Dave Filoni on Star Wars: The Clone Wars & The Mandalorian’s second season

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

On May the 4th, Star Wars: The Clone Wars will come to an end and finally bring a sense of closure to the animated series after it was temporarily shelved by Disney, and for Dave Filoni, who helped to create the series alongside George Lucas, it's been a long time coming. Filoni recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly about bringing Star Wars: The Clone Wars to a close. "I find that exciting," Filoni said. "I've been through it before with Rebels. It helps frame the rest of the work. It feels like it gives it a purpose. For me it's 15 years now, and to just apply all that and say, 'Let's do this the best we can possibly do it.' And it seems like that's coming across, from what people are saying. I've had this story in my mind in various versions for a while, so there's something unique about finally putting it down and saying it's done."

In these final episodes, Star Wars: The Clone Wars has finally entered the time-frame of REVENGE OF THE SITH, and when all is said and done, Dave Filoni says that we may look at the finale of the Prequel Trilogy a little differently.

I suppose that's inevitable. But there's nothing that I show that wasn't something that I learned from watching the film or from George. I have that privileged point of view from having worked with him and talked so much about these stories with him. I'm privy to details other people aren't. But I feel a lot of what I've brought to light is actually already in the structure of the films themselves and what is said about the Jedi in the film and how they begin to believe their ability to use the Force is somehow being limited. That their vision is clouded. Some of the younger [and] even older Jedis are becoming arrogant — it's all in the dialogue there when Mace, Yoda, and Ki-Adi-Mundi are talking [in ROTS]. I was always very interested in those scenes. I was very interested in what the Jedi were like in this era. So the films are just a real delight for me to watch and rewatch over and over, and then to get to work on that time period is a really great experience. So I was just bringing those stories to light, whereas the films concentrate very much on Anakin's story and how everything is affecting him.

However, you shouldn't expect any last-minute revelations about Anakin Skywalker or Obi-Wan Kenobi, as Filoni considers the story of Ahsoka Tana (as well as Captain Rex) to be more important to address. "I was trying to get at answering what Ahsoka's story was about, what Rex's story was about, giving those a shape," Filoni explained. "George covered Anakin's story in the film, so I've tried to always work in support of that, but then also give a point of view on it that comes from these other characters that know him, or other characters that are around him, while not changing the nature of what George's messaging for Star Wars was in Anakin's path."

Speaking of Ahsoka Tano, there are rumours that Rosario Dawson will be playing a live-action version of the character in the second season of The Mandalorian, but Filoni isn't about to confirm anything.

All those rumors! Over the years people have always asked me about that character and potential live-action possibilities. It's a real credit to the animation team and everybody that's been involved with her over the years to make a character that fans say, "Hey, that would be great. We would want to see that." And the debates that surround that. When we started in 2008 giving Anakin Skywalker a young Padawan wasn't at top of mind for a lot of people. It seemed a bit out of left field and risky. George always knew that it would work if we did it the right way. The great thing about the character is she's proved herself and earned her place among the Star Wars leads out there. So whatever the future holds, who knows? But for now, we'll get to see this ending of Clone Wars and see how that goes.

As far as The Mandalorian goes, the team are currently in post-production on the second season, which Filoni describes as "a lot of fun," adding, "now that I have a year of it under my belt, doing live action — and I need so much more experience. I wrote in Clone Wars 'experience outranks everything,' and I need to get some. So it was a great learning experience, working with a great team of people, working with Jon. I've applied what I've learned into the second season to the best of my abilities. And I think everything is getting better and better, and everyone was energized from the reaction we got from the first season. We're looking forward to sharing it with everybody when we're finished." The second season of The Mandalorian is expected to debut on Disney+ in October 2020.