Much like Taylor Swift, the Star Wars franchise is built around eras. From the Old Republic to the High Republic, the Fall of the Jedi to the Reign of the Empire, the series has constantly been defined by its timeline. So, when one of the presidents of Lucasfilm says that the new movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu, is set “in a completely different era of Star Wars now,” you have to break that down.
The quote comes from the new issue of Empire, where Dave Filoni is talking about the upcoming film, which he co-wrote with director Jon Favreau. At first, the quote seems odd because, obviously, The Mandalorian and Grogu is set in a very, very rigid era of Star Wars storywise. Like the show it’s based on, as well as The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew, it’s set in the New Republic era, as defined by Lucasfilm itself. It’s the era between the game-changing events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Maybe the film goes beyond those constraints, but we very much doubt that.
So what does Filoni mean? Well, let’s go to the full quote. “Episode VII was a completely different entity,” Filoni said. “I had dreams of Episode VII since I came out of Return of the Jedi. You were like, ‘After VI comes VII! Where’s VII?’ We’re in a completely different era of Star Wars now.”
Okay, that makes more sense. He’s talking culturally. The seven-year gap between Star Wars movies is the third longest in history (a distinction we explored in much greater detail here), but this time it’s not coming out of nowhere. When The Phantom Menace and The Force Awakens came out, there hadn’t been any live-action Star Wars to fill the gaps. However, between The Rise of Skywalker and The Mandalorian and Grogu, there’s been literally the most Star Wars ever, from live-action TV shows to animated shows, books, comics, games, and more. We may not have had a Star Wars movie on the big screen in almost a decade, but Star Wars has never gone away.
That, certainly, is a “completely different era of Star Wars.” What will be most interesting, though, is to see if the fact that we’ve been so Star Wars-spoiled in the meantime will make this film hit differently. Can it surprise and delight us in the ways that made Star Wars so popular in the first place? Is that even possible considering how much time we’ve spent with these characters? Or will this era be defined by another story that simply pads out a very narrow sliver of time in a larger galaxy?
We won’t have to wait long to find out. The Mandalorian and Grogu opens May 22.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
English (US) ·