The Mandalorian Creator Jon Favreau References Marvel’s Iron Man in Chapter 14

The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau appeared to include a line referencing his Marvel Studios role opposite Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man during the latest episode of the Star Wars series. In Friday’s “Chapter 14: The Tragedy,” written by Favreau and directed by Robert Rodriguez, a squadron of Stormtroopers sent by Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) ambush the bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) during his quest to bring Grogu to a Jedi Master. When Gideon destroys Djarin’s ship and unleashes a unit of black-suited Dark Troopers to kidnap the child, it’s Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) who takes off in hot pursuit of an escaping Imperial Cruiser.

From the cockpit of the Slave I, Fett says he’ll “do a loose follow, see where they’re headed.”

Tony Stark (Downey Jr.) uses this same phrase when he instructs Happy Hogan (Favreau), his bodyguard and head of security, to do a “loose follow” during his talk with Peter Parker (Tom Holland) in the final minutes of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Favreau, who directed Downey in Iron Man and Iron Man 2 as well as starred opposite him in the Marvel Studios trilogy, reprised his on-screen role in Homecoming and last summer’s Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Viewers spotted another Iron Man callback in The Mandalorian‘s Season 2 premiere, the first episode of the series directed by Favreau, where the armored Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant) uses Fett’s jetpack to launch a missile at a far-away enemy in a moment reminiscent of his 2008 film that launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In August, Favreau said his experience working with Marvel Studios president and producer Kevin Feige taught him to “keep the core fans in mind” while having an “outstretched hand” to newcomers while making the first live-action Star Wars series.

“This is something I learned from [working] over at Marvel and working with Kevin Feige, is you always want to keep the core fans in mind, because they have been the ones that have been keeping the torch lit for many, many years,” Favreau told Deadline. “But these are also stories for young people and for new audiences. These are myths, and so you always want to have an outstretched hand to people who might not have that background.”

New episodes of Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season 2 release on Disney+ on Fridays. If you haven’t signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here.

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