Jon Favreau Explains Why 'The Mandalorian' Season 4 Didn’t Happen [Exclusive]

Image via Francois Duhamel / © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection Published May 16, 2026, 7:01 AM EDT Sign in to your Collider account Next week sees the release of the first new Star Wars film in seven years, and it's a story that, from the trailers, looks as though it's been designed for the biggest screens possible. But the truth is, it wasn't always that way. For years, fans had expected the next chapter of Din Djarin and Grogu’s story to arrive as another season of television on Disney+, particularly given that The Mandalorian was a massive success from day one on the streamer. Four years after the conclusion of Season 3, the beloved duo is back, but this wasn't always the plan. Speaking with Collider’s Steve Weintraub for The Mandalorian and Grogu, Jon Favreau explained why The Mandalorian Season 4 didn’t happen in its original form, and how the creative priorities within Lucasfilm ended up shifting towards a theatrical adventure instead. Favreau confirmed that he had already written a version of Season 4 before the Hollywood strikes, but those plans were ultimately moved aside once the project became a film. “The priorities changed from what I had written as a Season 4, before the work stoppage, and that was pushed to the side, and a new script had to be come up with,” Favreau said. “We came up with the new script for this together, so it has a different feel than a season of television, which acknowledges that you’ve seen all three coming before. This one, we wanted this to be an understandable enough standalone experience, so that if a fan wants to bring somebody who may not be as familiar, they’ll still have a good time. But the details are still there, and it does feed into what you’re talking about with the time period.” That does answer some lingering questions fans may have had about what Season 4 of the series could have looked like. Yes, there will be some remnants of it, but this isn't a full season of TV chopped down and thrown into a blender to make a feature film; this is a separate project in its own right. Collider Exclusive · Star Wars Quiz Which Force UserAre You? Light Side · Dark Side · Or Somewhere Between The Force is not a binary. It is a spectrum — from the serene halls of the Jedi Temple to the shadowed corridors of Sith space. Ten questions will reveal where you truly fall. The Force has always known. Now you will too. 🔵Jedi Master 🟡Padawan 🔴Sith Lord ⚫Inquisitor ⚪Grey Jedi IGNITE YOUR SABER → 01 What is the Force to you? Your relationship with the Force defines everything else. AA living energy I must be worthy of — it is not mine to control. BSomething vast and mysterious I'm only beginning to understand. CNeither light nor dark — just a current I choose to ride. DPower. Pure and simple. The strong take it; the weak don't. NEXT QUESTION → 02 When you feel strong emotions — anger, grief, love — what do you do? The Jedi suppress. The Sith feed. Others choose differently. AAcknowledge them, then release them. Attachment leads to suffering. BFeel them fully, then decide what to do — they're not the enemy. CBury them. Emotion is a liability I can't afford to indulge. DUse them. Passion is the engine of the dark side for good reason. NEXT QUESTION → 03 The Jedi Council gives you an order you disagree with. You: How you handle authority reveals your alignment. AFollow it. The Council's wisdom surpasses my own perspective. BVoice my objection clearly, then defer to the decision. CComply outwardly while doing what I think is right. DIgnore it. The strong don't answer to committees. NEXT QUESTION → 04 You are offered forbidden knowledge that could give you enormous power. The cost is crossing a moral line. You: The dark side's pull is never more than a choice away. ARefuse without hesitation. There is no cost worth that price. BWeigh it carefully — sometimes darkness holds real answers. CFeel the pull but walk away — for now. DAccept it. Power justifies the method used to obtain it. NEXT QUESTION → 05 Your approach to training and learning is: A student's habits become a master's character. ADedicated but humble. There is always more to learn from my masters. BRigorous and patient. Mastery is earned through years of discipline. CEclectic — I draw from every tradition, not just one. DRelentless and brutal. Pain accelerates growth. Rest is weakness. NEXT QUESTION → 06 In a duel, your lightsaber fighting style reflects: Combat is the purest expression of a Force user's philosophy. ADefense and composure — I wait for my opponent to overcommit. BFast and instinctive — I trust the Force to guide my movements. CUnpredictable — I blend styles to keep enemies off-balance. DOverwhelming aggression — I end fights before they begin. NEXT QUESTION → 07 A defeated enemy lies at your feet, powerless. You: Mercy — or its absence — is the truest test of alignment. AStrike them down — compassion toward enemies is naïve and costly. BNeutralize them permanently. I can't afford loose ends. CSpare them if I can — but stay clear-eyed about the risks. DOffer them a chance to surrender. Every being deserves that. NEXT QUESTION → 08 The Jedi Code forbids attachment. Your honest view on love and bonds: The source of the greatest falls in the galaxy. AThe Code is right. Attachment clouds judgment and invites suffering. BLove is not a weakness — the Jedi Code got this one wrong. CI have no attachment — only loyalty to my master's mission. DI feel it deeply but struggle to reconcile it with my training. NEXT QUESTION → 09 Why do you use the Force at all? What's the point? Purpose is the difference between a knight and a weapon. ATo learn. I'm still figuring out what I'm capable of. BTo protect and serve. The Force is a responsibility, not a gift. CTo survive — and maybe carve out something worth having. DTo dominate. Strength demands to be expressed, not contained. NEXT QUESTION → 10 At the final moment — light side or dark side pulling at you — what wins? In the end, every Force user faces this moment. What does yours look like? AThe light. I choose peace, even when darkness would be easier. BNeither fully — I carve my own path through the middle. CWhoever I serve — my loyalty defines me more than my morality. DThe dark. Power is the only thing that's ever actually been real. REVEAL MY ALIGNMENT → Your Alignment Has Been Determined Your Place in the ForceThe scores below reveal how the Force sees you. Your highest number is your true alignment. Read on to understand what that means — and what it will cost you. 🔵 Jedi Master 🟡 Padawan 🔴 Sith Lord ⚫ Inquisitor ⚪ Grey Jedi Disciplined, compassionate, and deeply attuned to the living Force, you have walked the path long enough to understand its demands — and accept them. You lead not through authority alone, but through example. You have felt the pull of the dark side and chosen otherwise, every time. That is not certainty. That is courage. You are earnest, powerful, and brimming with potential — and you know it, which is both your greatest asset and your most dangerous flaw. You act before you think, trust your gut over your training, and sometimes confuse impatience for bravery. The Masters see something in you, though. The question isn't whether you have what it takes — it's whether you'll be patient enough to find out. You are not simply dangerous — you are certain, and that is worse. You have decided what the galaxy needs, and you have decided you are the one to deliver it. Your power is genuine and formidable, earned through sacrifice that would have broken lesser beings. But examine your victories carefully. Every Sith believed their cause was righteous. The dark side's cruelest trick is that it agrees with you. You were forged in fire and reshaped by those who found you at your lowest. You serve, because service gave you structure when you had none. Your allegiance is not to an ideology — it is to survival and to the master who gave you purpose. But there is something buried beneath the conditioning. The Jedi you hunt? You recognize them. Because you remember what it felt like before the choice was taken from you. You have looked at the Jedi Code and the Sith Code and found both of them incomplete. You walk the line not out of indecision but out of conviction — you genuinely believe both extremes miss something essential. The Jedi don't fully trust you. The Sith think you're wasting your potential. They're both partially right. But so are you. ↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ Is 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' Connected to Other Star Wars Shows? ​​​​​​​ Weintraub had also asked Favreau and Dave Filoni whether, during the writing process, they considered connecting the film to Ahsoka or other ongoing Star Wars stories, or whether it was always conceived as a solo adventure. Favreau said the movie still had to acknowledge the wider galaxy, but without beating the less informed members of the audience over the head with it, lest they drown them in unintelligible lore about Klatoonians, the Friks, and Peli Motto's origin story. “It always has to acknowledge what’s around it," said Favreau. "The good thing with Star Wars is the fans are so perceptive that you don’t have to have a heavy hand, but you have to make sure it’s consistent and thought through. And fortunately, Dave, being a writer of this and deep in it, and Ahsoka filmed right after this, all of it informed one another. There are also larger threads that I can always just pick up the phone and talk to Dave as he watches cuts. So, all of it is informed by the larger story.” All of that makes sense for this era of Star Wars, because it started as a simple enough story, but within three seasons, The Mandalorian had expanded rapidly into the fall of Mandalore, Palpatine's cloning plot, what was left of the Empire, the Darksaber, and even Luke Skywalker. At a certain point, you can't really call it a solo adventure because it's tied so tightly to the entire universe. Filoni also described the movie as an entry point, especially for younger viewers who may not have watched every Disney+ series or animated show before walking into the multiplex. For him, characters like Zeb or Rotta the Hutt can give long-term fans a smile without alienating newer audiences. “It does. To me, it’s an entry point, right?” Filoni said. “Because we don’t want you to feel, like Jon said, you had to catch up on all these other series and shows. But if you’re a fan, Zeb’s not a new character to you. If you’ve watched Rebels, you know Zeb is, and so you get that, ‘Oh, I see. There he is in this,’ and it’s connected in that way without you having to understand his backstory. You get that he’s kind of like the pilot in this. He’s the buddy for Mando going out.” 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' Is Filled With "Touchstones" Not "Easter Eggs" Image via Lucasfilm Filoni went on to explain how, just because you see a character that you recognize, doesn't mean it's a hidden Easter egg for fans. After all, this is a living, breathing universe that exists around our characters at all times. “You meet [Rotta] in this and you understand who he is. But I think for me, as a fan, there’s always that interesting thing that, in a lot of ways, if you think about it, there’s no standalone in Star Wars because it’s all in that galaxy. All the things are connected. I don’t think of seeing Tusken Raiders on Tatooine as Easter eggs; that’s just where they live, so of course you see them there. But I think with the internet, people assume, ‘Oh, there are all these touchstones and stuff,’ but yes, because you’re in that galaxy." All of that's important to note because the film is meant to be enjoyed rather than observed with people ticking off appearances like they're playing bingo. It needs to play to everyone, particularly children who are seeing Star Wars on the big screen for the first time. Filoni also said there was something special about making the movie a potential gateway for kids to see this part of the saga in theaters. “But it was, I thought, special to make this kind of an entry point for kids, especially now going to the theater with their parents and as, hopefully, they enjoy this movie, the world just opens up to them in a way,” Filoni said. “When I saw A New Hope, I was like, ‘Dad, it’s Episode IV. How did we miss three of these?’ Well, now, literally, you can start in Episode IV and say, ‘Oh, would you like to start with one? Here it is,’ which kind of blows my mind. Not only that, we did the whole Clone Wars, so that’s available, too.” The Mandalorian and Grogu will open in theatres on May 22. Stay tuned at Collider for more. Release Date May 22, 2026 Runtime 132 Minutes Director Jon Favreau Writers Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Noah Kloor Producers Ian Bryce, Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy Sequel(s) Dave Filoni's Untitled Mandalorian Movie Franchise(s) Star Wars