Jon Favreau on how the kid-focused Skeleton Crew fits into the Star Wars aesthetic

The Mandalorian was just the beginning. Ever since we first met Baby Yoda and his helmeted protector, live-action Star Wars series have been sprouting up everywhere.

Tony Gilroy's Andor added a gritty, Force-less entry to the Disney+ galaxy, while the upcoming The Acolyte will take us back in time to the waning days of the High Republic era to show us a more martial-arts-influenced take on the franchise. And then there is the ever-expanding Favreau-and-Filoni-verse.

Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni first combined forces to bring us The Mandalorian, and have since expanded their Outer Rim activity to include The Book of Boba Fett, and Ahsoka (which debuts in August). But while those three shows have all traded characters — some of whom first appeared in animated form on The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels — back and forth to create an interconnected universe that will culminate in a theatrical film, there is another seemingly completely new concept also making its way to our screens soon.

Kate Green/Lucasfilm Ltd. Jude Law helps introduce the kid stars of 'Skeleton Crew' at Star Wars Celebration

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew will tell the adventure of four kids seeking to find their way home in the big, bad galaxy. While information on the show is scarce at this point, footage shown to attendees at Star Wars Celebration in April glimpsed a Force-using Jude Law as what appeared to be a Jedi. The series — which was created by Spider-Man: Homecoming's Jon Watts and Christopher Ford and counts Favreau and Filoni as executive producers — also takes place in the same post-Return of the Jedi time frame as The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and The Book of Boba Fett, with characters from those shows expected to meet up in an upcoming feature film.

But how does a series focused on four young kids fit in with those other programs? Should fans expect a dramatic tonal shift for Skeleton Crew? It's a question we asked Favreau when he and Filoni stopped by EW's Dagobah Dispatch podcast.

"One of the things we really like about what the shows that we've been working on have turned into is that it the tone of each episode — and in certain cases each series — really reflects the storyteller of the filmmaker," Favreau says. "So in The Mandalorian you could have many different tones. Even though the writing is consistent across them, different filmmakers will bring different perspectives. And so each episode hopefully feels different, though they should sit alongside one another."

Favreau says that same philosophy extends to the newest series: "With Skeleton Crew, I would go even further there because it's Watts and Ford and a whole array of wonderful directors — some have worked with us before, some who haven't. And so each episode has its own feel to it."

Rachell Smith Jude Law and producer Chris Ford of 'Star Wars: Skeleton Crew'

Those wonderful directors include Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (fresh off Oscar glory for Everything Everywhere All at Once) as well as Bryce Dallas Howard, Lee Isaac Chung, David Lowery, and Jake Schreier. But the key to the tone of Skeleton Crew doesn't come just from the directors and creators, it also comes from the very top, in the form of Lucasfilm's president… who also happened to be one of the founders of Amblin Entertainment.

"With Kathy Kennedy running Lucasfilm," says Favreau, "when John Watts and Chris Ford come in and talked about wanting to do something that feels like an Amblin movie and has that tone, it's like you're speaking right to the person who was there and knows the 11 herbs and spices that go into it. So it's interesting hearing them pitch it and how she reacts to that."

While Favreau agrees that Skeleton Crew "has to feel like Star Wars," he also notes that "when people think of Star Wars as a genre, it really is a number of subgenres within the Star Wars genre. Because those were [George Lucas'] influences, so it could feel like a Western, it could feel like a World War II film, it could feel like a samurai film. And so you could push limits."

Rachell Smith Jon Favreau at 'Star Wars Celebration'

Favreau points to one of Filoni's animated series as an example of pushing those limits. "Especially on The Clone Wars, they deviated into many different [genres] — to thrillers and to noir and different types of adventures and different tones. So that's what's keeping us engaged and why I'm continuing my collaboration here, is because it's never like you're just doing one thing. There's always room."

In the end, Favreau explains that while Skeleton Crew may not feel like The Mandalorian, both shows can feel like they are part of the same galaxy. "As long as you adhere to a certain aesthetic, and we all agree that it feels like it's Star Wars, there's a lot of room for how you can move around," he says. "It's interesting too, as you see at the [Star Wars Celebration] panel and these great trailers, how different they all are. But they all sit together. You would never group them together, but thanks to the world that George created, they all feel like they share a common underlying aesthetic."

And that aesthetic will be on display later in 2023.

To hear our entire interview with Favreau and Filoni, where they also discuss their upcoming Star Wars movie as well as all things Mandalorian and Ahsoka, check out the latest episode of the Dagobah Dispatch podcast.

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