The Mandalorian has attracted incredible directing talent during its first two seasons, and it has proven to be an introduction to directing Star Wars for most of them. Outside of Dave Filoni, all of the directors have been newcomers to telling Star Wars stories at Lucasfilm when joining the show.
But is it also possible that we’ll see other established Star Wars directors join the team? Well, we know that at least one of them is interested!
Sariah Wilson recently did an interview with The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, and Johnson told her that he would love to direct an episode of The Mandalorian and has spoken to Dave Filoni about it – but scheduling is the main issue.
Johnson said that he’s spoken with Filoni about it but would need to find time to break away from his other projects (he’s currently at work on the Knives Out sequel, and also has an eventual Star Wars trilogy he’s working on too). But Johnson did visit the set in season one, got to see Baby Yoda before he was unveiled to the public, and was blown away at the technology used to film the series.
Having Rian Johnson direct an episode of The Mandalorian would be INCREDIBLE. He’s proven that he understands the themes of Star Wars and has an undeniable knack for storytelling and directing, and having him join the show to direct an episode would be absolutely amazing. And it’s encouraging that it doesn’t seem like an impossible hypothetical, since Johnson has already spoken to Filoni about it.
If you remember, Filoni and Johnson seem to be fairly close, and Filoni has specifically thanked Johnson for helping him grow into being a live-action director. Johnson mentored Filoni on-set on The Last Jedi, and that has paid rich dividends as Filoni works alongside Jon Favreau on The Mandalorian. So it would be pretty cool to see Filoni and Johnson work together again, this time on Mando.
Again, whether or not this actually happens probably depends on whether it fits with Johnson’s busy schedule. But I’m really, really hoping that it does come to happen, as it would be incredibly good news for the show. Here’s to hoping that Dave Filoni can pull it off to make it happen!
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