Jon Favreau Reveals Why Two Major Fan-Favorite Star Wars Characters Are Missing From ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’

Jon Favreau has explained why two major Star Wars characters, Ahsoka Tano and Grand Admiral Thrawn, do not appear in The Mandalorian and Grogu, despite fan expectations. The comments were made in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, where Favreau spoke about how the film was shaped for a wider audience and not just viewers of the Disney+ series.

Favreau is the director and co-writer of the film alongside Noah Kloor and Lucasfilm president Dave Filoni. He said the team wanted to avoid making the movie feel like a continuation that only makes sense if you have already watched multiple seasons of The Mandalorian and other connected shows.

He explained the shift in approach that came when the project moved from a potential fourth season of the show into a theatrical film. He said, “When we were discussing doing a fourth season of [The Mandalorian], which was put on hold, and then the idea of doing a theatrical presentation… It changed the way we approached how interconnected things should be.” He added that a TV season assumes viewers already know the full backstory, while a film needs to stand on its own.

Because of that decision, characters like Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson) and Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) were left out of the film’s main story. Favreau said the goal was to avoid overwhelming new viewers with too much required knowledge from the broader Star Wars timeline.

Instead, the film includes a mix of new and familiar faces, but in a more limited and controlled way. One of the key returning characters is Zeb Orrelios, originally from the animated series Star Wars Rebels, who makes his live-action appearance in the movie. Favreau said Zeb was a good example of how they could include familiar elements without relying on heavy crossover storytelling.

He explained, “We did put some characters in that people know about and want to see more of, and I think Zeb is a really good example of that. We had the time to build out really complicated action sequences [and] make him a lead character, which we never could have done in the time frame or budget of streaming.”

Other characters from the wider Star Wars universe also appear, including Embo, a bounty hunter seen in The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch. However, Favreau stressed that the focus was not on stacking cameos, but on supporting the story of Mando and Grogu themselves.

He also pointed out that Zeb’s inclusion worked because of existing audience familiarity from earlier animated series, while still allowing new viewers to understand and enjoy the character without prior knowledge. He said the film was designed to find a balance where both long-time fans and newcomers could follow the story.

Lucasfilm’s Dave Filoni added a similar perspective, saying the team does not include characters just for crossover value. He said, “It’s not always about character crossovers… It’s about the characters and what they’re experiencing.” He also noted that Ahsoka was originally introduced in the series for a specific story reason connected to Grogu’s past, not just as a fan service appearance.

The Mandalorian and Grogu continues the story of the bounty hunter and his adopted companion as they work with the New Republic on new missions. According to Favreau, the creative goal was to keep the film accessible while still rewarding longtime fans of the franchise.