There are far too many similarities and parallels between Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe for Disney not to try and rely on one to inspire the other. Kevin Feige admits that his shared universe was heavily indebted to the mythology created by George Lucas, and the lifelong fan is now set to produce a blockbuster of his own set in a galaxy far, far away with Loki showrunner Michael Waldron on board to tackle the script.
Both franchises roped in Jon Favreau to kickstart their respective expansions, too, with the Iron Man director responsible for The Mandalorian, which already has a third season in the works alongside spinoffs The Book of Boba Fett, Rangers of the New Republic and Ahsoka, while between the MCU and Star Wars alone, there are currently 25 Disney Plus exclusive shows in development.
It’s looked obvious for a while that the universe surrounding The Mandalorian was going to follow the Marvel template to a certain degree, and we’ve now heard from our sources – the same ones who told us Luke Skywalker was returning to Star Wars long before his surprise cameo in Mando’s season 2 finale – that the small screen arm of the sci-fi saga will soon be split into distinct phases.
According to our intel, The Mandalorian and its adjacent shows will build towards an Avengers-style crossover with Grand Admiral Thrawn as the big bad, and once he’s been vanquished, it’ll draw a line under an entire generation of stories. From there, the deck will be reshuffled with new characters and multiple series introduced to carry on the legacy, as Disney Plus’ Star Wars enters what would essentially be Phase Two and so on, which keeps the content churning but avoids the risks of anything overstaying its welcome.
