Luke Skywalker's Cameo Was Not Originally Planned, Says Jon Favreau
One of the biggest surprises in The Mandalorian series was Luke Skywalker. In the second season, it was discovered that Grogu, also known as “Baby Yoda” before his name reveal, needed a Jedi master to train him and find his latent abilities with the Force. Immediately, fans took the internet by storm with all their theories of which Jedi were left to be able to train Grogu. Of course, Ahsoka was off the table since she already said she couldn’t. The theories included many Jedi, including the one it turned out to be, which in itself seemed somewhat doubtful: Luke Skywalker.
And Jon Favreau revealed a new bit of information recently, while speaking with the Writers Guild of America West. Since Luke’s appearance, several of the cast members have taken to social media to share their excitement about the reveal. Rosario Dawson and Ming-Na Wen were among those who expressed their awe for Luke’s return to the galaxy. Mark Hamill soon joined in on the fun by sharing multiple remarks on how his inclusion in the show was kept a secret for over a year. Now we have learned of an added twist: Luke Skywalker’s cameo wasn’t initially planned.
Jon Favreau revealed that Luke Skywalker’s cameo “unfolded as [he] wrote it.” In answer to whether or not Luke’s cameo was planned from the very beginning, the answer was a firm “no.” He explained that certain events were very possible since the Mandalorian benefits from other stories set within the same universe:
“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.”
Jon Favreau also said that the crew behind The Mandalorian had a lot of freedom to tell the stories within the Skywalker Saga.
“We have a tremendous amount of freedom afforded to us because of the gap in time between the films. Dave Filoni and I are in constant discussion regarding how each story choice is impacted by, and would impact, existing Star Wars material."
It shows just how the grounded nature of The Mandalorian, under Jon Favreau’s leadership and his style, that they were able to pull off such a massive unplanned appearance from one of the Star Wars universe’s biggest stars.
In the timeline of the canon, it does make sense that Luke Skywalker would potentially show up since the show takes place between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Luke was just starting out on his own as a Jedi, creating his own Jedi training temple of sorts during this time period. So despite The Mandalorian having its own clear compelling storyline separate from the Skywalker saga, the connections were still there, but they would only happen if deemed absolutely necessary. Due to the storyline of season 2 and how Mando and Grogu were searching for a Jedi master, and how the show’s rating was going up, it just sort of made sense to bring Luke into the mix, even if some fans weren’t as thrilled about it.
Favreau’s comment about how “certain things were likely to transpire” might even allude to the possibility of more characters from the Skywalker saga showing up in either The Mandalorian or in the future shows that Disney+ and Lucasfilm have planned. Ahsoka Tano’s series has already been rumored to include some of the characters from Star Wars Rebels, and if that proves to be true, it could also lead Ahsoka back to Grogu and Luke, or even some of the other characters that were shown to have survived the original Star Wars saga and into the sequels. Rangers of the New Republic, another show announced by Disney+ and Lucasfilm, could very well have an appearance by Leia Organa since she would be possibly doing government duties at that point in time.
Whatever the case and whoever they end up bringing back, we can bet that their appearances will be just as surprising, if not moreso, than Luke Skywalker’s appearance in the season 2 finale of The Mandalorian. This is just the beginning of many surprising twists and turns for the announced Star Wars shows on Disney+.
Source(s): The Direct