Jon Favreau Says THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU Connects to AHSOKA Season 2 in Some “Subtle” Ways

If you’re excited about AhsokaSeason 2, you might want to pay extra attention to The Mandalorian and Groguwhen it hits theaters next year, because even though the movie is designed to stand on its own, it there are threads tying it into the larger Star Wars story that Dave Filoniis building.

The project actually started life as The Mandalorian season 4 before plans changed during the 2023 writers and actors strikes. According toJon Favreau, Lucasfilm saw an opportunity to bring these characters to the big screen instead.

Favreau explained to ComicBook: "I wrote season 4, and then we went into the work stoppage, and as we came out of it, that's when Lucasfilm was like, 'We haven't had a movie in a while. Could you do something with these characters? Is there something there?'"

That shift apparently forced Favreau and Filoni to completely rethink the story. Favreau said: "I looked at the scripts, [Dave Filoni] looked at the scripts, it was not a movie. So, we had to start from scratch."

What’s interesting is how the creative team approached reshaping the series into a theatrical adventure. Instead of building something only longtime viewers would understand, they wanted the movie to work for audiences who may have never watched a single episode of The Mandalorian or Ahsoka.

Favreau said: "And I pitched the new version of what it was, because it also had to be for people who didn't – season 4, people saw the show, they saw Ahsoka, and now this one, it's got to be like, 'No, you should be able to bring somebody who's never seen Star Wars with you,'"

That approach makes sense for a theatrical release, especially one carrying the weight of being Lucasfilm’s return to theaters after several years away. Still, Favreau confirmed there are connective pieces woven into the story for fans who’ve been following the Disney+ side of the franchise.

"So, it had to be a standalone adventure, but also you want to have enough subtle stuff that relates to Ahsoka Season 2."

We already know Filoni is steering these shows toward a much bigger conflict involving Grand Admiral Thrawn and the rise of the First Order era. Favreau previously hinted that Ahsoka season 2 digs deeper into the larger galactic situation while The Mandalorian and Grogu stays more grounded in the day-to-day side of the conflict.

He previously told SFX magazine: "Anybody who saw the sequels knows that there's a First Order coming in, like, 20 years from where we are now in the storyline."

Favreau continued: "And then Ahsoka season 2 is coming out – which I've seen all of – and that's definitely more dealing with the larger [picture], a higher level.

“That's about the officers and we're the enlisted men – this is more of a ground-level experience of what's going on. You're seeing the backdrop – which, by the way, is what the first Star Wars started off as."

That comparison to the original Star Wars is right on. The first movie dropped audiences into a lived-in galaxy where huge political events were unfolding in the background while viewers followed a smaller, personal story.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is aiming for that same energy, with Din Djarin and Grogu caught in the middle of something much bigger brewing across the galaxy. I think it succeeds in doing that,

As for those “subtle” connections it will be interesting to see what threads from the film end up moving into Ahsoka.

The Mandalorian and Grogu arrives in theaters on May 22.