Star Wars: The Mandalorian Next Episode Directed by Bryce Dallas Howard

The third episode of Star Wars: The Mandalorian was released on Disney+ this past Friday, and for the second time in seven days, a new episode of the series was met with praise from critics and fans, saying that it was even better than the one before it. Each episode of The Mandalorian has a higher fan-voted score on IMDb than the one before it, proving that just about everyone watching the show believes that it's only getting better. Following Rick Famuyiwa and Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow directed The Mandalorian episode three, proving exactly why she was hired to helm the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi series starring Ewan McGregor. Now it's time to look ahead to episode four, and another big name is taking over as the director.

Creator Jon Favreau had already confirmed all of the directors that would helm episodes of The Mandalorian throughout its first season, but the order in which they are directing was never revealed to the public, so fans have been waiting to see who would be overseeing each following episode. During an interview with Vanity Fair's Still Watching podcast, Chow confirmed that she was to be followed by actress-turned-director Bryce Dallas Howard.

Of course, Howard already has strong ties to the Star Wars franchise. Her father, Ron Howard, directed last year's prequel spinoff film, Solo: A Star Wars Story. Although she's best known for her on-screen performances, Howard has been working toward roles behind the camera as of late. She recently directed the documentary Dads, inspired by her relationship with her father.

Howard will follow in the footsteps of Chow, who was the first woman to be the lead director a live-action Star Wars project. When working on her episode, Chow didn't even know about the ground being broken until someone mentioned it on set.

"Even when I first got this job, it didn't even cross my mind. I don't know what fairyland I was in, to not think this was significant. But I went through prep and it didn't occur to me until somebody said it on one of the first days of shooting."

What do you think of The Mandalorian so far? Are you excited to see what Bryce Dallas Howard brings to the table this week? Let us know in the comments!