Jon Favreau has dreamed up a new corner of the Star Wars Galaxy on Disney+, with The Mandalorian laying the groundwork for spin-offs The Book of Boba Fett and this year's Ahsoka. However, it's now been confirmed the characters we meet in Skeleton Crew will not first debut in the main series, somewhat separating the show from the wider "Mando-Verse."
Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts is in charge of the show (which stars Jude Law), and while the story is set during this same post-Return of the Jedi era, this adventure featuring a group of kids getting lost in the Galaxy will largely be its own thing.
"Each storyteller brings their own personality to it," Favreau tells Variety (via SFFGazette.com). "The groups that are working on [‘Skeleton Crew’] are led by Jon Watts, whom I collaborated with on all the ‘Spider-Man’ movies. This has been a real fun time and the great filmmakers that he’s engaged with have been bringing their perspectives as well."
Of course, this doesn't mean we won't see familiar faces from the other Star Wars TV shows make their presence felt in Skeleton Crew, and it might perhaps be a wasted opportunity if the kids don't cross paths with Grogu.
Talking of everyone's favourite Child, Favreau was also asked about the possibility of bringing the already iconic character to the big screen. For the Iron Man director, though, it's always been about building out this franchise on the small screen.
"There’s always an opportunity when you have a set of characters and stories that people connect with that you could cross media into different areas. Marvel does it quite effectively," he explains. "It’s just a matter of where our time should be spent and what the appetite of the audience is."
"With all these stories we’re telling, it definitely is a full-time job just keeping this going with what we’re doing now. Television has a much different rhythm and schedule than film does."
Given what a lengthy lifespan Grogu's species has, we'd be shocked if a future movie doesn't pick up with him years after his adventures with Din Djarin end, but that's likely to be a long way off. Plus, there are plenty more toys to be made with him as a baby!
The Mandalorian returns to Disney+ for its third season on March 1.