Jon Favreau Has His Own Process For Dealing With Deep-Cut Star Wars Lore
UPDATE: A previous version of the story named Pablo Hidalgo as the leader of the Lucasfilm Story Group, but this is not true. The story has been changed to reflect this correction.
The deeply complex lore of "Star Wars" continues to expand with the live-action television series "The Mandalorian," and the upcoming shows "Star Wars: Ahsoka," "Skeleton Crew," and "Star Wars: Acolyte," which will take place in the final dark days of the High Republic Era. The animated world of "Star Wars" is also continuing to fill in gaps and expand the universe with "The Bad Batch," "Visions," and "Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures" that's set to premiere on Star Wars Day, May the 4th. Novels exploring the High Republic are set to tie in with "Star Wars: Acolyte" and three new "Star Wars" video games have been announced, including "Star Wars Jedi: Survivor," the sequel to "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" that will continue the adventures of Cal Kestis.
When Disney took over Lucasfilm, "Star Wars" canon split into Star Wars Legends (the new name for the Expanded Universe) and the Disney output became the new, official canon. Legends informs the largely airtight canon of "Star Wars" but it's not necessarily part of the official timeline. The Lucasfilm Story Group has been gifted (or burdened) with the title of the Keepers of Canon, allowing creatives like Jon Favreau to stay aligned with "Star Wars" history without knowing every tiny detail.
Favreau has dealt with multiple projects that feature a fairly massive backlog of lore and history, from "Iron Man" and the MCU to Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book." "Star Wars" operates on a different level, however. Favreau's job is to see how his ideas and passion can match up with the lore the experts protect and how new "Star Wars" can remain true to the singular vision of George Lucas.
The process of balancing passion with deep-cut Star Wars lore
Delving into the lore of "Star Wars" can be incredibly daunting even for fans who try their best to keep up with the mountain of material that's constantly being released. In theory, you could consume "Star Wars" content on a loop and still never catch up to everything happening within the official canon alone.
Favreau is well aware of this and was careful not to dedicate an inordinate amount of time to something that he wasn't already deeply passionate about. "First, it's not just any IP [Intellectual Property] that I will engage with, it has to be something that I already connect with and feel passion for — and that I could dedicate a big chunk of my life to doing something with, and contribute to what is already there," he told Film Stories on a recent trip to the UK for the season 3 premiere of "The Mandalorian."
To wrap his head around the lore, Favreau's second step is to make a list from memory of all the things he personally remembers to find out what's special and what stood out to him, personally. "Memory has a way of prioritising things that are most relevant," he said. "So the things I remember are going to be more important in some regards than the things I research because they've surfaced themselves."
The next step in the process leads into intense research, something that's a must for "Star Wars," but not necessarily for "Iron Man" when Marvel was starting the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel benefitted from Stan Lee's guidance that was then carried out by a lot of different people who spun the stories in their own ways. With "Star Wars," Favreau had to work within George Lucas's original vision.
Balancing strict canon with the fun of Star Wars
Lucas, of course, didn't work in a vacuum and many of the creatives that collaborated with him helped Favreau stay true to the lore of "Star Wars" without being beholden to it. Director and artist Dave Filoni, longtime Lucasfilm designer Doug Chiang, and ILM Chief Creative Officer John Knoll were key people to bounce ideas off of.
Favreau even recognized how important the fandom is to ensuring the lore is consistent. "Thanks to the internet and other experts, and people who are concentrating by the way on different aspects of what's important within 'Star Wars,' we can get a sense of it, and crowdsource it, and bounce off one another asking if it feels right," said Favreau.
That becomes the main barometer to decide whether Favreau is on the right path or not. Does it feel like "Star Wars?" That feeling comes mainly from a sense of adventure instead of adhering to a strict timeline of events. The canon allows "Star Wars" to remain a unique entertainment property, but Favreau doesn't feel the need to obsess over it. "There was definitely a freedom George had, and a playfulness, when he told the stories that you don't want to lose. You don't want to feel bound by tradition, so it's striking that balance of tone."