Kathleen Kennedy Says Jon Favreau Is Pushing Star Wars Forward Like George Lucas Did

Kathleen Kennedy has made a big comparison — and yes, Star Wars fandom will almost certainly discuss it calmly, politely, and with no dramatic overreactions whatsoever.

Speaking about Jon Favreau and The Mandalorian and Grogu, Kennedy compared Favreau’s approach to innovation with the way George Lucas pushed filmmaking technology forward. In a new GamesRadar+ report, Kennedy praised Favreau for taking technology and cinema “into the next level,” saying that spirit reminds her of what Lucas did.

That is not a small compliment. In Star Wars terms, that is basically handing someone the keys to the digital toolbox and saying, “Try not to break cinema.”

Favreau’s Star Wars Has Always Been Tech-Driven

The comparison makes sense when you look at what The Mandalorian actually did for modern production.

Favreau helped bring StageCraft and the Volume into the mainstream conversation, using large LED environments to blend real-time digital backgrounds with live-action filming. That technology became one of the defining behind-the-scenes stories of The Mandalorian, giving Star Wars a new production identity for the streaming era.

George Lucas, of course, built much of Star Wars around similar restlessness. From motion-control photography and ILM’s original effects breakthroughs to digital editing, CGI characters, and the prequel trilogy’s push toward digital filmmaking, Lucas was never just making Star Wars stories. He was constantly trying to change how those stories could be made.

Kennedy’s point is clearly that Favreau belongs in that same tradition of technical experimentation, even if the scale and era are different.

The Mandalorian and Grogu Needs the Big Screen

Kennedy also argued that The Mandalorian and Grogu deserves to be seen theatrically. That matters because this is not just another chapter of the Disney+ show — it is Din Djarin and Grogu’s leap from streaming icons to full cinema leads.

The official StarWars.com page for The Mandalorian and Grogu lists the movie for release on May 22, 2026, with Din and Grogu working with the New Republic as Imperial warlords remain scattered across the galaxy.

That larger canvas may be exactly why Kennedy is emphasizing Favreau’s visual and technical ambition now. The movie needs to prove that Mando’s world is not just a Disney+ success story with a bigger screen slapped onto it. It needs to feel cinematic.

A Very Loaded Star Wars Compliment

Comparing anyone to George Lucas inside Star Wars is always loaded. Lucas is not just the creator of the franchise; he is the reason Star Wars became tied so deeply to technological evolution in the first place.

But Favreau is one of the few modern Star Wars creators where the comparison is at least understandable. He did not just make a popular show. He helped reshape how Lucasfilm made live-action Star Wars television.

We recently covered how Pedro Pascal wants to keep playing Din Djarin after The Mandalorian and Grogu, and this Kennedy quote points in the same direction: Lucasfilm clearly sees Mando as more than a finished streaming chapter. It is a platform for the next stage of Star Wars storytelling.

Whether the movie earns that comparison is another question.

But if Favreau really is trying to move Star Wars forward the Lucas way — by combining myth, technology, and a healthy tolerance for risk — then The Mandalorian and Grogu suddenly has more riding on it than cute Grogu moments and shiny armor.

It has to prove the helmet belongs on the big screen.