Spoilers ahead for those of you who are not caught up with Season 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian. Also, shame on you for putting it off for so long — just kidding.
We are all well aware that fandom is tricky to navigate through, let alone go around it. Fandom is a consensus of passion, based upon decades of fans investing their interest, time, and hard-earned money into a specific IP or franchise.
Bearing this in mind, any future endeavor towards adding to, or reshaping any given franchise should undoubtedly adhere to one golden rule: respect the fans.
This is where Jon Favreau succeeds.
If box office earnings and audience reviews are anything to go by, it can be said that the Star Wars sequel trilogy was not as well-received by its pre-existing community as it could have been. This is not to say that it was a total and emphatic rejection in its entirety by the fanbase, but it surely did underscore a substantial dislike towards the direction the franchise was heading towards.
Thankfully, however, along came Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian shortly after, to once again reignite fans’ excitement in the Star Wars franchise.
After sitting through the 16 episodes that make up seasons 1 and 2 of the show, one would be hard-pressed not to enjoy the content being shown.
Where Favreau succeeds in The Mandalorian is not simply in his execution at telling a good story but in his ability to provide a fresh exploration of the Star Wars universe, e.g., the titular protagonist’s story arc, while also taking the time to respect the legacy of the mythos as a whole, e.g., the personification of Luke Skywalker in the season 2 finale.
This intelligent approach by Favreau thereby revitalizes intrigue in the universe and also indirectly accords a certain degree of respect towards the fans of all things Star Wars, a.k.a. the consumers, for no franchise could ever hope to attain prolonged success without the support of the passionate community that made it a household name.