‘The Mandalorian & Grogu’ Is Inspired by ‘Flash Gordon,’ Jon Favreau Explains [Exclusive]

This will be only the third Star Wars movie set outside the main Skywalker Saga timeline, the other two being 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story. This will also be the first time plotlines from Star Wars’ Disney+ series have been explored on the big screen, leaving many wondering how the small-screen narratives will translate to the big screen. Now, with the film’s release date fast approaching, some of the influences from Star Wars history have come back to the forefront, confirming the movie will return to the vision behind the 1977 original.

During an exclusive visit to the set of Disney and Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, which MovieWeb attended and included 18 minutes from the movie, director Jon Favreau addressed the influence that past Star Wars films had on The Mandalorian and Grogu. He spoke about franchise creator George Lucas’s love of franchises like Flash Gordon and Indiana Jones, while also detailing how Star Wars has been “usually a reflection of another genre” over the years. For the new movie, Favreau also touched on the specific story for Din Djarin, setting him up as “a parent” who is “responsible for someone else” and addressing the evolution he has been through over the last seven years:

“Well, film influences, part of it is you’re grounding yourself. And, this is Star Wars, let’s all tune our guitars to that, right? So we’re all playing the same music. So much has been done in Star Wars. I think one of the big unlocks was that Star Wars is, although it’s a genre, it’s usually a reflection of another genre, right? It’s usually a lens. George wanted to get the rights to ‘Flash Gordon’ when he started, and that was a pulpy thing that he was drawn to, not just in the Star Wars films, but in ‘Raiders.’ There’s something I think, from probably growing up watching that stuff, that drew him in. And so, that was a big unlock for us of our fantasy art that we really were leaning into, especially because the storyline for ‘The Mandalorian’.

But now with Baby Yoda, it starts to feel like, ‘Oh no, he’s fighting, he’s getting bounties for the powers on the sheriff’s post office wall, not hunting people down, just because he has a code that he’s living by,’ as we learned it next door in there when he talked to as at the end of the third season, that now, I have to be more responsible. He’s a parent, and he’s responsible for someone else, and I think he’s arcing over the course of it all. And so when we, as somebody who might not watch the show, might think he’s the same guy, but if you’ve watched the show, you see that he’s grown.”

He later discussed the scale that this new movie has to explore while noting that the team had to “build a stage that was tall enough for IMAX” and “big enough to fill with so that [they] could go underwater.” From an overall perspective, it was all about doing “something that hasn’t been done before in Star Wars” while still making sure it feels like Star Wars, especially considering how beloved the original films still are:

“And that’s a lot of what Star Wars was about, too, is about family and about growth. But you need the fun, exciting backdrop. And that backdrop was inspired by the ‘Flash Gordon’ space opera, pulp storytelling. And also, we had this scale to do it. Now, we can do that kind of stuff. There’s the head of the creature that we use for example in the movie, but we needed interactivity, and so to have that, and to have to build on a stage that was tall enough for IMAX, big enough to fill with so that we could go underwater, it’s those moments that inspire you. You saw things. If you watch the animated shows, you kind of see what it is. But can we do something that hasn’t been done before in Star Wars while still making it feel like Star Wars? It’s harder than you think.”

The Mandalorian and Grogu promises to be different than anything Star Wars has brought to theaters before, helping the franchise evolve to new heights by expanding to new corners of the universe, and all while staying consistent with the original vision. Considering it will also bring characters like the Hutts and Zeb Orellios into play, the team behind this franchise seems ready to honor multiple eras of past Star Wars movies while pushing further into the Disney+ era of storytelling.

The Mandalorian and Grogu will debut in theaters on May 22, 2026.