With the recent departure of veteran producer Kathleen Kennedy as the head of Lucasfilm, the next year or two are likely to be seen principally as a period of transition for the studio. The galaxy far, far away has been handed a series of high-profile beatdowns recently, whether it’s the collapse of the Galactic Starcruiser hotel or the the disappointing viewership numbers for projects like The Acolyte. But Kennedy’s resignation may be the biggest thing to happen to the brand (on the business side, at least) since it was acquired by Disney.
Kennedy was George Lucas’s hand-picked successor, and while he had a great relationship with new co-president Dave Filoni, it was clear that Kenendy had Lucas’s sensibilities in mind when developing new projects for the company. Filoni has the mind of a fan, digging deep into lore and exploring the kind of hidden crevasses in the Star Wars timeline that were previously reserved for Dark Horse Comics and Timothy Zahn novels.
Filoni, who shaped Lucasfilm’s animation arm and has helped develop the TV slate, co-wrote The Mandalorian & Grogu, alongside director Jon Favreau, a film hitting theaters on May 22. The movie will pick up thread from The Mandalorian, a show co-created by Filoni and Favreau, and will star big names like Sigourney Weaver (Galaxy Quest) and Jeremy Allen White (Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere) alongside series star Pedro Pascal.
After the misfire of The Book of Boba Fett and the whole “Baby Yoda” trend dying out a bit, it was pretty clear that The Mandalorian & Grogu needed to be a hit. With an oversaturation of “content,” the Star Wars brand is increasingly reliant on its steadiest, most predictable characters to generate hits, and that absolutely includes Mando.
But now, with Filoni taking over as head of the studio, the movie has taken on a different kind of urgency.
The closest parallel isn’t even really a parallel, and that might be cause for at least a little concern. It’s easy to point to 2025’s Superman as an analogue here. Written and directed by James Gunn, the new architect of DC’s film and TV universe, Superman was a clear-cut case of a movie that absolutely needed to succeed, or things could get ugly very fast at DC Studios. And, obviously, it did so. The movie made a bunch of money in theaters, has been a huge hit on streaming, and just won a Golden Tomato Award for Fan Favorite Action Movie from Rotten Tomatoes. It’s also shortlisted for the Academy Awards’ Sound and Visual Effects trophies.
The unambiguous success of Superman erased a lot of questions around Gunn and his co-captain Peter Safran’s stewardship of the brand. While Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League also made over $600 million each, they did so on bloated budgets, with reshoots and other behind-the-scenes production issues, and the reviews and word-of-mouth scared off casual audiences. Gunn’s reputation for delivering movies on time and on-budget was likely one of the things that secured him a position at the cost-conscious, debt-laden Warner Bros. Discovery, and he delivered and then some.
A month ago, it could be argued that all The Mandalorian & Grogu needed to do in order to be a “win” for Disney… Was not suck. If the movie got great reviews and performed even “just alright” at the box office, it would be taken as a net positive, and likely would generate more hype once it hits streaming. Now, it will be viewed through the lens of “David Filoni’s first fully-mandated Star Wars project,” whether or not that’s fair. In the same way audiences and pundits viewed Gunn’s Superman as a do-or-die situation for Warners, The Mandalorian & Grogu just stepped into that role for Disney.
Like Superman, The Mandalorian & Grogu will be going in with a lot of goodwill: audiences are excited that “professional fanboy” Dave Filoni is taking over, and recent TV installments (Andor and the anticipation around more Ahsoka) have the audiences excited in a way not dissimilar to DC’s Peacemaker and Creature Commandos. But, like Superman, all that goodwill can evaporate in an instant if The Mandalorian & Grogu is the kind of lifeless dud that The Book of Boba Fett was, or the kind of box office catastrophe that was Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Like DC fans, Star Wars acolytes (no pun intended) have a very distinct idea of what the movies “should be” in their heads. Failure to meet that standard demands excellence to overcome the inevitable backlash. Further, since not every audience member shares the same “distinct idea,” even meeting the expected standard will be a failure for some.
And where Superman had the benefit of a (mostly) fresh start for James Gunn, Filoni and Favreau have a movie that needs to “make a statement.” There’s no fresh start in sight. Not only is the idea of rebooting Star Wars an inherently dangerous one, but The Mandalorian & Grogu literally takes place in between existing Star Wars movies and exists as a sequel/spinoff to a wildly popular TV series. It is the polar opposite of a “fresh start,” even before you consider that, in reality, it still exists as part of the Kennedy regime.
The Mandalorian & Grogu has to be all things to all people: it must be accessible enough for casual audiences to turn out, or it won’t make “Star Wars money” in theaters. It must serve as a suitable follow-up to one of the most popular TV series in Disney+’s short history. It has to set the standard for what Filoni and company want to do going forward… While still answering to Kennedy all throughout production. That’s… A lot. It’s an uphill battle. And while James Gunn had a similar(-ish) task in front of him last year and cleared the bar with ease, it’s not a climb we would wish on anybody.
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