Star Wars changed forever in Fall 2019. The launch of Disney+’s The Mandalorian represented the first time that the live-action galaxy far, far away was being explored in a televised format, and creator Jon Favreau wasted no time in emphasizing this tale’s essentialness to the greater universe. The Mandalorian pilot episode introduced fans to an infant member of Yoda’s thought-to-be extinct species who would later be named Grogu. The big reveals only continued from there, as The Mandalorian re-introduced fans to original trilogy favorites Boba Fett and Luke Skywalker, debuted animated heroes Bo-Katan and Ahsoka Tano, and brought the long-awaited Darksaber to live-action life.
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These major moments have varied in shock value, as some arrived without a whisper while others had been rumored for months. Speaking with ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis, executive producer Dave Filoni noted that the goal of keeping Mandalorian secrets is to replicate the old school Star Wars magic.
“I think we’re trying to recreate what we experienced as kids watching Star Wars,” Filoni said. “When I went into Empire Strikes Back, I didn’t have any clue what the end of that film was going to reveal and that was a mind-blowing moment.”
“Yoda blew my mind because I was like, ‘Who’s this guy?’” Favreau chimed in.
The digital age has accelerated the speed of information tenfold, which leads to detailed analysis and deep-dive theories on any and all major IPs hitting the internet often within hours of a project’s release. Filoni reflected on his experience with Star Wars growing up, pointing out that any exchange of information about the movies had to happen in person.
“The father moment, like all of these things, and the only place you had to really talk about it was at school the next day, or with your brother,” Filoni continued. “You put the record on, listen to it. Now it’s such a saturation of information. People have their own communities online, and it’s great, and they talk about it all the time.”
Even as the media landscape evolves, Filoni hopes to keep the big reveals “close” to ensure “awesome moments” for audiences when they experience them in real time.
“For us, it’s about the show and the experience of watching the show. We talk a little bit about it afterward, but there’s no sense in revealing the whole magic trick,” Filoni said. “And also, you never know when you’re developing these things, as much as you can plan them out, something might evolve through the experience of making it. We keep it all very kind of close because it is evolving and surprising in exciting ways. And then you (the audience), when you got to see Luke appear, hopefully was an awesome moment for you that you wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
The Mandalorian Season 3 premieres on Disney+ this Wednesday, March 1st.
