Jon Favreau Explains Why ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 4 Didn’t Happen [Exclusive]

Next week sees the release of the first new Star Wars film in seven years, and it’s a story that, from the trailers, looks as though it’s been designed for the biggest screens possible. But the truth is, it wasn’t always that way. For years, fans had expected the next chapter of

Din Djarin and Grogu’s story to arrive as another season of television on Disney+, particularly given that The Mandalorian was a massive success from day one on the streamer. Four years after the conclusion of Season 3, the beloved duo is back, but this wasn’t always the plan.

Speaking with Collider’s Steve Weintraub for The Mandalorian and Grogu, Jon Favreau explained why The Mandalorian Season 4 didn’t happen in its original form, and how the creative priorities within Lucasfilm ended up shifting towards a theatrical adventure instead. Favreau confirmed that he had already written a version of Season 4 before the Hollywood strikes, but those plans were ultimately moved aside once the project became a film. “The priorities changed from what I had written as a Season 4, before the work stoppage, and that was pushed to the side, and a new script had to be come up with,” Favreau said.

“We came up with the new script for this together, so it has a different feel than a season of television, which acknowledges that you’ve seen all three coming before. This one, we wanted this to be an understandable enough standalone experience, so that if a fan wants to bring somebody who may not be as familiar, they’ll still have a good time. But the details are still there, and it does feed into what you’re talking about with the time period.”

That does answer some lingering questions fans may have had about what Season 4 of the series could have looked like. Yes, there will be some remnants of it, but this isn’t a full season of TV chopped down and thrown into a blender to make a feature film; this is a separate project in its own right.

Is ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Connected to Other Star Wars Shows?

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Weintraub had also asked Favreau and Dave Filoni whether, during the writing process, they considered connecting the film to Ahsoka or other ongoing Star Wars stories, or whether it was always conceived as a solo adventure. Favreau said the movie still had to acknowledge the wider galaxy, but without beating the less informed members of the audience over the head with it, lest they drown them in unintelligible lore about Klatoonians, the Friks, and Peli Motto’s origin story.

“It always has to acknowledge what’s around it,” said Favreau. “The good thing with Star Wars is the fans are so perceptive that you don’t have to have a heavy hand, but you have to make sure it’s consistent and thought through. And fortunately, Dave, being a writer of this and deep in it, and Ahsoka filmed right after this, all of it informed one another. There are also larger threads that I can always just pick up the phone and talk to Dave as he watches cuts. So, all of it is informed by the larger story.”

All of that makes sense for this era of Star Wars, because it started as a simple enough story, but within three seasons, The Mandalorian had expanded rapidly into the fall of Mandalore, Palpatine’s cloning plot, what was left of the Empire, the Darksaber, and even Luke Skywalker. At a certain point, you can’t really call it a solo adventure because it’s tied so tightly to the entire universe. Filoni also described the movie as an entry point, especially for younger viewers who may not have watched every Disney+ series or animated show before walking into the multiplex. For him, characters like Zeb or Rotta the Hutt can give long-term fans a smile without alienating newer audiences.

“It does. To me, it’s an entry point, right?” Filoni said. “Because we don’t want you to feel, like Jon said, you had to catch up on all these other series and shows. But if you’re a fan, Zeb’s not a new character to you. If you’ve watched Rebels, you know Zeb is, and so you get that, ‘Oh, I see. There he is in this,’ and it’s connected in that way without you having to understand his backstory. You get that he’s kind of like the pilot in this. He’s the buddy for Mando going out.”

‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Is Filled With “Touchstones” Not “Easter Eggs”

Image via Lucasfilm

Filoni went on to explain how, just because you see a character that you recognize, doesn’t mean it’s a hidden Easter egg for fans. After all, this is a living, breathing universe that exists around our characters at all times.

“You meet [Rotta] in this and you understand who he is. But I think for me, as a fan, there’s always that interesting thing that, in a lot of ways, if you think about it, there’s no standalone in Star Wars because it’s all in that galaxy. All the things are connected. I don’t think of seeing Tusken Raiders on Tatooine as Easter eggs; that’s just where they live, so of course you see them there. But I think with the internet, people assume, ‘Oh, there are all these touchstones and stuff,’ but yes, because you’re in that galaxy.”

All of that’s important to note because the film is meant to be enjoyed rather than observed with people ticking off appearances like they’re playing bingo. It needs to play to everyone, particularly children who are seeing Star Wars on the big screen for the first time. Filoni also said there was something special about making the movie a potential gateway for kids to see this part of the saga in theaters.

“But it was, I thought, special to make this kind of an entry point for kids, especially now going to the theater with their parents and as, hopefully, they enjoy this movie, the world just opens up to them in a way,” Filoni said. “When I saw A New Hope, I was like, ‘Dad, it’s Episode IV. How did we miss three of these?’ Well, now, literally, you can start in Episode IV and say, ‘Oh, would you like to start with one? Here it is,’ which kind of blows my mind. Not only that, we did the whole Clone Wars, so that’s available, too.”

The Mandalorian and Grogu will open in theatres on May 22. Stay tuned at Collider for more.

Release Date

May 22, 2026

Runtime

132 Minutes