Jon Favreau On ‘The Mandalorian’: “I’m Writing Part Of The Second Season Now”

Jon Favreau says writing has begun for Season 2 of The Mandalorian, the Star Wars flagship series that premieres November 12 as a Day One offering on the Disney+ subscription streaming service.

“We’re done with the first season and I’m actually writing part of the second season now,” Favreau said during a Thursday night appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote his new blockbuster, Disney’s The Lion King. The filmmaker is clearly Disney’s go-to guy for 2019 handling two high-stakes endeavors — the remake of the revered animation classic and the first live-action Star Wars television series in the brand’s four-decade history.

Favreau is the writer, creator, and showrunner for The Mandalorian and serves as executive producer with longtime Lucasfilm stalwart Dave Filoni (The Clone Wars). Favreau and Filoni have bonded as two lifelong Star Wars fans excavating new stories in the universe that George Lucas introduced in 1977.

“I’m having a blast,” Favreau said of the writing process for Season 2, which he compared to a play session with action figures. “It’s like turning over your toy chest and playing with all the Star Wars toys together. We’re having a great time.”

Favreau recapped the premise of the Disney+ series, which stars Pedro Pascal of Game of Thrones and Narcos in the title role.

“It’s about a bounty hunter, it’s after [the events depicted in] Return of the Jedi,” Favreau said. “The Empire is gone and ll hell is breaking loose on the outer rim. It’s about the scum and villainy now that, once you take out the rule of law what happens is chaos takes over.”

The director of The Lion King was on Jimmy Kimmel Live promoting the truly massive Disney jungle epic when the topic turned to the Jedi Universe. The conversational pivot point was James Earl Jones, who returns as the rumbling voice of Mufasa in the new iteration of The Lion King after introducing the role in the original 1994 traditionally animated film.

“Beyond just being James Earl Jones as Mufasa — in my childhood, that’s Darth Vader,” Favreau said. Kimmel responded with a third resume line for Jones and his trademark baritone: “For me: CNN.”

A nod to Kimmel, too, for another nice quip: When Favreau tugged up his pants leg to flash his Star Wars socks, the talk show didn’t miss a beat.  “Are those your Boba Feet?”