How Jon Favreau And Dave Filoni Keep The Star Wars TV Timeline Straight
Even diehard fans of the decades-long "Star Wars" franchise have trouble keeping the timeline straight sometimes. The stories that have been told about a galaxy far, far away haven't always been told in a linear fashion. There are books, films, comics, TV series, and video games that jump all over the place, through hundreds of years of history. That isn't a complaint. It's really wonderful to be able to see how the New Republic started to go wrong, how the Jedi council screwed up Anakin's journey, or how the history of the Mandalorians took shape. It can just be a bit confusing at times.
"Star Wars" creators Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, who have been responsible for shows like "The Mandalorian" and "Ahsoka," can't always keep it perfectly straight in their heads either. There are certainly a lot of resources and timelines out there, but they had their own method of making sure the timeline is always correct, according to an April 2023 interview with IGN. In speaking about the upcoming film that will tie some Disney+ shows together, the two creators spoke about keeping their work set in the right part of the story of this universe.
'I've kept a very large diagram whiteboard timeline'
Filoni spoke about the timeline for the upcoming film and said that he thinks of this as the "New Republic time period" and that it was there before they started on "The Mandalorian." He said of their methods:
"The idea that after 'Return of the Jedi' there was a New Republic, and that the heroes still had to defend that Republic from the remnant Empire is a very old idea that we brought into the first season of 'The Mandalorian.' Because it's what was always there.
"So as we've gone along, I've kept a very large diagram whiteboard timeline. And as we build the story, I show it to Jon and I'm like, 'If we do this ... It's almost like a crime scene ... We could lead to this. And then that could mean we could do this.' And he said, 'Well, what about this?' I'm like, 'Yes. Well, let's put that up there.' And so a lot of times we can move them and keep it movable."
I feel like it would be a public service to let us see this whiteboard timeline, but that's probably not in the cards. Plus, there would likely be a lot of spoilers. Favreau added that they have to continually check where they are on the timeline both with the shows that are out there and the scripts they're checking on.
'Sometimes it's not as obvious in the script'
It isn't always easy to pinpoint, as Favreau said:
"Sometimes it's not as obvious in the script until you start to see it. The writing process always continues all the way till you're done, because you always have insights that the story tells you. And so as we're laying the stuff out, because then we have what exists in canon."
It's got to be difficult to even pitch shows these days. There is so much lore that half of your job as a writer is likely making sure that what you're doing doesn't contradict anything else that's already part of canon. It could also give you some great ideas about what to include, so it's not the worst thing. Then there are all those non-canon Legends and Extended Universe stories. Favreau said they look at that as well:
"There are certain stories and characters that people have connected very, very much with over the years that might not officially be part of what is considered official Star Wars, but because it's so much a part of the Star Wars community, and as Dave did with 'Clone Wars,' bringing those elements in because they already feel like they're running parallel to it ... And again, trying to bring together Star Wars as much as we can and make it all align in a way that feels satisfying and decisive."
Of course, one of those characters is Thrawn, who was part of the amazing "Heir to the Empire" trilogy of books by Timothy Zahn. As you know, he is a big part of "Ahsoka," though with a story that differs a bit from the books. Seriously, Jon, Dave ... show us the whiteboard!
All the "Star Wars" shows and films are streaming on Disney+.