Jon Favreau revealed his honest thoughts on Star Wars' latest TV show release, Maul: Shadow Lord. The filmmaker, who launched the MCU with Iron Man, joined the galaxy far, far away with 2019's The Mandalorian, a Disney+ series that he developed with his longtime friend and Star Wars veteran Dave Filoni. He has led three seasons of the blockbuster show and carved out the MandoVerse with Filoni, now directing the franchise's next theatrical movie, The Mandalorian & Grogu.
During a recent interview clip from The Mandalorian & Grogu's press tour (shared on Instagram by @robsoutpost), Jon Favreau confirmed that, much like most of the Star Wars fandom, he has been watching Maul: Shadow Lord and thinks the team has done a "great job." In fact, Favreau even pondered why its creator and his fellow MandoVerse architect, Dave Filoni, didn't "show [him] this early:"
"I'm watching a show now, ['Maul: Shadow Lord'], that's animated. They're doing a great job. My friend, Dave Filoni, I said, 'Why didn't you show me this early?' I had to wait 'til it was on TV."
Favreau recalled that, many years ago, Filoni showed him and his "very little" son an early look at The Clone Wars at Skywalker Ranch, where they first met and became friends while he was working on a sound mix for Iron Man. In fact, that evolved into Favreau joining the show as Pre Vizla, a Mandalorian warrior:
"He showed me 'Clone Wars' when he was working on it when I first met him at Skywalker Ranch and I was making 'Iron Man.' I was doing the sound mix there. And he showed me and my son, who was very little, now he's big... when he was very little, he was the first kid to see it. And that's when I said, 'Hey, I wanna do a voice.' And that's why I ended up doing Pre Viszla, which is a Mandalorian character in 'The Clone Wars.'"
The Star Wars filmmaker praised how Shadow Lord "looks almost like a movie" due to its impressive animation. Favreau also noted how Maul is a more adult "dark, scary show," compared to his upcoming summer blockbuster:
"But I think 'Maul' looks almost like a movie. The animation's gotten so good. And that's a different tone. That's a different, dark, scary show. And what's great with Star Wars is you can have an adventure for all ages like The Mandalorian & Grogu, you can have a darker, scarier one like Maul, and it all fits together."
For the most part, Maul: Shadow Lord has received nothing but rave reviews, calling it some of the best content from modern Star Wars. Fans can enjoy all ten episodes on Disney+ now, and they may not be waiting long for Season 2 to follow.
Why Jon Favreau Might Be Leaving Star Wars Behind
Fans can look forward to the first-ever Star Wars movie that is written and directed by Jon Favreau coming to theaters on May 22 with The Mandalorian & Grogu. After that, there have been concerns that Favreau is preparing to end his seven-year Star Wars-focussed stint by bidding farewell to the franchise.
Unfortunately, there is reason to believe that may be the case, as Lucasfilm is reportedly holding off on more MandoVerse projects until after The Mandalorian & Grogu and Ahsoka Season 2. As the multi-show effort has been Favreau's Star Wars baby, there may be little room for him in the galaxy far, far away without it.
Right now, there are at least eight unproduced scripts from Favreau locked away at Lucasfilm, seemingly doomed to never hit screens, as he had already written the entirety of The Mandalorian Season 4 before it was pivoted to a theatrical movie.
Dave Filoni recently took his greatest role in the Star Wars galaxy yet, becoming the President of Lucasfilm while continuing to creatively lead his own projects, like Ahsoka. Given his friendship and history of working with Favreau, he ought to bring him back into the fold at some point, even if it is after a short hiatus.
