy has gone into the creation of Lucasfilm’s live-action series such as Star Wars: The Mandalorian. For example, when it debuted in November 2019 the big reveal of Pedro Pascal’s titular character being introduced to Grogu was kept a secret until the premiere streamed on Disney+. There have been other surprising additions to The Mandalorian, like Rosario Dawson’s Ahsoka Tano, Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett, and Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. It’s a delicate balance The Mandalorian executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni have had to juggle, and they explained some of the stranger decisions like paying for visual effects that were never used during an appearance at Star Wars Celebration.

Host Krystina Arielle asked Favreau and Filoni that in this era of spoilers and leaks, how do they keep exciting reveals like Grogu or the return of Luke Skywalker a secret until those moments air? Filoni’s response indicated that a lot of the time the different actors wouldn’t know who they were in scenes with. For example, Rosario Dawson didn’t know she was acting with Luke Skywalker. Instead, Filoni and Favreau used codewords like the Jedi Master Plo Koon. Also, production artwork included Plo Koon instead of Luke, and a CGI head of Plo Koon was created, which meant visual effects were created and paid for that never saw the light of day, just to fool the cast and crew members.

“We’re continuing to expand on Mandalorian. Ahsoka is the next iteration of that. And then what Jon Watts is doing with his show. It gives us different places on the timeline to look at, because there is this persistent story of Star Wars,” Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told Variety at Star Wars Celebration. “That’s what we’re building on. So rather than thinking that we’re just going to go do a one-off story, we’re constantly thinking about what does this really mean inside the long saga and mythology that George Lucas created. So it could go on forever, to be perfectly honest. If we have good storytellers, it will go on forever.”

Lucasfilm also announced that Season 3 of Star Wars: The Mandalorian will drop on Disney+ in February 2023. Another piece of information announced for The Mandalorian is Katee Sackhoff will return to reprise her role as Bo-Katan Kryse, along with everyone’s favorite Baby Yoda, Grogu. Viewers will be taken to Mandalore, which is probably how Bo-Katan factors into things. A new Star Wars series was also announced. Skeleton Crew comes from executive producers Jon Watts, Christopher Ford, Jon Favreau, and Dave Filoni. Starring Jude Law, the series focuses on a group of young kids in the New Republic era lost in the galaxy trying to find their way home.