We tried to avoid giving away any big spoilers in the episode title, but c’mon now: if you haven’t seen the second season finale episode of ‘The Mandalorian’ yet and have somehow avoided knowing that Luke Skywalker makes a cameo appearance, then you’re probably not reading this article anyhow, and if you are, well oops, consider yourself spoiled.
In any case, the appearance of the CGIed Young Skywalker was likely the biggest surprise to come from the series, which in an of itself is an impressive feat, as the show has routine dropped surprise after surprise for viewers in the form of cameos, fan-favorite characters from other media, and lets not forget about the pretty huge bombshell all the way back in the first episode about the appearance of Baby Yoda Grogu in an of itself.
Believe it or not, however, the inclusion of Luke into the series’ story arc was not something that was in the mix from the get-go. Showrunner Jon Favreau, in a recent interview, was asked directly about this, and his answer shed quite the light on his process:
“No. The story unfolded as I wrote it. ‘The Mandalorian’ inherits a great deal from existing Star Wars stories, and when I write, that context is always a consideration. It became clear that, within the established continuity, certain things were likely to transpire.”
While many viewers further assumed that the creative team behind ‘The Mandalorian’ are somewhat handcuffed and closely observed by the powers-that-be at Disney to ensure the story the show tells is self-contained and stays in its proverbial lane, Favreau surprisingly also revealed that this is definitely not the case:
“We have a tremendous amount of freedom afforded to us because of the gap in time between the films. [Fellow creative team member] Dave Filoni and I are in constant discussion regarding how each story choice is impacted by, and would impact, existing Star Wars material.”
So, there you have it: even though there were no guarantees early on that ‘The Mandalorian’ would achieve the breakout success it eventually earned, Disney still had faith in the creative team and the process, and the results clearly speak for themselves.
The first two seasons of ‘The Mandalorian’ are now streaming in their entirety on Disney+.
