There has been a capital disturbance in the Force . As if , somehow , trillion of voices abruptly cried out “ what if Dave Filoni got a promotion ? ” andwere of a sudden answered . But while the ascension of the Clone Wars and Rebels manufacturer to the upper echelon of Lucasfilm may give Star Wars fans weary ofhis particular approachto the saga pause , there ’s an debate to be made that , even for his critics , this is a skilful move .
“ To truly help oneself movie maker , it was really important for me to experience it at first hand , ” Filoni toldVanity Fairof his new function as Lucasfilm ’s Chief Creative Officer . It ’s a gig that gives him a broad participation in the modernize time to come of the Star Wars galaxy as it navigate arefocused slate of movies , and continuing streaming tv set drive that Filoni alreadyhelped get off the groundalongside manufacturer Jon Favreau . “ I can also bring a perspective on the challenge that telling these stories will introduce . I feel more adequate to of actually being helpful out of doors of just read , ‘ Well , Jedi are like this , and Sith are like this … ’ ”
In many means , the function is much more consanguineal to his time as an executive producer onClone Wars and Rebelsthan it is his overseeing serial like The Mandalorian and Ahsoka . It ’s engagement in the wide originative mental picture of Star Wars ’ future tense , ideation , and guide of talent , rather than inevitably verbatim involvement in terms of direction or written material . That ’s not to say that Filoni wo n’t fiddle a big part on that level going forward — he of course has his ownupcoming “ Mandoverse ” picture show , and should Ahsoka get aseemingly inevitable soph season , it would n’t be surprising to see him have a similar level of affaire with his most cherished part as he did with season one . But otherwise , we ’re much more probable to see less of Filoni at that floor than we have more late — and aboveboard , if you lookat his filmography , he ’s arguably never been that much of a author or a director until his burgeoning conversion from Lucasfilm Animation to know - activity projection .
Image: Lucasfilm
And it ’s a role that plays to many of Filoni ’s strengths . Critics of his workin Star Wars , especially in live - action , indicate to eitherinconsistent character body of work , peculiar writingand pacing pick , or vapid commission , all of which are valid . The rap can not only be put at Filoni ’s foot for the flaw in any of these undertaking , but there is a decipherable style and note to his work on The Mandalorian and Ahsoka that does n’t mousse with every part of the audience . Combined with unsubtle frustrations — oft - levied ill such as a trust on characters from animate works like Ahsoka or Bo - Katan , or more generally the current era ’s trust on familiar faces and nostalgic cameos at the toll of sabotage either newer character ’ journeys ormuddling the legacyof those old face — that can make Filoni an loose target to show at to express a general aversion for Star Wars ’ recent direction .
Except what Filoni really gets right about Star Wars so often is not really these specific musical rhythm and the moment - to - minute of the story , but its larger melodic theme — which is on the nose the kind of nidus he will have in his use as a CCO , and one more cognate to the kind of relationship he had on Clone Wars with George Lucas . Lucas did n’t have a direct hand in piece of writing or directing the animise series , but was in writing rooms with producers and the creative team to offer tonal suggestions or bad - picture idea . For as many faults as you may aim to in show like Mandalorian , Book of Boba Fett , or Ahsoka , there ’s a peck of good ideas , even if the execution on a scene - by - scene grade is n’t always there to oppose — the latter ’s geographic expedition of a moredemocratized view of the Forceor its review of systems like the Jedi Order andthe New Republic , Boba ’s ( admittedly limited)exploration of the Tuskens , The Mandalorian ’s own navigation of itstitular peoples ’ cultivation . And , more often than not , these are widely scoped ideas and Star Wars worldviews that Filoni has research for years , lifting out of material first pilot on series like Clone Wars and Rebels . pitch him toward that kind of broad thinking across the franchise ’s future places him in a part that he is best suited in to further research and extrapolate those ideas .
It also , as Filoni himself also mark , lets him work with a wide array of gift — a wide raiment of perspectives , which is something Star Wars urgently needs , descend out of a period where a handful of hoi polloi , Filoni include , have had their manus forthwith in much of the current material . We were already start to see the seeds of that as Lucasfilm has tried ( and , for the most part so far , not quite yet accomplish ) to rearrange a post - boost of Skywalker ticket for the dealership . Before his announcement this week as CCO , Filoni was just one of a grouping of directors involve in what now is likely mostimmediate hereafter of Star Wars on film , alongside James Mangold and Sharmeen Obaid - Chinoy . In the kingdom of TV , Mandalorian by , we have creative natural endowment largely fresh to lick on Star Wars guiding the likes of The Acolyte , Skeleton Crew , and Andor . Moving Filoni into a position much like Lucas ’ in the latter daylight of his possession of Lucasfilm — involved broadly in ideation , but concentre on work in a young generation of originative talent to impart out those ideas — as Star Wars seeks to pilot this evolving post - saga era makes room for that divers array of perspectives to take shape or else of , as his promotion can be reductively seen , pass on him the verbatim rein over every project in the employment .
And that ’s what Star Wars is in need of — not just someone who can guide a more across-the-board originative vision for a enfranchisement that has felt lost in recent years , but one who can make way for a stove of creatives with their own lens and position on the dealership , to let it become more than a rummy fix opinion of it . If that ’s what Filoni ’s elevation lead to , Star Wars ’ hereafter is looking a little brighter than it has in some sentence .
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Bo - Katan KryzeDarth VaderGeorge LucasLUCASFILMStar WarsThe Mandalorian
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