The Rise of Jon Favreau
Long removed from his time as the co-lead in Swingers, Jon Favreau has become something of a hero for Star Wars fans the world over. With his latest work on the Mandalorian capturing the world’s attention, and becoming almost a cultural moment for Disney, his clout as a filmmaker has clearly grown, at least, with the fans. Consider for example the minor icon that has become of Baby Yoda, who now appears on everything from T-shirts to lunch boxes.
The latest rumors, to the joy of elder Star Wars fans, have reflected the same reality. Fans who were once exhausted with abandonment of the Star Wars themes, like the ability of Luke Skywalker or Han Solo to rise above their own flaws, and find victory against overwhelming odds, have finally found a guy, in Favreau, who appears to be in their proverbial corner.
Kathleen Kennedy, and the Star Wars executives who produced the stunning new Force Awakens trilogy, including, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and the Rise of Skywalker, had all but abandoned those themes held dear by fans for four decades, during the beautifully produced, but still disappointing new trilogy. Stunning special affects and science fiction action are poor compensation for a destroyed set of heroes, in a milk guzzling loser, Luke Skywalker, a dysfunctional deadbeat father, Han Solo, and a Mary Poppins wannabe, Princess Leia Organa. What Kennedy, Rian Johnson, and even the much beloved J.J. Abrams have accomplished is the destruction of the very qualities that endeared a bunch of kids in the 1970’s and 1980’s to this lovable and against-all-odds victorious trio.
The blame cannot be on the new trio of Rey, Fin, and Po Dameron, who were each a fine new addition to the Star Wars family. The more female friendly themes of the new trilogy are not to blame. Girls have long deserved a set of heroes that boys in the 80’s had in Star Wars. It simply is that there was an abandonment of love for the original trilogy, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi that George Lucas had so cleverly ingrained into the lives of boys, and hopefully at least some girls, back when. Why would a new generation of fans fall in love with a set of heroes from a galaxy that destroys it’s heroes as much as the real world so often does?
Jon Favreau seems to be on the other side. Cleverly, he took one of the hottest members of the original trilogy’s stories, Boba Fett, and refashioned him into the dark anti-hero in the Mandolorian. Similar to his work on the Marvel series of movies, like Iron Man, Favreau’s apparent love for the history, the continuity, and “what brought us to here,” is readily apparent.
Rumors abound now, that Favreau may be reshaping the Start Wars timeline. Hope of a return to a beautifully molded “old canon” has generated much conversation. If this happens there will be many happy dads, who in theory at least, will be taking their kids to a new set of Star Wars movies that honors their childhoods, as Lucas, in theory, originally intended. Here’s hoping it’s true! If it is, Favreau’s got our backing, here at EpicEscape.com, for whatever that’s worth!
