Jon Favreau addresses possible Star Wars Jedi live action plans

The Mandalorian has become the go-to vessel for bringing characters from the Star Wars animated galaxy into live action. Zeb Orrelios is the latest familiar face to make the jump when the Star Wars Rebels fan favorite showed up in "Chapter 21: The Pirate" to commiserate with Carson Teva about those damned New Republic bureaucrats.

With all these Rebels and Clone Wars characters — and several more to come on the upcoming Ahsoka series — getting the live action treatment, one can't help but wonder when we might start seeing some folks from another popular Star Wars entity — the Jedi video game series.

Set five years after the events in Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order took the gaming world by storm when it was released in 2019. The third-person action-adventure game told the story of Cal Kestis, yet another Jedi Padawan who escaped the not-incredibly-thorough purge of Order 66. Over the course of the game, Cal meets up with the crew of the Mantis while battling fearsome Inquisitors along the way. The highly anticipated sequel — Star Was Jedi: Survivor — is scheduled to be released on April 28, and follows the publication of a tie-book, Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars.

Respawn Entertainment; Inset: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images Jon Favreau and Cal Kestis from 'Star Wars Jedi: Survivor'

With such a popular and highly-regarded corner of the Star Wars galaxy waiting to be explored on TV, could the braintrust behind the live action shows — Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni — see adapting Cal and the Mantis crew to a series format? We asked them on EW's Star Wars podcast, Dagobah Dispatch.

"Well, we did have our little robot in there," notes Favreau. He's referring to the BD unit that appeared at Peli Motto's hangar on Tatooine during an episode of The Book of Boba Fett. While that's not the same droid as Cal Kestis' companion BD-1 from Star Wars Jedi, it was a clear nod to the one featured in the game.

As for whether Cal or any other characters could be making their way to live action, Favreau will only discuss the possibility in general terms. "We really appreciate all the good Star Wars stories that are being told across multimedia," says The Mandalorian creator. "I think one of the things I'm most proud of about what we're able to accomplish with this show is to pull in different sets of characters and storylines, and each generation and each group connects with a different aspect of Star Wars."

For Favreau, that extends to callbacks from his youth. "I love that we are able to incorporate things that I remember from when I was 10, things that feel like deep cuts and Easter eggs — like the rifle that he uses was from the Holiday Special, or the camtono, which was the ice cream maker from Willrow Hood."

Ah, yes, the rifle and the camtono. The rifle in question is an Amban sniper rifle used by Din Djarin during The Book of Boba Fett that was also seen in the animated introduction of Boba Fett on the infamous 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special — the franchise's first-ever foray into television. And the camtono was a replica of the so-called ice-cream-making device that an extra (later named Willrow Hood) toted around as his most prized possession in the Cloud City evacuation scene from The Empire Strikes Back.

Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts Cal Kestis in 'Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order'

But Favreau says the franchise cross-pollination won't end there. "[We have] prequel sequels, The Clone Wars, and even expanded universe aspects that we could all pull into our show, so that there's something for everybody, no matter what you connect with. With Star Wars, this is a place where all the Star Wars fans are welcome, and hopefully they're enjoying the show."

It's no surprise that Favreau won't spill secrets, but when you consider that he's already brought over a droid inspired by the Star Wars Jedi game, paid tribute to the Holiday Special, and sought to remind us of that random dude and his ice cream maker, a live-action Cal Kestis sighting is certainly possible.

We also asked Cameron Monaghan — who plays the character in the video game series — whether he would want to reprise Cal in live-action form.

"I love this character," Monaghan told EW. "They're starting to explore him through other mediums — we have a novel coming up. It's been really amazing doing it within the video game space because I think games are vastly under-explored and underutilized, and are only really getting their due in this moment. People are looking at games and seeing they're incredible and moving and significant. So my priority right now is to make sure we have a satisfying arc within the games. What happens or where Star Wars wants to go from there is anybody's guess, but I can say I love Cal and it's been a joy finding him over the past few years. So we'll see."

Hopefully, we will.

To hear our full interview with Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, along with the cast of The Mandalorian, as well as full episode breakdowns, check out EW's Dagobah Dispatch podcast.

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