Jon Favreau: The Mandalorian succeeded thanks to TV's lower expectations

Entertainment Weekly

“I think it was the fact it was live-action Star Wars on TV for the first time," he tells EW. "Having worked on bigger, higher-profile films, there’s a much different set of standards that you’re judged by. We’ve benefited from the smallness of our world.” Another key factor, Favreau says, was the creative input of executive producer and director Dave Filoni, whom George Lucas mentored while helming seven seasons of the acclaimed animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. “Quite simply: We didn’t overthink things,” Filoni says of Season 1, which was inspired by the opening act of the first Star Wars movie. “George started with these very iconic characters whose relationships are very clear, and then introduced what’s at stake — for us, the (fate of) the Child,” says Filoni. “An audience tends to enjoy a story by sticking to tropes and characters they understand — like a gunslinger in the Old West. So it was a clear story and a fun adventure even if you’ve never seen anything (in the Star Wars universe)." Favreau says Season 2 will add more storytelling angles after Season 1 was mostly filmed from Mando's perspective. “As we introduce other characters, there are opportunities to follow different storylines,” says Favreau. “The world was really captivated by Game of Thrones and how that evolved as the characters followed different storylines — that's very appealing to me as an audience member.” ALSO: Actors wore black cloaks to The Mandalorian set like Sith Lords to prevent leaks.